Tudor’s Biscuit World Wins G&G’s Biscuit Bracket

Three weeks ago, we launched our thirteenth annual Garden & Gun bracket to crown a winner in a field Southerners know well: biscuits. We rounded up thirty-two grab-and-go examples of the Southern staple—from national chains, convenience stores, regional brands, and local standouts. Today, the results are in: Tudor’s Biscuit World of West Virginia takes the top honor. Earning 56 percent of the vote in the final matchup, Tudor’s just edged out Parker’s Kitchen, a fast-growing Southern convenience store. “It’s a tremendous honor for both us and Parker’s, as smaller, regional brands, to have done so well against bigger national companies,” says Tudor’s spokesperson Larry LaCorte.

LaCorte, a Mountain State native, has worked with the company for three decades. “Tudor’s is a West Virginia icon,” he says, “and we are so grateful to our tremendous fan base.” The faithful come to Tudor’s for the big, fluffy biscuits the chain has been serving since it opened its first location in the town of Charleston in 1980. The Mountaineer—laden with country ham, egg, cheese, and a crunchy hash brown—took G&G’s prize, but other menu favorites include the Ron and the Mary B, named for loyal customers’ go-to orders. (The best-named biscuit, though, goes to the Politician, which is filled with bologna.) Across seventy-four Tudor’s locations, designated biscuit makers turn out the bounty every morning and serve until 2:00 p.m. “Our biscuits are fluffy, with that hint of buttermilk,” LaCorte says. “They remind me of the old-fashioned biscuits that somebody’s grandmother would pull hot out of the oven.”

Tudor’s Biscuit World’s Mountaineer, featuring country ham, potato, egg, and cheese.

He’s onto something—old-time cooking is a guiding light for the Parker’s biscuit as well. “It’s browned and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and tastes like your grandmother’s biscuit,” says Greg Parker, who opened the first Parker’s Kitchen location in Midway, Georgia, in 1976, doing everything himself, from pumping gas to frying chicken. He worked with two cooks to develop the biscuit recipe still used today at the eighty-five and counting locations—sporting Lowcountry architecture and spotless interiors—in South Carolina and Georgia.

Parker’s Kitchen sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit.

Parker credits not just the fan base, but his team as well, for their support in G&G’s contest; the convenience store was named a top place to work by USA Today this year. But the bracket all came down to making a great biscuit. “Here in the South, we value our comfort food,” he says. “We love to eat what our grandmothers cooked for us growing up.” Whether it’s a Tudor’s Mountaineer or the Parker’s sausage egg and cheese, that’s what a biscuit is all about. 

BRACKET PHOTOGRAPH: JOHNNY AUTRY; FOOD AND PROP STYLING BY CHARLOTTE AUTRY.
BISCUIT PHOTOGRAPHS: KELLEN LOTT (BUC-EE’S), CHRIS KRAFT (RACETRAC), VIRGINIA FRANCES TEEL (DODGE’S), BETH SANDERS (GOLDEN PANTRY), HEATHER JARVIS (SHEETZ), MICHAEL NEELON FOOD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (WENDY’S), KATHERINE JARVIS (CHICK-FIL-A, CHURCH’S), MATTIE WELDON ZANIN (MRS. WINNER’S), DAVE MEZZ (BOB EVANS), CURIOUS NOTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY (SUNRISE BISCUIT KITCHEN), ELIZABETH FLORIO (BOMB BISCUIT COMPANY). OTHERS COURTESY OF COMPANIES.