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Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. - Owner Ayeshah Abuelhiga's Biscuiteria, Now in the Former Drift on 7th Space in Shaw - Closed


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Mason Dixie (MD) could easily be a startup working on the next hit iOS app with an eye on Apple to acquire them. Young, talented "founders." One with the title "CEO" as in a tech company. Another with a high-profile day job. They recently won "Launchpad," an "entrepreneur's competition" netting a $500K "investment" and, until very recently, operated out of an "incubator." Surely very cool.

But no software or cool app here. Rather, southern style biscuits and, they're good. Very good. One of the founders is a chef and responsible for the namesake item. Another is the sommelier at Fiola Mare.

MD is looking for permanent space and, in the meantime, operates from a pop-up location in Union Market from 8 am until "sold out."

The bacon comes from Benton's in Tennessee. The eggs from local farms. The biscuits are everything a great biscuit should be: rich, fluffy and just strong enough to hold a variety of interesting sandwiches ranging from pork and fried chicken to chili and the morning take on a McMuffin.

As quick breakfasts go, the egg, bacon and cheese paired with a cappuccino from nearby permanent Union Market tenant Peregrine is as good as any other startup meal elsewhere in the city. Likely better.

Hope to see these guys in town soon. In the meantime, damn good biscuits and Biscuit sandwiches at Union Market Wednesday through Sunday.

Website - Facebook 

Nov 4, 2014 - "Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. Shifts to Union Market" by Becky Krystal on washingtonpost.com

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"When Mason Dixie opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, the first 100 customers will receive a card for one free breakfast sandwich every day for 90 days. Meanwhile, Mason Dixie has partnered with Lyft to give people 20-percent off rides to and from the restaurant when they use the code “MDBC” on April 15 or 16. (Seriously, only in DC would people pay someone to drive them to a drive-through.)"

"Mason Dixie's Fried Chicken and Biscuit Drive-Through Opens Saturday with Free Breakfast Sandwiches" by Jessica Sidman on washingtonian.com

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My wonderful brother-in-law/resident chef just served these biscuits on Easter.  He purchased them frozen from a local grocer.  FROZEN..and they were THE BEST biscuits I have ever tasted.  Absolute biscuit nirvana!  I can't wait for work to be over today so I can go on a hunt for them at a store near me.  

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I tried to go Saturday morning and was foiled. We'd planned to go Friday morning, but that didn't work out. It was certainly busy, but it didn't look insanely crowded. The line was a few people out the door (not like the photo in the City Paper article). Maybe it was moving slowly. It was raining, we had a toddler with us, and we were en route to drop someone off at DCA, so we didn't stick around. We were disappointed that the drive through wasn't open.

A side note: We found the restaurant on Google and plugged it into Google Maps to navigate us there. Google Maps took us to Union Market. I knew the address was Bladensburg Road, but I don't know that part of DC that well, so I assumed Google Maps took us to the right place. Then as we sat outside Union Market I had a vague recollection that they'd done a pop-up there, and I figured something about their Google listing must be out of date. Since we were short on time we tried calling the number in their Google listing, which appears to have been Ayeshah Abuelhiga's cell phone number. Not surprisingly, she didn't answer. (I think the phone was turned off.) Then we found another number, which I think was the phone number for the actual restaurant, and no one answered that, either. Eventually we put the Bladensburg Road address into Google Maps and we made it there ... at which point we pretty quickly left when we realized we weren't going to have enough time. I'm looking forward to trying the biscuits some day!!

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12 minutes ago, dracisk said:

A side note: We found the restaurant on Google and plugged it into Google Maps to navigate us there. Google Maps took us to Union Market. I knew the address was Bladensburg Road, but I don't know that part of DC that well, so I assumed Google Maps took us to the right place. Then as we sat outside Union Market I had a vague recollection that they'd done a pop-up there, and I figured something about their Google listing must be out of date.

I discovered this last week as well, and alerted them to the problem on Facebook (as well as writing Google to correct it myself) - they were very nice and appreciative, have now claimed the business, and the problem seems to be resolved - if you enter the business name now, the Bladensburg Road address should show up on Google Maps (it does for me, anyway).

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3 minutes ago, Kev29 said:

Unfortunately I can't see anything on crowd sizes there. But searching for 'Mason Dixie' in Twitter shows you how many people think that's the name of the historical north/south dividing line :D

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that "Mason Dixie" was a play on "Mason Dixon" and that the restaurant was not simply named after the line. :wacko:

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On 6/22/2018 at 4:29 PM, lovehockey said:

Mason Dixie is making its debut on QVC right now; co-founder Ayeshan Abuelhia is doing the presentation.  They're selling 18 biscuits; options are buttermilk, cheddar cheese, sweet corn, or a combination of the three.  The show host is from North Carolina so he's a really happy guy right now.

Here's the listing on QVC's website.

The story arc for this operation has been really... interesting.

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On 6/23/2018 at 7:58 AM, cheezepowder said:

They closed their Bladensburg location on March 4, 2018, and will be relocating to NW (their Facebook announcement).

In addition to QVC (see lovehockey's post above), their biscuits are also available in grocery stores.   You can check Where to Buy on their website for stores near you.

Ut-oh, they're at both Giants near me.  This could be dangerous.

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In preparation for their move to the former Drift space in Shaw, Mason Dixie had a pop-up at Flight Wine Bar on Saturday. @MichaelBDC and I went with a couple of friends and found it a bit underwhelming. Opinions on the chicken ranged from underseasoned (me) to not crispy enough (friends) to not good (@MichaelBDC). The sides (collard greens, coleslaw, and mac and cheese) were good, but we all felt we could make those at home with the same or better outcome. The best part was the biscuits, but as mentioned in this thread, those could be found in the freezer aisle at Giant or Glen's Garden Market. 

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