The King Biscuit

Can someone please just send me the potato enchilada recipe?!

Does anyone know what happened to the biscuit? All their staff left, then I heard they changed owners, and now the building is for sale and looks very blah (no longer colorful).
So what happened? Were they taxed to death on their lovely stiff drinks?
Cashing in on the property?
Whatever happens, please don’t bulldoze.

I hear this place has closed, which figures because I actually kinda liked it!
We had one of our first resurrection Brunch Bunches her a couple months ago and I was pleased with both the service and food. It’s more of a hole in the wall type place, so I wasn’t expecting gourmet food, but they delivered on affordable and tasty.
Our server was very attentive and gave no fuss about splitting tickets. I really hope they get new ownership and will reopen soon. For the area, it looks like a neighborhood staple!

If you have not experienced this place, it is too late. It was famous for its late night jazz jam sessions with some superb local talent and a lot of the guys passing through town would end up sitting in.
The last Saturday night in April, was the last night under the present owner, we can only hope that it will stay as something similar in the future, as there are too many great memories attached to this place.

I came here on a Sunday around 11:30 for a UYE brunch event.
It was a nice day outside and we took it all in on the TKB patio. Before I found everyone, I stumbled inside. There you’ll find a dive bar atmosphere while outside you’ll find your basic patio setup with various and mismatching tables and chairs.
To set the tone for brunch I ordered a bloody mary based off some other reviews. After gulping one down, I ordered a second one for the meal.
Although, I wasn’t hungover, I stuck with the hangover them and ordered a burger respectfully titled the Hangover Remover. What you get is a bacon cheese burger with a fried egg and a side of spicy fries. I ate the entire plate, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the burger. When the waitress didn’t ask me how I wanted it cooked I was hesitant, but I went with it. On the other hand, the spicy fries were nice and spicy.
They get 3 stars for brunch, but I bet this is a better dinner and bar place. When I come back to the heights for dinner, I’ll give TKB another chance.

Sunday brunch in the spring on a patio… what could be better? The King Biscuit has a nice patio with a bunch of random tables and chairs. We were able to take over a large table on the patio. Our waitress was very attentive and tried very hard to make sure all our needs were met.
One of my brunch companions ordered a mimosa. They only had half a glass and they sent someone out to get some more Champagne. They also had no problem splitting our check up, which made things much easier for us. So, they were really going the extra mile. I wish the food was as good as the service.
I ordered Ed’s Chicken, a sandwich with bacon and cheese. The sandwich was quite bland and didn’t come with mayo, mustard, or anything to help it not be so dry. The regular fries are the skinny type and really boring as well. My husband had the Big Bang breakfast. It was fine. My companions were unimpressed with their hamburgers.
Parking is a bit of a ‘take what you can get’ style parking. It’s all street parking around curves. We watched warily at one point as a large Range Rover squeezed in between two tiny cars.
Overall, this place is fine. I’d give the food 2 stars and the service 4 stars. Overall, I’d maybe go back, but no special trips there any time soon.

If you happen to catch a beautiful Sunday, stop by for some brunch here. This hidden little gem is a wonderful spot for some outdoor dining. It’s right across from White Oak Bayou; perfect place to take a little stroll and work off your meal.
There’s a very colorful and rustic charm about the place. The brunch menu is simple and the food is average. Omelettes, french toast, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy, etc. Sometimes you just want something simple, and this place has all the comfort staples (burgers, cheesesteaks, salads, steaks).
No parking lot, so you have to find parking along the neighborhoods. But be careful, read the signs carefully because towing is enforced. You have a good view of Downtown Houston. Sundays can get crowded. Food is cheap.

Food was not that great, i had been there a couple times before but the last time i went was probably the worst restaurant experience. The service was awful (inspite of the fact that the restaurant was quite empty at the time,) when the food got there my boyfriend and i found ourselves accompanied by a roach on the wall,. To make matters worse, the roach made itself known to us as it crawled from the wall to our table. Honestly we were too embarassed to even say anything so we decided to ask for the check and go; Our appetites were ruined and we will never go back there again.
it was really a shame, its a nifty place with art on the walls but that roach incident just really crossed the line, we will never set foot in that place.

