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Ode to a Cajun Filet Biscuit
by Matt Olin & Tim Miner on August 28, 2019
We’re taking a short break from exploring Charlotte’s vibrant creative community to address what has become a national story … whose chicken sandwich reigns supreme, Popeye’s or Chick-Fil-A?
While both have their merit, we submit there is an obvious and superior third option … one we would GLADLY wait in line for (and have) time and again: The Cajun Filet Biscuit from Bojangles’. Please join us for a quick tour of our background with this Queen City culinary creation.
A Little Personal History …
Charlotte born and bread (shout out to 1977!), Bojangles’ and the Cajun Filet have been a … preoccupation … of ours since high school. The fascination truly took off at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We established a weekly tradition with our roommates that — no matter what you did Saturday night — you had to be sitting with the other three in the Bojangles’ on 15-501 on Sunday morning to download and prepare for the week ahead over a Cajun Filet Biscuit Combo.
As humor columnists for the Daily Tar Heel, we made a pledge to work a mention of Bojangles’ into everything we wrote. (And, we did. You can see an excerpt in the gallery below.)
When Matt, his twin brother, Mike, and our fourth roommate, Kevin, graduated, we drove directly to Bojangles’ from the ceremony in our robes. College wasn’t complete without a Cajun Filet Biscuit together. When Tim graduated the next year, we repeated the process. We have revisited this tradition time and again as we’ve gathered together over the last 20 years.
So, we ask you: Would anyone really do that for just any ‘ol fast food item? Whether its the frying oil or some magical quality, we’ve been bound together by the biscuit since the 90s.
So, for us — no matter how good the newest thing in chicken sandwiches and biscuits may be — it won’t ever replace the Cajun Filet Biscuit at Bojangles’.
gottawannaneedagettahava® our Bojangles Credentials?
If you doubt our sincerity above, know that we were not paid to write this story. And, take a gander at the slideshow below. These are just a few recorded, historic events from our storied past with the Cajun Filet Biscuit.
(Before you send e-mails … yes. Tim did break down in a Bojangles’ parking lot because he swung through for a snack, even though the “Check Engine” had been blazing for miles.)
And, now … we wax poetic
To cap off this loveletter to fried chicken snuggled between two carbohydrate halves, we both wax a tad poetic:
From Matt: A little freestyle
You down with CFB? Yeah, you know me.
For me, every bite into a Cajun Filet Biscuit is a step back in time.
Sixth grade summer afternoons on a boat on Lake Norman.
All-nighters in college.
Road trips with friends.
If I appear to be daydreaming, it’s just that my mind has wandered off again to 300 West Boulevard – that consequential, cajun-dusted corner where my past and my present meet up to eat up.
This is what nostalgia tastes like – crunchy, spicy, and a little bit naughty.
Who’s down with CFB? Every last Matty.
From Tim: A reimagining of “Ode on a Grecian Urn“
O’ biscuit shape! Golden hue! cooked precise
for hungry men and & tasty meals they sought,
With side of fries and Cajun spice upon them shaken thrice;
Thou, splendid food, doth tease my ev’ry thought,
Morn, afternoon and eve: Golden Morsel!
When old age doth wrack my friends and me,
Thou shalt remain; we’ll turn to you o’ tasty treat
Dear sumptuous nibble, friend to man, we humbly sing of thee …
“This biscuit is comfort, comfort biscuit,—that is all
That binds us thus, and all we need to eat.”
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Comments 1
After all these years, I finely realize where half of your monthly budget was spent.
I’m grateful that your English degree taught you how to reimagine a Grecian ode.
Mom (Guess whose.)