The Greensboro, North Carolina-based restaurant chain secures the top spot for offering "fast and tasty options" for breakfast and was No. 1 among regional fast food restaurants, according to USA Today readers. Elon Trustee, alumnus and parent Burney Jennings ’87 P’18 serves as executive chairman of the company and Kathie S. Niven '89 serves as its CEO.
Greensboro, North Carolina-based Biscuitville Fresh Southern, which has strong alumni ties to Elon University, was recently recognized by USA Today readers as the “best regional fast food restaurant” with the “best fast food breakfast.”
The restaurant chain has been serving up delicious scratch-made biscuits as part of its classic Southern breakfast since 1966. The company was founded by late alumnus Maurice N. Jennings, Sr. ’57 P’87 GP’18, who served as an Elon trustee from 1978 to 1998. His son, Elon Trustee Burney Jennings ’87 P’18, led the family-owned franchise as president and CEO from 1997 to 2021, when he transitioned to his current role as executive chairman.
Today, Biscuitville is led by Kathie S. Niven, who joined Biscuitville in 2011. She was named president of the company in 2018 and followed Burney Jennings as CEO in 2021. Niven was honored by Elon in March at its Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony.
USA Today raves that with so many delectable breakfast options, “It’s no wonder folks return again and again.” The company has 69 locations in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. Elon students also enjoy Biscuitville as part of the Winter Garden Cafe options adjacent to Lakeside Dining Hall.
The Jennings family has deep roots at Elon that span four generations and is among the university’s most committed benefactors. In 2008, Burney Jennings made a gift, along with his father, to establish the Jennings Professorship of Law at the Elon University School of Law in Greensboro.
Burney Jennings and his wife, alumna Dina Jennings ’87 P’18, have generously supported the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center and Schar Center, where one of the large video boards bears the Biscuitville name, and established the Jennings Emerging Scholar Fund. In April 2022, they made an estate gift to support the Dina B. ’87 and Burney Jennings ’87 Scholarship, which the couple endowed in 2008 to make an Elon education possible for students with financial need. They are members of Order of the Oak, which recognizes donors who make estate and other planned gifts to Elon.