Two years after opening, does Side Biscuit hold up to the hype?
Short answer: yes
Side Biscuit sits on the edge of the student neighborhood at Packard and Woodlawn streets. It emerged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as the brainchild of chef Jordan Balduf. Balduf originally started Side Biscuit running online orders out of his driveway before buying the restaurant space. Side Biscuit’s cult status in the Ann Arbor restaurant scene has steadily risen since it first opened its doors in 2021. Just after its two year anniversary celebration, I decided that it was finally time to see if it lives up to the hype.
Walking into the store, you are immediately struck by how much energy is flowing through such a small space. Off to the side, they have merchandise for sale prominently displaying their Buffalo Bills inspired logo. I took about two steps before reaching the order counter with the rest of the space being occupied by a tight open kitchen where the temperature, volume of the classic rock and vibes were all sky high.
The “driveway plate” is Side Biscuit’s marquee deal, coming with six wings and the side biscuit of the week. I ordered the driveway plate with the open pit BBQ sauce. It was definitely sweet; in fact, it was one of the sweetest BBQ sauces that I have had. This was no detriment, however, as the sweetness came with equal tanginess. In addition to the BBQ, I tried the OG buffalo sauce. It absolutely blew me away. The buffalo sauce had the correct level of heat; I could totally feel it, but it wasn’t too much to handle. It had a subtle butteriness to it that smoothed out the heat.
These sauces are nothing without the masterfully prepared wings underneath them. As a broke college student, I eat so much dining hall food and fast food that I was beginning to think that generic and processed food had gotten pretty good in terms of quality and taste. Yet these wings reminded me how good wings can really get. The meat was a much higher quality than what is normally seen in chicken wings. The chicken was noticeably juicy, as opposed to the all-too-often dry chicken wings you might see from a fast food wing. The skin was fully crispy and was clearly fried to perfection. Overall I thought that the chicken wings were spectacular.
The real star of the show was the namesake side biscuit. Every week Side Biscuit features a biscuit of the week and in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, they featured an Irish soda biscuit studded with raisins and topped with orange zest. The biscuit managed to outdo the wings in terms of quality and taste. It had a perfectly crispy outside with a hot, soft and buttery inside. Speaking of butter, keeping with the theme, it came with a side of orange marmalade butter. The butter was incredibly creamy and so good that my roommate felt justified in finishing it on its own.
Side Biscuit celebrated its two-year anniversary of opening last weekend with a tailgate-type party outside the store. This celebration included a wing eating contest, free biscuits and a guest DJ. Over the last two years of its operation, I have heard constant claims of how elite Side Biscuit is and now I can finally attest to its cult status.
Daily Arts Contributor William Castle can be reached at wcastle@umich.edu