The waitress was nice but scatterbrained. The area they sat us in was downright hot. The waitress even mentioned that it was hot in a «it sucks for you guys» kind of way. In my years of customer service, I would try to go the extra mile. I would have at least asked the manager if they could turn down the AC in that room and if not, I would have told the customers that I tried to fix it for them. Instead, we really didn’t see our waitress much, my guess is she was hiding out in the cooler area downstairs.
Drinks: Well, our friend ordered a glass or orange juice. He asked the waitress if the OJ was any good here and she said she wasn’t sure. She brought him a glass of OJ that wasn’t even orange and asked him if it tasted okay. Okay, here’s where a more savvy waitress, if concerned about the taste, would have tried a little bit herself before pouring a large glass and asking the customer if it tasted right. The glass seriously looked like it came from one of those drink gallons in the grocery store for 99cents (You know the stuff. has 0% fruit juice, 99% HFCS and 1% natural ingredients). My friend was really nice about it and told the waitress as she was standing there that it tasted horrible and he didn’t want it and he was fine with just water. So, what did our friendly but frazzled waitress do? She left the glass on the table in front of him and brought him another glass of this thick orange goo and asked him to try that. He said at least this time it tasted like OJ, but it was so thick and syrupy it was unacceptable and he didn’t want it. She left both glasses on the table in front of him for the remainder of the meal (about 2 hours). Now, that was just a simple glass of juice. I ordered a mimosa and my wife ordered a Bloody Mary. For $ 3, I had a tiny champagne flute filled with the first kind of «OJ» that my friend recieved. the yellowish looking watery substance and some expected cheap champagne. I really couldn’t finish my tiny glass because it tasted so bad. My wife’s Bloody Mary was bland and more like tomato juice than the spicy peppery throat burning goodness of a real bloody mary at a good restaurant. Seriously, .50 cents for much better mimosas at Brian O’Neils and you can find better bloody marys anywhere else in the city.
Food: The food was good. I ordered the pork tenderloin covered in peppercorn gravy that came with 2 eggs potatoes and fruit. Their peppercorn gravy was excellent. The pork was tender and the eggs were cooked well. The potatoes were a little soggy for my liking, but the fruit was fresh. I tried my wife’s french toast and it was pretty good.
Service: Well, considering we were a large party on a quiet morning in a mostly empty restaurant, our service wasn’t great. One would think they would want to make the big group happy since it didn’t look like they were making much money from anyone else at the time. But, coffee refills took a long time as did getting cream for the coffee. Our friend didn’t get his simple french toast, eggs, and potatoes breakfast when they put food out for the rest of us. We all ate ours while he waited… and waited… and waited. We asked the waitress several times, she said it was on the way. He eventually went to the manager who was tending the bar and complained. Within minutes of speaking with her, he had his breakfast. That was a deal breaker for me. They weren’t busy and it was an easy throw-​together breakfast, so there was no reason why he had to go through that experience. The manager tried to make the situation better by giving us a carafe of mimosas. He didn’t drink a mimosa and I never saw the bill, but I hope he didn’t have to pay for that breakfast.
This place is okay, I would go back for lunch or dinner and sit in the cooler area downstairs. But, they certainly have some flaws that could be worked out with some good employee training.

This place is not what it used to be.
Atmosphere:
As other reviewers mentioned, it is hot as hell in the front room. The A/​C reads that it is 109 degrees in there, so it is obviously broken. I would expect that the hostess would say «Hey guys, the A/​C is broken in the front room, would you rather sit in the bar area?» Instead, we were seated in the front room, sat there waiting for our beverages and began to break a sweat, in which we got up ourselves and moved over to the bar area, which was perfectly comfortable.
Service:
The waitress was friendly and nice, but in my opinion visited with us too much for my taste.
Food:
My mom and I shared the spinach salad and fish tacos w/​onion rings. The fish tacos were OK but not memorable. The onion rings were completely charred and disgustingly greasy. The spinach salad was decent, however I was not a fan of the raw pecans. I would prefer if they toasted them a bit so they were crunchy.
My mom, my boyfriend and I all unanimously agreed that the meal was a disappointment.

