The first Bojangles in Charlottesville opened in the late 1970’s, as memory serves. They set up shop below Hardees which was well established at the corner of Hydraulic Road and Rt. 29. They had their work cut out for them. Staffing was difficult, they spent little on advertising, folks weren’t used to so much spice on their chicken and Hardees was booming. But the little restaurant held its own, primarily because they served up the best homemade biscuits on the planet. Made-from-scratch with buttermilk, the others weren’t even close.
My daughter, Angeline, practically camped out in the drive-thru lane at Bojangles. She is a biscuit aficionado and she loved Bojangles Biscuits. Hardees did a big biscuit and breakfast business back then. In fact, they were the first fast food franchise to tap into that market, but their biscuits weren’t in the same ballpark as Bo’s. To achieve maximum fluffiness, Bojangles chefs rolled the dough by hand and folded it only three times. It was an art form at Bojangles.
Bojangles’ was founded in Charlotte back in 1977. It was a no-nonsense Southern fast-food chain known for made-from-scratch biscuits. The chicken was deep fried with lots of pepper and spices.
The restaurant chain flourishes today with over 800 restaurants in 17 states and they spend a ton on advertising.
In the late 90’s, Bojangles closed their doors on Rt. 29 and Charlottesville would be without a Bojangles for a number of years. Their biscuits from many years ago are still unrivaled.
