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Biscuitville beats McDonald’s: Why this small Southern chain is America’s top breakfast choice
Biscuitville beats McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A to become America’s best fast-food breakfast in the 2026 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
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Biscuitville has beaten much bigger fast-food chains to become America’s top fast-food breakfast choice. The family-owned Southern restaurant chain was named the No. 1 fast-food breakfast in the 2026 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for the fourth year in a row.
The result is notable because Biscuitville is much smaller than its biggest rivals. McDonald’s came in fourth, while Chick-fil-A ranked fifth. Burger King finished sixth and Wendy’s seventh. Biscuitville has a much smaller reach than these national brands. The chain recently opened its 90th restaurant and currently operates only in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Biscuitville beats big fast-food chains
McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Burger King and Wendy’s have restaurants across large parts of the US. Biscuitville, by comparison, serves a much smaller customer base but still managed to top the reader vote.
The company says its success comes from how it prepares its food. Biscuitville Chief Marketing Officer Kristie Mitchell told Fox News Digital that the award reflects the employees who prepare the food every morning, along with the ingredients and cooking methods used by the chain.
Fresh biscuits made from scratch
Biscuitville does not follow the typical fast-food approach of simply heating food and serving it quickly. The chain puts more work into preparing its breakfast items in its restaurants. Its biscuits are made from scratch every 15 minutes.
The company uses a three-ingredient family recipe that Mitchell said was passed down from the founder’s grandmother. The chain also prepares its eggs differently. Biscuitville employees hand-crack eggs instead of relying entirely on pre-prepared products.
Biscuitville avoids instant food
The company says its food does not arrive partially cooked just to be finished in the restaurant. This means employees have to do more preparation inside the kitchen. That process requires more workers and more time behind the scenes. At the same time, customers still expect their breakfast to be served quickly, especially when they use the drive-thru.
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Biscuitville says it has also avoided microwaves and instant food in its kitchens. “We have no microwaves. There’s no instant anything in our kitchens,” Mitchell told Fox News Digital. The chain’s menu is built around Southern-style breakfast food. Its options include bacon, egg and cheese biscuits, fried chicken biscuits, grits, hash browns and country gravy.
Southern breakfast menu
Customers can also choose pancakes and other breakfast items. This gives Biscuitville more choices beyond its signature biscuits. The company also focuses on locally sourced ingredients. Biscuitville highlights partnerships with family-owned suppliers for products such as eggs, chicken and bacon.
Why customers love Biscuitville
Mitchell said the combination of fresh ingredients and scratch cooking helps the chain stand out. She said these qualities are important as competition in the US breakfast market continues to grow, according to Fox News. But Biscuitville believes its popularity is about more than just food.
The chain is also using the idea of Southern comfort and family traditions to connect with customers. That feeling can appeal even to people who did not grow up in the South. The company believes familiar flavours and traditional breakfast food can make customers feel connected to home and family.
Customers often compare Biscuitville’s biscuits with biscuits made by their grandmothers. Mitchell said the company regularly gets this kind of feedback from diners. Biscuitville believes this emotional connection helps bring customers back. The company sees the biscuit as part of a bigger experience rather than simply another fast-food item. Mitchell said the appeal goes beyond the biscuit itself. “I think it’s bigger than just the biscuit,” she told Fox News Digital, pointing to everything that goes inside and around the biscuit.
The award was decided through a public voting process. Biscuitville was one of 20 nominees in USA Today’s fast-food breakfast category. Readers voted for their favourite breakfast chains for four weeks. The winners were announced on July 15.
Biscuitville also performed well in another USA Today category. It ranked third in the Best Regional Fast Food category, showing that its popularity extends beyond breakfast. The chain has been around for decades. Biscuitville was founded in 1966 and has built its brand around Southern food and scratch-made breakfast.
Biscuitville is not stopping at its current three-state footprint. The company has said it eventually wants to expand into states including Tennessee and Georgia. For now, the company is concentrating on its existing markets. Its strategy is to continue growing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia before making a bigger expansion.
Why Biscuitville is winning breakfast
Biscuitville’s latest win shows that size is not everything in the fast-food business. Despite having only about 90 restaurants, it has managed to beat national chains with thousands of locations.
The chain’s success points to a possible reason for its popularity: freshness plus familiarity. Scratch-made biscuits, freshly prepared eggs, Southern-style food and family recipes give customers something different from a standard fast-food breakfast.
The biggest takeaway from the award is that regional identity can still matter in American fast food. Biscuitville’s win suggests customers may choose a smaller local-style chain when it offers fresh food and a familiar, comforting experience.
For now, Biscuitville remains a Southern chain with a relatively small footprint—but its fourth straight USA Today breakfast win has put it ahead of some of America’s biggest fast-food names.
