Scratch Biscuits

Underwhelming and overpriced.
King of biscuits? Definitely not. More like a big, dense flavorless cake.
The Fried Chicken Picnic Biscuit was ehh. The fried chicken was just okay (needed some seasoning). The corn relish was mediocre and runny.
It was a large serving with overcooked chips.
The food was just ehh and I’m not interested in returning for more.

I’m not really sure who this place is aimed at:
People who love biscuits but don’t care that the biscuit they get is tough, not flakey, and dried out?
People who like the idea of down home cooking but don’t mind if off flavors and badly-​paired new ingredients are added to the classics?
People who like fast food but want to pay more for it?
I’ve been here a few times because it’s near my work and I want it to be good. It is always terribly disappointing. Bad sauces, bad pickles, bad biscuits, served lukewarm. Just skip it.

First time trying them. Ordered on GrubHub. Arrived quickly. I did the Make Your Own for $ 8.50.
Chicken, sauce on a biscuit with homemade chips and juice. Great!

Not often downtown Philly at lunchtime but found this place the other day. I remembered reading about Scratch in the paper awhile back so decided to give it a try.
I opted for the fried chicken biscuit with the cabbage slaw and a cup of coffee. My meal came with a bunch of freshly made chips as well. Looked great and tasted great too. The biscuit was flavorful and a little crumbly. The chicken had a good flavor as well, though maybe a larger piece would work a little better. The slaw was outstanding and what fell off the sandwich, I ate with my fork!
There appeared to be a variety of store combinations as well as «make your own» options. I would imagine this place is awesome for breakfast. Looking forward to my next time downtown Philly at breakfast or lunch time.

I lived in the south for nearly a decade, so I may be a little picky. I tried scratch this week after passing it so many times. I was underwhelmed. The biscuit would have been good had it not been so dry (perhaps it wasn’t fresh?). My biscuit was flakey and tasted buttery, yet it was already broken in multiple pieces before I could even attempt to pick it up. The Kentucky wildcat catfish sandwich was nothing special (a shame since I love the name). The catfish patty was pretty oily and mushy, but the kale slaw and ranch on the sandwich were good – maybe it just wasn’t the right sandwich to try?
I wish they offered healthier non-​pork options like bbq turkey/​chicken, or perhaps offered salad, collard greens, or other lighter sides instead of chips… I left full, but heavy… oh so heavy. Finally, this may see trivial, but the fork and knife was probably the flimsiest plastic cutlery I’ve used.
Scratch was okay, but sadly not worth the price or calorie splurge.

So I walked by this place plenty of times in center city and I decided to give it a try yesterday. I like trying new and different things .
It was pretty empty on a Tuesday night. I should of known better but still gave it a try anyway. Place was nice and clean .
So my boyfriend and I ordered «the Pigscuit» and it wasn’t what I expected. The biscuit was really dried as I was picking it up, it started falling apart. I took a bite into it and at first I thought it was good until after the first and second bite I kind of gave up. Supposedly it was supposed to have pork rind in it but I don’t think there were any. The pull pork tasted dried and it wasn’t good at all. It’s wasn’t worth it.

REALLY BAD BISCUITS. I tried the fried chicken biscuit with coleslaw and corn salad. I asked for the spicy ranch on the side. It cost about $ 9. The chicken did not look or taste like fried chicken. It was over cooked, dry and chewy around the edges. Yuk! There was no crunchy crust like I expect to see on fried chicken. The biscuit was sadly tasteless and dry as well. It crumbled to mostly small pieces when I first tried to pick it up leaving me to eat the sandwich with a fork .The Cole slaw and corn did not compliment the biscuit or chicken at all and I ended up trying to separate it from the crumbled biscuit on my plate.
I am so disappointed– I thought if a restaurant was going to focus on ‘homemade biscuits’ and southern cooking that it would be really delicious, sadly that is not the case here.
Overall, an awful and disappointing lunch — worst I’ve had I a really long time. On the positive, the lady at the counter was very nice and the fountain Diet Coke very good. Bottom line, if you’re craving good biscuits go to ‘honeys sit n’eat’- the best I’ve had in philly!

