Astoria, Featured, Food and Drink
Jul 05, 2016

RUMOR ALERT! Changes Coming To Burnside Biscuits?

Who’s ready for a juicy, chicken-fried rumor? A reader has tipped us off that Burnside Biscuits, the Southern comfort food spot that opened on 30th Ave last July, is about (…)

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Photo Courtesy of Burnside Biscuits

Who’s ready for a juicy, chicken-fried rumor?

A reader has tipped us off that Burnside Biscuits, the Southern comfort food spot that opened on 30th Ave last July, is about to go through a major change. Rather than maintaining their current identity as a Southern fried chicken/biscuits/comfort food spot, they’ll be “rebranding and changing to a BBQ concept.”

We’ve reached out to Burnside for comment, and we’ll keep you posted as this story develops. What do you think? Are you hungry for more BBQ on 30th Ave? (Butcher Bar already serves up pretty stellar meats and sides!)

Tell us what you think in the comments and on Facebook!

About Lindsay Goyette

Lindsay has been eating and drinking her way through Queens since 2011. A casting director by day and Astoria explorer by night, you can usually find her checking out live music, theatre, or the newest neighborhood spot to enjoy a craft beer.

25 Comments

Christian

I agree with most posts here. I tried BURNSIDE once and never again. TOO DAMN expensive for BLAH food. Delaney Chicken has great chicken sandwiches at Vanderbilt Ave and they use dark meat! Not breast. A hefty portion of meat on a soft bun.

I grew up in N.C. and I’m sick of BBQ as well. Personally I prefer Eastern-style BBQ with the vinegar-&-pepper-based sauce, with no tomato whatsoever! IMHO a good BBQ sandwich incorporates an excellent flavorful slaw (that can stand alone as a side dish or a nice complement to an entrée) with a great Eastern-style BBQ pulled pork. That’s just me and I’ve not found the likes here in NYC.

BURNSIDE should try that and ditch the oversize biscuits for their sandwiches which make for an unpleasant eating experience. Just falls apart. Biscuit sandwiches should be like BOJANGLES with the right smallish size of biscuit and bits.

I appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of Euripides Pelekanos but he needs to really be inventive by keeping the menu small with some quality premium items as well as some quality affordable every day fare.

Good luck.

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David

Have to agree with most posters. I love the atmosphere but the food was not good. Much rather go to suger freak for southern food.

My biggest complaint. When they opened they kept saying they were they were the only southern food in Astoria. (Look at old articles.) truth is they aren’t even the only southern resuturant on the block!!!!

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Jon

For such a pretty restaurant, I was surprised at how lackluster the food and service were. I went there for a meal with a friend a few weeks ago. It took almost 2 hours for our meal. 15+ mins to get each of our 2 drinks each, and 45 mins to get our meals. I ordered the fried chicken and didn’t get to choose whether I wanted dark or white meat, and it was just so-so, and the bill was over $100 with tip. I think changing things is maybe not such a bad idea, but I’d start with the staff and current recipes. As everyone else has said, we’re already awash in BBQ places. Do something brave and interesting!!!!

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K.C.

Yuck no BBQ! Simplify and polish up the current menu with vegetarian sides and alternatives. Ive been to Burnside 3 times in the last year and have had a decent experience. Work on attracting the brunch breakfast crowd. The interior and atmosphere remind me of New Orleans. Coffee and beignets? Refine what they offer already. BBQ gross!

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Barbs

I’ve been to Burnside three times in the past year.

First time – I was with a group of about 7 and it took almost 2 hours for the food to come out, which was ridiculous and we complained and received a credit to return. The biscuits were all burned and hard and the chicken was tasteless. Awful experience.

Second time – A few of us returned with the credit and the service was just as awful and inattentive. The chicken was just as basic and we realized how expensive the menu was for the amount of food you actually receive.

Third time – I have to admit the chicken was much better and I really enjoyed my dining experience. But right after this visit I noticed they changed the atmosphere of the place to “hipster chic” and the menu looked different.

In my opinion, they should keep the southern chicken menu – improve on that, pricing or food portions and the customer service. There’s enough BBQ joints in Astoria.

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Threemoons

I’m with ya all RE “fix it don’t change it.” We don’t need more BBQ; Smoke does that just fine. We DO need better fried chicken, with a simpler menu there, better service, and better PRICING.

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M

ugh. I rarely ever want BBQ and when I do there’s already quite a few places in Astoria. I always thought the food was good there, at least fried chicken and biscuits are different.

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jf

Place always seems crowded; I’m surprised as to the change in direction. Doesn’t bode well for their future.

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M.

Whatever they do, they gotta fix that service. I’ve gone several times and it was bad from day one until now. It’s really unfortunate because I like the food.

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Jane

Wonder what’s going on behind the scenes at Burnside that would cause a change in chefs and a complete change of concept within a year’s time.

