The Flying Biscuit Café, an Atlanta-based chain, is slated to open in Five Points later this year within the Treadwell development.
The restaurant is billed as an eclectic, Southern-inspired breakfast joint. Franchise owner John Robert Barth describes the environment as being “come as you are.”
“I feel like Five Points is in a change, as we all know, from what Five Points was, to what it is going to be, and I think that we would be a nice addition to the community, with that feeling,” Barth said. “We're going to be both a family spot (and a) college spot.”
The location of the Flying Biscuit brings co-owner Kevin White's experience full circle, he said.
"What's really cool is, I used to live in Capstone," White, a USC graduate, said. "If you're standing at Flying Biscuit, you can see Capstone from right there."
Flying Biscuit Café will embrace the college town atmosphere Five Points creates by being open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.
“The beauty of our restaurant is, the entire menu is all day long. If you want to come in at 7 a.m., you can order steak and eggs, or you can order shrimp and grits or a salad,” Barth said. “If you want to come in at 9 p.m. — when we're going to close on Friday and Saturday — you can order a waffle and eggs.”
The menu puts a decidedly Southern twist on breakfast classics.
“The food is kind of more fun and funky,” Barth said. “It takes a lot of Southern flavors — Southern style of cooking — and then kind of blends that into a traditional breakfast, which — then you wrap it in fun and funky names and a few other things like that.”
The cafe will also feature a full bar, according to Barth. At the bar, expect the breakfast and brunch staples such as bloody marys and mimosas, but also be aware of its new signature drinks.
“We're also going to have a drink (‘The Fade’) because we're really good friends with Erik Kimrey, who's a football coach (at USC) now,” White said.
Local connections will expand past drink names, as the owners plan on incorporating local landmarks into murals. The vibe of the restaurant is relaxed and fun loving, according to Barth. Barth said he fell in love with the concept, which is “completely, just, artsy and cool and eclectic,” he said.
This will be the 27th franchise for the chain, but the Five Points location will pay homage to local landmarks with murals.
"(We) will sit down with the mural artists and come up with ideas on what we think represents Columbia and our location, specifically," Barth said.
While Flying Biscuit isn’t going to open until late November or early December, plans for promotion are already taking shape.
“Before Flying Biscuit opens — a week or two before — we're going to have the Flying Biscuit food truck come up, and we're going to give away food and USC Gamecocks shirts,” White said.
The Flying Biscuit Café will be located at 936 Harden Street in Five Points.