Cute Décor — lousy biscuit —
Tasted microwaved not at all flakey and yummy
Maybe with the sandwich stuffings makes this better but some how I doubt it
Sorry to say it was a dissapoontment

I think the overall reviews here are probably about right. Came here looking for a small snack and was surprised by the size of the sandwich. I was expecting something around the sausage egg biscuit that you might get at McDonalds, but this is a lot bigger than that.
Ordered the fried chicken picnic biscuit which comes with cabbage slaw, corn relish, and cayenne ranch. The sandwich was good and the biscuit was flaky. The price is a little steep for a biscuit, but you can sorta justify it with the size of the sandwich. Comes with a bag of homemade chips as well, which were good.

I’ve given Scratch a try twice now. I really wanted to like it because they’re right next to my office, and in theory biscuits from scratch sound delicious! The first time I went I got the biscuit with butter and jam to go with soup I brought from home. The biscuit itself was very dry, and the jam was just alright. They forgot to include the special butter.
The second time I went for an egg sandwich and ordered up the Johnny Paycheck. It was quite honestly… terrible. The biscuit was again dry and fell apart on my first bite. The egg was a hunk of pre-​made casserole egg, not «I will fry it up when you order it egg». For an $ 8 egg sandwich, I would expect fresh. The bacon was undercooked and the cheese was a white American cheese slice. Perhaps the brisket is worth one more try, but it won’t be anytime soon for me. On the upside, the staff seemed very friendly.

Came here during a visit to Philly and who would have thought I’d be in for some down-​home Southern cuisine with a flair. My wife and I shared a Carolina Pulled Pork biscuit sandwich, and this was something to behold. The sweet barbecue taste was perfectly balanced by a tartness that I’m guessing was a balsamic vinegar mix? Throw in the richness of the biscuit itself and you have an elevated taste that can only be described as a party in one’s mouth.
An important sidenote, as I’ve noticed people complain about the crumble factor on the biscuit… I liken this experience to the old Carl’s Jr commercial motto: «If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face.» Yes to some degree you’ll get crumbling but no more than what you’d get on a big juicy messy burger. My suggestion? Enjoy the first couple bites as a traditional sandwich, then have a fork ready to scoop up all the goodness that will undoubtedly spill onto your wax paper plate lining. When I was finished, my platter was totally clean; it was that… damn…good.
Complementing the food was some cool Southern Rockabilly music and a clean décor. Simply put, do yourself a favor and try this place because there’s nothing else like it. My only complaint? They aren’t any back home in LA!

I arrived for an impromptu lunch. I liked the bright interior and it was clean. There is some limited seating.
You have your choice of biscuit based sandwiches. They even have a build your own biscuit option.
So I ordered a The Brisket Biscuit. It had pulled pork with a horseradish sauce, pickled onions and cheese.
I liked the selection. The pickled onion helped balance the sweetness of the pork. It was fresh and the meat was juicy. I really enjoyed the selection.
The biscuit probably was a little to cake oriented for me, but it was still good.
It came with a side of house made potato chips and home made pickles. I really liked the pickles, it reminded me of ones my Grandmother made.
The potato chips were slightly too spicy for my liking but they were still good.
I would eat at the location again and recommend it.

My one experience was OK.
I suppose I should stop back and try more things. I liked the menu somewhat. The coffee was very good. The atmosphere was a bit fast food-​like. However, to be fair, I suppose that’s necessary for the fast paced business district crowd it relies on.
I’ll try again eventually.

Got 2 biscuits yesterday and I really enjoyed them. These Unilocal reviews are harsh. The biscuit was moist and yummy and the fried chicken and pickled toppings were great– perfect.
The beef brisket was a bit dry but still ok. Shortcake dessert was too sweet but the whipped cream was great– I’m going back again today.

Disclaimer: I have never tried any of the sandwiches. That being said the biscuits themselves are really pretty darned good. Found the banana pudding to be decent but more like a banana bread pudding. Not bad but would not rush back and get it again.

