Lizard’s Thicket’s kitchen is going full speed by 5:30 a.m. before the 6 a.m. rush of customers begins rolling through the drive-thru and gathering in the dining area.

That’s when the Renwood Mills biscuit mix hits the mixing bowl, the butter and buttermilk hit the flour, and the dough is gently folded together.

David here. 👋 Last Wednesday morning, I met Sara Krisnow — the granddaughter of Bob and Anna Williams, who started Lizard's Thicket 45 years ago — at the Elmwood location an hour before sunrise to see how the Thicket crew has been making biscuits all of these years.

Lizard’s Thicket currently has 13 locations in the Midlands and one in Florence.

Lizard's Thicket biscuits pulled fresh out of the oven and ready to serve. | Photo by COLAtoday

Wayne Davis makes it look simple. If you’ve had a biscuit from the Elmwood location in the past 35 years, Wayne was likely the one who made it.

He has it down to an art. I didn’t see a measuring cup in sight — just a perfectly shaggy dough rolled out and folded together with the “pretty side up.” The biscuits were then cut with an old round cutter and placed snugly together on the tray.

Over 30 biscuits fill each tray that's loaded into a 350-degree oven, surrounded by trays of cooking bacon. Wayne peeks in and rotates them about halfway through the 18-minute process for even cooking.

While that batch is cooking, the process is repeated. So, if you roll in at 6 a.m. for your morning breakfast, your biscuit is straight out of the oven.

By the numbers at Lizard Thicket’s 13 Midlands locations:

364. The number of days a year Lizard’s Thicket is open (every day except Christmas).
13,500. The yearly number of gallons of buttermilk.
177,750. The yearly number of pounds of flour.
251,172. The yearly number of biscuits.
4 million. The number of meals served at all Lizard’s Thicket each year.