Biscuit Sandwiches at Empire Biscuit – NYC

So what’s the big deal about Empire Biscuit? Yes, they have biscuits all day long and soon will be open 24/7 (starting November 18), but do we need an all-day, all-biscuit restaurant in New York?

I say yes, but not sure that restaurant is Empire Biscuit. Last week, I went for lunch and while the biscuits weren’t bad, they didn’t have me clamoring for more.

I had the Spiced Fried Chicken ($8.50; pictured at top), which was comprised of a lard biscuit with pickled carrots, sauce a l’orange, and fried chicken. The biscuit had a bit of crunch outside with tender innards but was borderline dry. Adding fried white chicken meat that also leaned on the dry side didn’t help matters. I did like the spiced seasoning on the fried chicken which tasted like it had cumin in it, but that was about it.

BF had the Fried Eggplant ($7.50), which was comprised of a butter biscuit with fried eggplant, toasted walnut, and onion pâté. In terms of dryness, the butter biscuit and the lard were similar. As for the walnut and onion pate, I guess this had a similar mouthfeel to real pâté, but definitely didn’t have the same richness factor.

Next time, I’ll probably go more traditional with biscuits and gravy. Empire Biscuit is still in “soft open” mode, so probably at this time, simplicity is best.

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Empire Biscuit
198 Ave A (b/n 12th & 13th; map)
New York, NY 10009
646-682-9529