Scratch Biscuit is a concept I never heard of and according to several Unilocalers reviewing this new place, there is probably a reason for that. My review is however a bit more positive. I ordered the brisket biscuit and it was huge (portions are not small.) It could not be eaten as a sandwich after the first couple of bites as the biscuit does crumble so I switched to knife and fork. It was totally delicious this way. The ingredients of biscuit, brisket, smoked cheddar, horseradish mayo, and pickled red onions are all top-​notch and blended well together. And you can add tasty homemade Pennsylvania chow chow or cabbage slaw. The decimated yam fries (with cheese, bacon, chow chow etc.), I’m not totally sure about. Not only is it prob a coronary overload, I think the yam fries have to def be crisper for the 10 minutes of my life I am losing by eating these.
Let me add that Scratch Biscuit looks nice on the inside. They have hot sauce on every table which is a plus. And the personnel are eager to please. Austin who was working when I was there was very helpful in explaining things as well as helping me pack up my meal when I decided to switch to take-​out. Scratch Biscuit would fall in at about 3.5 stars for me — so I’ll round up since it looks like so many other people have rounded down!

I saw that this place had opened and I wanted to stop by for a late lunch, so today I got the fried chicken biscuit, and my expectations were very high. But when I got my biscuit, it seemed a bit dry and broke apart on me. The chicken seemed to be fried at least 2 hours ago because it was dry and chewy. The price was a bit high for the portion, but I’ll come back to try the yam fries, the deep fryer was broken when I stopped by. :(
–NEW UPDATE–
I came back for the yam fries today. I was really excited to try them, so I ordered it to go to share with my family. But when I opened the box, they were all burnt! I waited about 15 minutes for them too, very upsetting and won’t be coming back. I want my $ 8 back!

Can I have my $ 10 and 4,321 calories back, please?
The first thing I asked the staff was if their brisket was fatty or lean. «Oh, we cut off all the fat for you,» they said.
They lied. There was more fat on my scratch biscuit than meat. The brisket had little flavor, and the horseradish mayo had zero bite.
Shame, because the décor is pretty cute and it’s a fun concept. Pass.

I really wanted to like this place — but the quality of the food ruined that. I walked in around dinner time to grab a biscuit to go. I love biscuits and fried chicken so my obvious choice was to go with the «Fried Chicken Picnic Basket» which came with buttermilk fried chicken, cabbage slaw, and corn relish and cayenne ranch. The price of $ 9 was very steep for the quality and quantity of food I got. The biscuit was pretty small and tasted a little dry. The chicken came in two small pieces, one was good and juicy but the other piece was super stale and over cooked — I could barely chew it, so I threw most of it out. Overall I was a little disappointed! They have other types of biscuits there and you can even BYOB — build your own biscuit, which I thought was quite clever!

Crave of the Day, Southern-​style fried chicken, on a warm buttermilk biscuit sandwich!
Are you a health nut (or Wannabe health nut?) then you are in luck. Scratch Biscuits got some good news for you: Now, you can whip up a delicious biscuit, that is good-​for-​your gluten-​free diet. It ain’t hard to be healthy, you know! So, eat away, and live well.
The deal:
You can BYOB. Leave your BYOB assumptions at the door as you Build Your Own Biscuit with 4 simple steps:
1/​Select your preferred biscuit: tender and moist traditional biscuit made from scratch, or fluffy gluten-​free biscuit made from scratch, or better yet, you can SCRATCH the biscuit, and have the innards.
2/​Select your preferred meat: From BBQ Brisket, to buttermilk fried chicken, to black bean chili cake, and more.
3/​Select your preferred vegetable: Delicious cabbage slaw, chow chow, and more.
4/​Select your preferred sauce: Pimento cheese, basil mayo, or simply hot sauce, and more.
5/​Select your preferred other stuff: Pickled red onion, smoked cheddar, and more.
6/​BE CREATIVE! More creative, and more.
Or if you are lazy, like me, it ain’t a problem, they know lazy people, like us, exists. That’s why they put together some insanely delicious, and creative choices for us. Breakfast for supper? They serve breakfast biscuits all day, it goes very well with some Rival Brothers coffee. Too late for coffee, no worries, they’ll be serving Sip-​N-​Glo juices. Now tell me this ain’t healthy!
I got the «Fried Chicken Picnic Biscuit ($ 9).» It was exceptional! Very tender, flaky and moist biscuit. The luscious sandwich just melted in my mouth. It was perfect in every single way.
I will make sure to pay them a second visit, and try their homemade biscuit puddin’s. I’ll get either the nutella Puddin’, or fluffernutter Puddin’. And when I do, then I’ll have what I believe is heaven on earth.
Now that’s what I call craving!
Two Unilocal.or better yet, BISCUITs.