A small East Coast restaurant chain will be migrating its way west in the near future thanks to a Utahn’s vacation.

Representatives of Vicious Biscuit announced in a press release that the chain — currently serving South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida — will be opening at least five restaurants in Utah in the next couple of years, with two native franchisees at the helm.

“The brand is thrilled to welcome its newest franchise partners, Andy Barron and Eric Price, to the breakfast rebellion with a newly signed five-unit franchise development agreement across the Beehive State, where residents will soon experience a taste of Vicious Biscuit’s over-the-top scratch-made biscuits, piled high with bold, chef-inspired ingredients and served with a generous side of Southern hospitality,” the release said.

The franchise specializes in Southern comfort food, centered around dishes utilizing cheddar and jalapeno biscuits along with other dishes.

Barron, a Utah native, told the Standard-Examiner a vacation with his wife and friends to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2020 helped get the ball rolling.

“We had several people here locally in Utah tell us, if we’re out that way, we should try a restaurant called Vicious Biscuit,” he said. “We did, then I came home from that vacation. … I decided I was going to spend time figuring out who owned that place.”

After a couple of weeks of searching, he said he got in touch with co-founder George McLaughlin.

“We had some cool conversations. I connected with Eric and we decided we were going to chase this down,” Barron said. “It took us about three years for them to be in the right place and for us to be in the right place.”

There are plans for five franchise locations in Utah, including in Salt Lake City, Ogden/Clearfield, Provo/Orem, Logan and St. George.

Price, another Utah native, chef in Bear Lake and friend of Barron, told the Standard-Examiner that he and Barron are currently scouting out a location around Salt Lake City for their first location.

“With the size of restaurant we’d like, we’ve had a little bit of difficulty finding availability,” Price said. “There’s just not much on the market. It’s hampered a little bit, but we’re getting closer as the winter fades and more and more goes on the market. We’re looking at Salt Lake County as our flagship in Utah and then we want to go both north and south along the (Interstate 15) corridor.”

He said having the franchise will add a lot to a growing Utah.

“The more diverse food culture that we have, the better,” he said. “This gives us an opportunity to bring something that is quite different and diverse from what we’ve seen so far. Utah has grown so quickly with food and restaurants and different ideas. It’s been amazing and we get to add to that and bring a style of food and hospitality that I think can only expand the great things Utah’s doing and give people another option of scratch-food and hospitality.”

Barron said there isn’t a timeline for opening the first store, but he is confident that once it opens, all five will come to fruition within the next couple of years.

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