Elon University held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday for Biscuitville, the newest addition to Lakeside Dining Hall’s Winter Garden Cafe.

Serving its staple Southern offerings of biscuits made from scratch and a host of breakfast meats, Biscuitville will offer Elon students breakfast options all day long, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The location in the Winter Garden Cafe is Biscuitville’s first ever on a college campus.

The welcome was a homecoming of sorts for Biscuitville CEO Burney Jennings, who graduated from Elon in 1987 with a degree in business administration. Elon University President Leo Lambert praised the contributions of the entire Jennings family to the university.

“The Jennings family has given back time and time again to the university over three generations,” Lambert said.

Lambert and Jay Faircloth, senior director of strategic and business development for ARAMARK, Elon’s food service provider, joined Jennings in welcoming Biscuitville to campus. Dr. Earl Danieley was also in attendance, along with several members of the Elon Board of Trustees.

Two Elon students, freshman Joe Del Vecchio and sophomore Kerianne Durkin, were each awarded free Biscuitville once a week as a result of their entries into a contest asking why they were most excited about Biscuitville coming to campus.

Del Vecchio compared his native Philadelphia breakfast to “dust on a plate” after eating at Biscuitville for the first time, which, according to Del Vecchio, opened his eyes to the reality of Southern comfort food.

[quote]This collaboration has been an outstanding process for our team and our partnership with ARAMARK. -- Burney Jennings, Biscuitville CEO[/quote]

Faircloth said the Biscuitville opening was a result of the collaborative efforts of ARAMARK and Biscuitville. He hopes to one day expand the Biscuitville concept to other college campuses throughout the country.

“It’s a new addition to the [ARAMARK] portfolio, a new regional offering that we can build and hopefully take to the national level,” Faircloth said.

Jennings said the company has worked to adapt its menu and operational schedule to the demands of Elon students.

“We think we have put together a menu to satisfy anyone, even college kids,” Jennings said. “This collaboration has been an outstanding process for our team and our partnership with ARAMARK.”

President Lambert briefly explained the history of Biscuitville, from its humble Burlington roots to the present-day company that has more than 50 restaurants and more than 1,000 employees throughout the states of North Carolina and Virginia.

In 1966, Maurice Jennings, another Elon alum and father of the current CEO, founded Pizzaville, Biscuitville’s predecessor. Jennings originally wanted to serve pizza, but one morning on a whim, he added fresh baked biscuits to the menu. The company never looked back.

Chris Fulkerson, assistant vice president for technology at Elon, summed it up well.

“Have you had their biscuits?” Fulkerson said. “I know a lot of students who have passed through here, had their biscuits and when they come back for Homecoming, Biscuitville is their first stop.”