Vicious Biscuit CEO George McLaughlin began working in the restaurant business during college and said, “once it’s in your blood, you’re cursed.”
That curse has turned into a blessing for McLaughlin, who used his experience as a longtime franchisee to develop his own breakfast and brunch brand. During November’s Restaurant Finance & Development Conference, he shared how the brand is poised to grow after creating a strong network of corporate locations.
Founded in 2018, Vicious Biscuit started franchising in 2022 and expanded to nine locations. It’s signed 13 franchisees and has a target of 20 locations by 2026.
The creation of Vicious Biscuit marked a return to the restaurant industry for McLaughlin after a break from 2008 to 2018. He was a franchisee and operator with a number of brands, beginning with McAlister’s Deli.
Vicious Biscuit CEO George McLaughlin
McLaughlin started with the sandwich concept as a college job while attending the University of Mississippi. At the time, it was named Checker’s, and upon graduation, the brand just opened its fourth location and began franchising.
After graduating, McLaughlin stayed on with the brand and began training franchisees before becoming one himself in 1997. From there, he grew his portfolio to 17 McAlister’s locations, and also became an owner with Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Italian Pie.
In 2008, McLaughlin sold off his restaurants and left the industry, but chose to return when he met Vicious Biscuit co-founder Michael Greeley.
“This industry gets is in your blood forever, and when we had the discussion and I had the biscuits, I fell in love with the concept,” McLaughlin said. “We opened the first in 2018, it took off and we launched the second in 2019.”
McLaughlin said expansion has been slow and steady to lay the proper groundwork; same with its franchise approach. The company received more than 130 applications upon the system’s launch and initially chose just five.
“I’m looking for the owners who will empower their people and empower the brand as they build it out,” McLaughlin said. “Successful franchisees who are passionate will develop things on their own. It’s those people we’re interested in, who have multi-unit and multi-brand experience. An advantage for us is we can learn from our franchisees, too. We tell our owners, ‘operate in our systems for six months, and after that, if you have a great idea, we want to hear it.’”
That steady growth is expected to accelerate soon, though, as McLaughlin said development of corporate stores will continue alongside franchise expansion, which got underway last year. The brand signed its initial agreements in early 2024 and in August its first franchise location opened in Akron, Ohio. McLaughlin said the rollout of franchised units coincides with a better real estate situation.
“During the pandemic there wasn’t as much new development and we lost a few years in finding new spaces,” McLaughlin said as he noted there were restaurants in second generation buildings that probably shouldn’t have survived but held on because of Paycheck Protection Program money. “We’re starting to see that real estate open up as well.
Vicious Biscuit menu items are becoming available in more markets
“We’re about to have a snowball effect with our current franchisees opening their restaurants pretty close to each other in the near future, too,” he continued. “That’s why we wanted to build out our corporate locations first, so we’d have good systems and staff to help those owners.”
In the next two to three years, McLaughlin said he expects the brand to reach 15 corporate locations, with new franchise units growing concurrently. As the growth accelerates, McLaughlin said he plans to fall back on a pair of philosophies that he relied on during his time as a franchisee.
“One is putting employees first and the customer second,” McLaughlin said. “Take care of your employees and they will take care of the customers. The second is empowering my managers. Anytime I hire a manager, I say ‘give me two great years.’ Come back to me two years from now when you’ve learned the business and I’ll back you as a franchisee. I want them to have the same opportunity I had when I was 23.”
Just as critical, McLaughlin said, is appreciating feedback from franchisees and employees alike.
“I always say I have two ears and one mouth, meaning I listen twice as much as I speak,” McLaughlin said. “As a CEO, I’m here to knock down the obstacles for my staff to thrive. With my two ears, I’m going to listen to their ideas and we’re going to talk those things out.”