I love BBQ, but I don’t think we need any more of it here and I’d be wary of someone trying to just pivot to it without having actual depth of knowledge on the subject. John Brown is right around the corner in LIC and does it right. There’s also Butcher Bar & Strand, although I don’t think they’re quite on the same tier.

My heart goes out to the vegetarians and vegans here. This is a little much!

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Tracy

I’d like to see another vegan restaurant; isn’t Jujube the only vegan-only spot here right now? As much as I like it, it’s mostly Asian-inspired; so something like by CHLOE on Bleeker with a broader menu would be welcome. I’m sure it would attract plenty of non-vegan patrons; Astorians fairly sophisticated, open-minded eaters.

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Allison

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s so frustrating because you just *know* a great vegan spot– a la By Chloe, but preferably not cafeteria style!– would do incredibly well here. There are hundreds of restaurants in Astoria, and we have just one that specializes in veg(etari)an food?! It’s silly. I live Jujube and dine there frequently, not only because the food and service are good, but because I like my money to support establishments where animals aren’t on the menu. I’m practically begging for another veg place to open and take my money!

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R

Queens Kickshaw.

Also, not sure if you want specifically places without any meat on the menu, but enthaice and seva are both very veggie and vegan friendly, as well as delicious.

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Pete J.

Hear, hear! My wife and I stopped going to Jujube Tree because the food is too much like sticky chinese food, we just kind of got sick of it. I have nothing against the mock meat / may wah stuff, but something a little bit more interesting, seasonal veg forward thinking spot would be wildly popular in Astoria.

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Joanna

Yes! Please more vegetarian/vegan spots! I’m surprised there’s not more. They’d do so well. Queens Kickshaw is great as someone mentioned below, but it’d be nice to have more variety!

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Bill

We literally do not need ANYMORE BBQ places on 30th ave – might as well make it another fro-yo shop

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V

I am pretty disappointed, and was disappointed about Burnside from the start. Not only is Southern style food available all over Astoria, but the food is nothing to write home about. I’ve been living in Astoria for almost 5 years (and very much a foodie) and have watched this neighborhood’s complete makeover over the years which has been so great!!! But we need some variety now! So now we have this place turning into BBQ, when there are number of BBQ places in the area that are great. You have Mom’s open up to serve us more comfort food, like burnside “was”, queens comfort, sugar freak, etc. Someone really needs to step it up and take a good look at what the people Astoria need in their lives. Personally, I am often wishing that we had an awesome Mexican joint, Korean BBQ and an awesome Chinese restaurant. More BBQ and southern food!? ughhhhhhhhhh nooo

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R

I agree with most of this, but just want to say that we have some solid Mexican trucks, and De Mole is also solid Mexican!

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Jo C

If you’re looking for an awesome Mexican place you should try Chela y Garnacha. I go there for brunch and dinner all the time. They’re super friendly and food is delicious

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Michael S.

Really? More BBQ? There are already more than enough restaurants in Astoria that can successfully put you in a food coma, why try to compete? How about trying something healthy? Not many options for that in Astoria.

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Lauren

Burnside has only been open a year and already they’ve gone through a major personnel change and now a big menu revamp? They just need to stick with something and work out the kinks. Unless they think they have a flawless plan for BBQ…

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Maria Antonucci

What I think is this: After trying BB twice in the last few weeks I think their food is delicious – even though it made me sick, and my dining partners sick, both times.

Their real problem is the poor management and surly/inattentive staff. It’s nice to have so many windows but it can be hot inside and one of their fans hasn’t worked in some time. One would think that several patrons (at more than one table) fanning themselves would cue them to turn up the AC, or maybe (this is radical) bring water that’s colder than warm, or even better: bring the ordered drinks in less than 10 minutes. They seem to have a lot of money invested in what appears to be professional studio quality dj equipment. They should have spent more on training.

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Eileen

Just went there for the first time last week and couldn’t disagree more. Their food was delicious and the service outstanding. Hubbie got a stain on his shirt and a waitress, who wasn’t serving us that night, came over with some club soda for him to get the stain out before it set. Excellent service in my book!

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clayton

i moved to astoria is 2014 after 17 years in austin and dallas texas so i might have some insight into texas style bbq, a genre that butcher bar is very much modeled on, but with one major flaw. they do not serve bread with the meat orders which is pretty much a crucial element in how one is able to assemble their meal, or even to be used to mop up the plate. while the overall quality was good to excellent, i was served a 1/2lb of meat piled on a plate and not much to do with it. strand smokehouse has the system down, and also ventures out into other areas such as brunch plates that make it unique and local to astoria.

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E

John Brown Smokehouse is the only BBQ I’ll eat in LIC/Astoria. Also, Burnside’s fried chicken is nothing to write home about. Went once, never craved it again.

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