Have you heard about the new chick in town? Her name is Queen Beak and she is fluffing her feathers for a Spring debut in Austin along with her other “sister from a different mister” counterparts. I got to sit down and chat with Ryan McElroy, who also owns Thunderbird coffee and Brian Batch who is the former Thunderbird Coffee general manager and Chef at the new Bird Bird Biscuit. They are almost done with the process of converting a 1950s industrial type space at 2701 Manor Rd into a biscuit sandwich wonderland inspired by some of the restaurants they enjoyed in Los Angeles and Nashville.

The biscuit is designed, yes designed, to hold together for a meaty substantial sandwich and still be flaky and buttery. It sounds impossible but together with friends and their team, they have come up with the biscuit of all biscuits and the fillings are unique and tasty for any time of day.

They curate and prepare regular items like chicken, chicken sausage, eggs, cheese, eggplant, bacon, and peanut butter and then layer each one with a matching signature sauce. There is something for the vegetarian as well as the carnivore and it’s definitely not your mommas biscuit.

I met with Brian and Ryan on a rainy day In Austin at their Manor Road location of Thunderbird. It’s a homey place and people were scattered about working and studying. I sat down at a corner community table and waited for Brian and Ryan. They both appeared with friendly faces and wanted to know about me even though i had made the appointment to find out about them. It’s just their natures. Brian offered me a latte which I gladly accepted. It was smooth and delicious. We started talking.

Having done my homework, I told them that I was very impressed with their values as a company to make sure that their coffees came directly from places where they knew the workers were paid well and treated fairly. They smiled and said they’d have it no other way.

From Thunderbird Coffee website:

Thunderbird goes much farther than fair trade. We focus on roasters who use a more transparent “direct trade” model, which cuts out the middle man, and leaves no questions about how much the farmers and pickers are getting paid for their work. This is an important question, and crucial to Thunderbird’s values.

They are both such very kind, generous and approachable people and it didn’t surprise me that they went the extra mile to care for the workers that they may never meet when choosing their coffees. They are definitely bringing their values of community and excellence over to their new venture as well.

When asked what they were doing with the menu they both said that they had learned a lot of what not to do while starting and running Thunderbird. They want to concentrate on and perfect a small menu and then maybe branch out from there.

Brandon Watson of Austin Culturemap reveals that Batch describes the upcoming concept as a “love letter” to the Southern staple.

He goes on to say:

“Serving someone something excellent is secondary to treating them excellently. I want life to be the business of spreading joy, and business to be a life lived joyfully,” says Batch in a release. “And it doesn’t hurt to make a killer biscuit sandwich.”

That’s what I love about local. You truly get a look at the heart and soul of the people providing a product. Bird Bird biscuit is waiting on the City of Austin to ok everything and then Queen Beak and her girls will make their debut. Be sure to keep up with them on their Instagram and Facebook pages so you will be in the know!