he spot with some of the best cheese biscuits on the Outer Banks has an identity problem. Its official name is Stop Quik. Some call it Miss Helen’s. To most people, it’s Biscuits N’ Porn. “We just happen to have the largest selection of adult magazines in the county,” says Julia Scheer as she calls out biscuit orders and rings up customers on a busy morning in Nags Head. (Don’t worry, dear reader: The covers are not in easy view of diners.)
Miss Helen, the original biscuit maker, died three years ago, but the biscuits go on, plain buttermilk or topped with shredded Cheddar cheese. Bakers sell about 800 on an average morning, and up to 1,500 to the summer Saturday tourists.
The eastern part of the state is known for cheese biscuits for reasons lost to history. Abrams restaurants claim to be the “home of the original cheese biscuit” and place a large hunk of hoop cheese (milder than Cheddar) inside each biscuit while it’s still hot, which is the typical approach. Mom’s Grill in Washington, located inside a convenience store, uses sharp Cheddar. In Boone, Everybody’s Loaded Biscuits food truck offers coastal transplants a taste of home, stuffed with local Ashe County cheese.
Abrams BBQ & Seafood
609 West Wilson Street
Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 823-4522
Find more locations at abramsweb.com
Biscuits N’ Porn (aka Stop Quik, Miss Helen’s)
2112 South Croatan Highway
Nags Head, NC 27959
(252) 441-6446
facebook.com/Biscuits-N-Porn
Mom’s Grill
1041 John Small Avenue
Washington, NC 27889
(252) 946-2260
facebook.com/pages/Moms-Grill
Everybody’s Loaded Biscuits
Food truck, based in Boone; see Facebook page for locations
Rise Biscuits and Donuts
For locations; risebiscuitsdonuts.com
Cook, read, learn, and celebrate what North Carolina has to offer this month.
Our editor in chief reminisces on her first special-occasion restaurant experience in North Carolina.
In Pitt County, a luthier’s handcrafted guitars are sometimes discolored or full of knots; some are shaped liked snakes or shotguns. Each instrument’s story starts with the wood used to make it. And while the past may have left its scars, beauty can be found in the sights and sounds of art.
The Roanoke begins in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and travels more than 400 miles before emptying into Albemarle Sound, linking countless lives along the way. Follow along as a native son traces the river’s path through northeastern North Carolina, sharing stories of the Roanoke he knows and loves.
