Today was the grand opening of Big Bear Biscuits on East 96th Street. I decided to check it out. We arrived a little before 8 am. The outside of the building was super cute. They had a patio with tables and chairs. The plant wall was extremely cool. Once inside there was only a couple of tables with patrons. The rest of restaurant was full of workers. We were seated at a booth. The table was longer than the seats which is always weird to me.
The hostess left the menus and I had a hard time deciding what to order. I thought I’d do the Three Bears. This allows you to get 3 biscuits and your choice of 3 gravies. Options were sawmill, sausage, mushroom, chicken etoufee, spicy tomato coconut, and chocolate. I’m a huge fan of chocolate gravy so I knew that was one of my choices. Sausage is always a must and I chose the mushroom as my third option. Since no one wants sweet and savory on the same plate I asked for the chocolate biscuit to come on a plate by itself.
My breakfast date ordered the Douglas. This was a breakfast sandwich. It was a biscuit topped with fried chicken, home fries, sunny side up egg, cheese, sausage gravy, and a bacon jam. We talked about sides and the barista/server suggested the vegetable of the day which was collard greens. He told me they were fire. Collard greens are something that I thoroughly enjoy so I said why not? Home fries are a must so I got those as well.
As far as drinks I was debating between a Bloody Mary or the Mimosa Flight. In the end the flight won and I was excited to try the fresh juices. It was called the “Drink your Juice Shelby.” It came in a cute little rack with four small wine type glasses. The fresh juices today were Tangerine, Beet Orange, Blood Orange, and Strawberry Lemonade. They bring out the small bottle of procsecco for you to pour yourself. My favorite was the strawberry lemonade followed closely by the Tangerine. I didn’t really care for the Beet Orange. My friend ordered a Bjorn Latte which she thought was excellent.
I went to the restroom before the meal came to wash my hands. The paper towel holder was mounted super high. Just an observation. The restaurant inside is decorated very tastefully. I enjoyed the decor. Our drinks came out fast and the food followed it out. I was actually surprised at how fast it came out. When the waitress carried the first of the food out of the kitchen the guy sitting at the bar(which I had already figured out was the chef) stopped her and asked what the entree was she was serving. She replied with “the Three Bears” and he asked where the other biscuit was as she explained to him I had order it on a separate plate. I respect the quality control but it honestly made the waitress uncomfortable as I could see the look on her face.
The food continued to arrive at the table. I started with the savory biscuits. Both gravies were lukewarm at best. The sausage gravy had a good flavor but there was nowhere near enough gravy for the size of the biscuit. The mushroom gravy contained no visible mushrooms and had small diced red/orange bell peppers in it. I couldn’t even taste mushroom in it. I let the waitress know that the food wasn’t warm. The barista came over to let us know that she was still in training and that he was there to make sure we were taken care of properly. I didn’t have an issue at all with the waitress. I could tell she was inexperienced and I was okay with that. She did a good job. It was the problem with the food.
The home fries and collard greens were where it was at today. They both had great flavor, were well seasoned, and cooked correctly. I also enjoyed the chocolate gravy even though it was lukewarm too. My friends sandwich looked good but once she started digging into it there was definetly some flaws. First it was served in a pie pan which would have been fine but they put a piece of like parchment paper under the sandwich. The sandwich was already messy and when the paper got wet it started to tear when she cut the sandwich. And I know you are thinking why not just pick up the sandwich? It is a knife and fork sandwich. The egg on top was cooked perfectly, the chicken was a lot of breading and the sandwich could have used a lot more sausage gravy. She asked for a side of it. I also want to point out the sandwich had a bacon jam on it that had the worst texture. The flavor was good but to me it was gritty and looked very unappetizing. She said it reminded her of the texture of coconut.
She decided the best thing on the table was the latte and ordered a second. We also agreed the home fries were good too. I wwant to point out just a couple more observations. I feel like almost everyone working stopped at our table during the meal and if you remember earlier I said there were a lot of them. Another thing is that a lot of back of the house workers kept coming out of the kitchen and hanging out in the dining room. As we were finishing up what I believe to be patrons(they got up from another table) were allowed to go back into the kitchen. I just felt like that was uncalled for. Overall the atmosphere could use some help and the staff needs direction.
I wish I could say I would come back but honestly nothing really impressed me enough to make another 30 plus minute drive. And if you are going to use the word Biscuit in your name please ensure that the biscuits are good They were very dry on the outside and the inside tasted undercooked and like raw flour. I hope they are able to get the kinks worked out and become a successful business but it’s going to take some major effort.
3905 E. 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240
