The Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. has been bringing a gourmet twist to a Southern staple on the streets of Columbia for just over a year. The distinctive yellow truck can be seen all over town serving up homemade biscuits — the pinnacle of universally appealing gastronomy — to foodies and college kids alike.
For the second year, Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. will be pairing biscuits with blues at Columbia’s annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival.
The festival’s vendor coordinator Anne Morris says the truck “is a strong local presence and (serves) delicious food to boot. There are really no other food vendors in the area like them, and they put out a great product.”
“We try to put a lot of love into everything we make. This is the kind of food I ate at my grandma’s table,” says Bryan Maness, head chef and owner of Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co.
Maness draws inspiration from his roots: He is from southern Missouri, and his family goes back for generations in northern Arkansas.
Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. focuses on providing food that’s as close to home as possible by using quality ingredients and making many products from scratch.
The truck works hard to source local ingredients and uses Columbia grocery store the Root Cellar to find products from Missouri farmers. Produce, eggs and meats for sandwiches are found locally.
Maness found that most buttermilk biscuits failed to support a hearty sandwich typical of the truck, so he perfected his own recipe. The day’s biscuits are made from scratch every morning. The jams and jellies used on the sandwiches are also house-made.
Maness is also committed to providing delicious food at no cost to the environment. He says the truck uses only compostable utensils and packaging in an effort to “try to be kind to the earth.”
Maness says he looks forward to returning to Roots N Blues. He notes that at last year’s festivities, the truck had just opened and had “a very different experience. We had kind of a long line.”
After a year of honing its craft on the streets of Columbia and at festivals around the Midwest, Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. is ready to bring biscuits and blues together once again.
This year, Maness says, “We’ve adjusted our festival menu to be a little bit quicker service.” The festival menu is “a little bit different. All the food quality is the same but maybe the components are put together different … to make it a little faster.”
The truck plans to increase its selling area by adding a tent to the front of the truck and avoid the crowd bottlenecking at the window, Maness says.
Most importantly, Maness says the “goal is to give people as much great food as possible.”
The biscuit truck’s diverse menu includes everything from comforting classics to exciting twists on the Southern staple. Biscuit offerings are divided into two categories, “Ozark Originals” and “Backwoods Basics.”
The truck serves six different biscuit sandwiches ranging in price between $6 and $8.
Maness says the chicken fried chicken sandwich is the most popular item on the menu. Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co.’s menu describes the savory sandwich as “crispy buttermilk fried chicken with a soft egg, greens and sawmill gravy.”
Maness recommends his personal favorite, the Fredericks-burger, to customers. A ground beef or veggie patty comes with “crispy onions on that, smoked cheddar cheese (and) our house made zucchini pickles.”
The company also offers traditional Southern sides like simmered greens, fried green tomatoes and cornbread. For those still enamored with the kale trend, try a side of their kale slaw.
To satisfy a sweet tooth, the Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. serves up pie staples — apple and pecan — but throws the classic dessert into the fryer. Like a turnover, the flaky pie pastry surrounds the filling for a fork-free dessert.
Maness may cook up some complicated food but his recipe for success is simple.
“We greet everyone with a smile, try to give them quick service and give them some really good quality food that they can enjoy,” he says.