This is one of those places that I heard good things about over the years from several people, but until Unilocal came along, I kept forgetting to check it out. Yay for bookmarks!
OK, so as part of my four-​day birthday celebration, I invited some friends out to Sunday brunch. Let me break it down for you:
The food: Excellent. Don’t let that tiny online menu fool you! Our server greeted us with a list of just as many specials as there were regular items, including pork loins, a vegetable quiche, and a huge plate of French toast, eggs, sausage, and fruit, all of which were ordered by at least one or more of my friends. They also made the California benedict (eggs benedict with turkey and avocado) minus the turkey for my veggie friend, which was cool.
The drinks: Ehhh. Don’t go for the mimosas. Sure, $ 3 isn’t bad, but for the same quality (low), you can get them for 50 cents at Brian O’Neills. My Bloody Mary was OK. Nothing spectacular.
The environment: Cute, cute little house in the heights, painted brightly, with lots of umbrella-​shaded tables that I’m sure are wonderful to sit at on a not-​110-​degree-​heat day. Inside? Lots of natural lighting, and walls lined with neat, colorful paintings, throwbacks to an early Surrealist style. The bar area where we met up was particularly cool, but the area where our table was set up was notably hot, as even our server observed.
The service: I adored our server, and she was very sweet. I don’t know who dropped the ball, though, but my friend’s husband did not receive his plate of French toast and eggs until WAY after everyone had finished. After all my years working my way through college in restaurants, that tells me that not only was there a problem, but why so long to fix it was a mystery to me. Eggs on the fly shouldn’t take that long.
The management: The manager was very nice, and did apologize for the problem with my friend’s late food; she also gave us a free carafe of mimosas to try and make up for it, which was nice of her.
The Verdict: This is probably more like 3.5 Stars, and if I lived near this place, I might give it another try; but since I sort of went out of my way to come here and wasn’t over-​the-​top impressed, I can’t see myself visiting again unless someone invited me – I wouldn’t plan to on my own is all.

great spot for outdoor dining on nice days, food is average.
grilled chicken sandwich came on a bun like a mrs. baird’s grocery bun — not toasted :(
french toast is pretty good with a hint of cinnamon.
and after all this food, you can cross the street and stroll along the bayou. nice view of downtown houston

The plan was for a group of us to have a nice dinner at King Buscuit & then a walk through the Lights in the Heights afterward.
At least the latter came together.
As we arrived early, (6pm) we were surprised to find they were already out of 3 main course meals, and we were one of only 4 tables in the place. Even more unusual was the policy of one person taking drink orders & a separate waitress serving food. First time I have ever seen that. When someone wanted a drink, they were rebuffed by the food server & directed to the drink server, who may/​may not be around at the time. And $ 6.95 rum & coke during happy hour? Please.
After we were informed as to what was still available on the menu, I chose the Potato Enchiladas. After all, the menu stated they were «back by popular demand».
I demand a recount.
They tasted like $ 2 frozen perogies wraped in tortillas. Bland, with the consistency of toothpaste.
Topping off the evening, one woman at the table was informed (as the rest of us were being served) that the meal she ordered was no longer available. That’s four meals listed on the menu, gone.
On the bright side, the woman was not charged for the meal she ultimately got to eat.
I have been here several times before for drinks/​appetizers. I see no reason to change that.

I drove through Houston in a torrential downpour to get to this place. Walking up to the door, I tried to stay positive, but feared I’d wind up remorseful I’d volunteered to drive. I fully expected to have a list of reasons I wasn’t going to need to come back.
Frown turned upside down to a full-​out grin within 10 minutes. I could pretty much copy Karlyn’s review (she beat me to it) word-​for-​word and mean it wholeheartedly. Right down to the guacamole gripe… yeah, that didn’t get eaten.
If I hadn’t been the DD, I would have COMPLETELY appreciated the rum & coke I’d been served. More accurately, I probably could have just called it a glass of rum. Never in my life have I had to order an extra coke to go with my drink. But, that sucker was not for a designated driver.
I finished the night wishing I lived closer so I could justify being a regular. Definitely the type of place where everyone knows your name and is glad you came. I like those kind of places. Like them a lot.

