Vicious Biscuit can thank its social media presence for catching the attention of Cliff Russum, who along with his brother, Hunter, are among the initial handful of franchisees set to grow the fast-casual breakfast franchise in new markets.
The Russum brothers, who own three Mugshots Grill & Bar franchises in southern Mississippi, were on the hunt for another restaurant brand to backfill their existing areas when Cliff Russum came across Vicious Biscuit and its massive biscuit sandwiches on Instagram.
“Every plate that comes out is Instagram-worthy,” said Russum, who later, on visits to Vicious Biscuit restaurants in Mount Pleasant and Summerville, South Carolina, tried menu items such as The Fat Boy, a buttermilk biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, pimento cheese and honey drizzle, and Southern favorite shrimp and grits.
“That sealed the deal,” he said of the trips that also included a close look at operations, which Russum described as “streamlined” and a perfect complement to their casual dining Mugshots locations. The operating hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. were likewise appealing and should make staffing somewhat easier versus Mugshots, which is open until 10 p.m.
Brothers Hunter, left, and Cliff Russum plan to open three Vicious Biscuit locations in Mississippi to go along with their three Mugshots restaurants.
The Russums signed a three-unit area development agreement to bring Vicious Biscuit to the Jackson and Hattiesburg areas, one of seven multi-unit deals the brand’s inked for a total of 37 locations.
The decision to buy into a brand with just six company units open didn’t come without some hesitation, Russum acknowledged. But discussions with co-founder and CEO George McLaughlin, who grew up in Mississippi and has an extensive franchise background, and the team at Pivotal Growth Partners, which Vicious Biscuit brought in to lead franchise development, gave him confidence to move forward.
“It’s got pros and cons,” he said of choosing an emerging brand. “What they’ve done with their locations is proven. And then the challenge for us is skipping over a couple states and bringing it to our market.”
He expects Vicious Biscuit to fulfill unmet demand in areas without much selection. “In the Jackson market, Another Broken Egg is the main competitor, but there’s just not a ton of options, specifically in Hattiesburg,” said Russum.
“We’re from the South, where you learn young that breakfast is the most important meal.”
First franchise opening in Ohio
Carl Albright credited his younger sister with tipping him off to Vicious Biscuit and launching a restaurant ownership career for the former CEO of global call center company InfoCision.
From left, franchisees Dave Ost, Ken Troutman, Curtis Fox and Carl Albright are opening their first Vicious Biscuit this year in Akron, Ohio.
“She was eating at Vicious Biscuit every day, literally every day,” said Albright, who with sister Carol Eastman owns Three Keys Yoga across the street from Vicious Biscuit’s location in Summerville. Albright, who lives in northeast Ohio, got with friends and business partners Ken Troutman, Dave Ost and Curtis Fox for a visit to the restaurant and left impressed.
“We don’t have anything like it in the Akron, northeast Ohio area. It’s much more vibrant,” said Albright. “It’s a little hipper than the likes of Bob Evans, Cracker Barrel or even First Watch.”
Forming GMA Biscuits, which uses the initials of Albright’s children—Griffin, Maddox and Avery—he and his three partners signed a franchise agreement to develop six Vicious Biscuit locations within Ohio’s Summit, Medina and Cuyahoga counties. Their first is set to open in March, taking over what was Bomba Tacos in Akron’s prominent Montrose Center.
“There’s already big buzz in our area,” said Albright, who noted during due diligence visits to the brand’s existing stores he was encouraged by the equally enthusiastic staff and what he described as Vicious Biscuit’s culture of caring for employees. “We’re excited to be the first to bring it here.”
While this is Albright’s first restaurant venture, he said Troutman, also a former InfoCision executive, has restaurant experience, as does Ost, who owns New York Bagel Deli in Medina, Ohio. Fox, meanwhile, leads Fox Brothers Construction and has worked on numerous restaurant projects.
“There is zero chance I would have done this if it weren’t a long-term legacy for my son. Or that I would have done this without Ken and Dave, and Curtis’s construction background,” said Albright.
He explained son Griffin, who is 20, is pursuing a business career and will work in the restaurants. “I’ll start him at the lowest level humanly possible. He has to learn it all,” said Albright.
Vicious Biscuit’s corporate locations have an AUV of $2.5 million.
An indulgent biscuit brand’s origins
McLaughlin, who with chef Michael Greeley opened the first Vicious Biscuit in late 2018 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, said he’s learned plenty from starting at the bottom, and that experience informs how he’s growing his upstart restaurant concept.
While in college at the University of Mississippi, McLaughlin worked at the original McAlister’s Deli in Oxford and helped founder Don Newcomb turn it into a franchise. “I became the first employee to open a franchise,” said McLaughlin, who started with one restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1997 and grew his McAlister’s unit count to 17. He also owned three Italian Pie locations.
Founders George McLaughlin, left, and Michael Greeley, opened their first Vicious Biscuit in December 2018.
After selling the last of his restaurants in 2008, he went on to launch beer, wine and spirits retailer Bottles Beverage Superstore, now with four stores in South Carolina. But he never went far from the restaurant industry, and in 2017 was working with a company on a biscuit concept when he read a local food critic’s review of what at the time was Greeley’s catering business, Vicious Biscuit.
“I said, if your biscuits are half as good as your name, we need to talk,” recalled McLaughlin. The two decided to combine forces and now are preparing to open their seventh company location, in Columbia.
“Brunch has been around forever, and we wanted to make brunch fun again,” he continued as he described the brand’s “fork and knife biscuits” that take up an entire plate. The 31-item menu includes sharables such as jalapeno cheddar hush puppies and fried green tomatoes, along with signature biscuit sandwiches and “not so vicious” choices, including a keto bowl and oatmeal power bowl. Restaurants also serve a selection of brunch cocktails.
The menu, said McLaughlin, is “not too big, not too overwhelming, but enough to override the veto vote.” It’s been carefully engineered over the past few years, he added, to enhance cross-utilization of ingredients and ensure the made-to-order offerings aren’t too complex to hit six- to eight-minute ticket times.
“We’ve really focused on execution to simplify the process without risking quality,” he said. And while Vicious Biscuit uses high quality ingredients that in some cases cost more, such as its free-range eggs, he noted restaurants do enough volume to make the model work. The average unit volume of its prototype locations is $2.5 million.
The company waited to pursue franchise expansion until it proved the model, a decision McLaughlin said is rooted in his experience as a franchisee. “We didn’t want to launch franchising until we had six locations in six completely different markets. We really tested the model,” he said, with units now in the Carolinas and Florida.
“Franchisees are the ones out in the field, working the stores every day,” he continued. “You’ve got to know what your franchisees are going to experience.”
In addition to the deals in Ohio and Mississippi, the brand has franchisees signed in Auburn, Alabama, Jacksonville, Florida, Louisiana, Indianapolis and Salt Lake City. The cost to open a Vicious Biscuit restaurant ranges from $744,400 to $1,133,750.