Okay, king me. This place is good.
Five-​star service =
+ delightful staff with colorful personalities and genuine charm
+ bartenders that don’t dick around when it comes to liquor
+ people that seem to *really* enjoy being there
Four-​star food =
+ best spinach artichoke dip I’ve ever had (served with chips and squash slices for dipping)
+ a darn good bar food, such as catfish nuggets with spicy fries for $ 7, totally worth the heartburn
+ a diverse (read: effing random) entrée menu that they manage to pull off (read: the curry is actually pretty good)
But
— older guacamole alongside the quesadillas
— (which feels trivial since that’s my only culinary complaint, but I don’t screw around with avocado)

I came here again today to do some brunching on the patio in this hundred-​plus degree heat.
I got my usual: California Eggs Benedict. Of course, the menu hasn’t changed much, but they now offer brunch on Saturdays … unless I never noticed that on the menu before. I will say that I’m mainly writing this update because King Biscuit will no longer be pet friendly. Good thing Tex got to experience his first and last taste of the Biscuit today. Such a shame since their staff is so sweet to pets, offering free hugs and pats, along with many water bowls sporadically laid about the patio. But it’s not their fault; our waitress said it’s due to health codes and other blah stuff.

Definition of grimy: 5 rolls of silverware to find one kinda clean fork
I wanted to like this place. In fact, both its atmosphere and the waitresses and staff are so cheerful and friendly, that it almost hurts to give it 2 stars. (It’s like kicking a puppy.) I loved that the waitress would leave our table while singing whatever song was playing overhead. I loved that another waitress jokingly offered my date the coloring book and crayons that she was bringing to the toddler at the next table because «you know what happens if you don’t keep a guy’s hands busy.» The food was good and there was plenty of it. (I had the chicken quesadillas and my boyfriend had a burger.)
I didn’t love that there was an overall feeling of kinda haphazard cleaning.

This peculiar place stands proudly at what my lunch companion dubbed, «the beginning of the Heights.» Set at a precipice – it gives all of the indications of a kingdom. The multi-​colored building is an exciting sight. A friendly face offers you seating anywhere in the Biscuit’s labyrinth. We went with the pink room upstairs, left.
The host had warned us about the frat party going on in the room, but we ignored his warnings and were seated. .. for two minutes. We were quietly reseated near the bar at the psychedelic booths. I felt more at ease here – groovy almost, but mostly just calm. It was nice to be able to hear are conversation.
The menus boast blackened catfish served on a PoBoy or their «World Famous Tacos.» I was in! World famous, this I have to taste. Meh. They were good, but it’s doubtful they are world famous. They were almost bland actually, but still a good meal especially when paired with King Biscuit’s spicy french fries. Still, they don’t make the taco list.
I’ll definitely be back here. I liked the place a lot and I’m curious to roam around their menu.

Cute, outdoor dining, Heights… and the fact that ‘biscuit’ is in the name just makes my mouth water. Mmmmm!
The King Biscuit is a very laidback establishment and make sure you’re not in a hurry, because the wait staff definitely isn’t. The menu had a wide-​variety of selections, but the $ 3 Bloody Mary caught my eye. Although there were no olives, limes, beans, or celery (all things that are essential to a BM) it was very spicy and it WAS only $ 3. My ten-​mile pre-​brunch run had me in the mood to devour something of substance, so my usual wimpy salad was not going to cut it. My brunch buddy and I went for the California Eggs Benedict… fresh english muffin, turkey, avocado, w/​creamy hollandaise… served with hash browns and fruit. It hit the spot and was quite tasty! The prices there are very reasonable and there was no way I could finish all of the food… and I pigged out.
I’ll definitely be back there… but I will have to bring the pup, since the four-​legged friends are allowed outdoors.

This is a great place to go if you want to just chill. I’ve been at various times and it is never too busy.
I’ve only had sandwiches to eat here, but I’ve never heard anything bad about any of the food. The Bar staff is very outgoing and they have about 7 draft beers that are always changing which is great.
The patio is great and the parking could be a little better, but overall, this is a great place to hang out with a friend or to catch a game at.