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District Biskuits is a fast-casual breakfast-and-brunch restaurant at 504 Armour Road in North Kansas City built around one thing: a tall, buttery, Southern-style biscuit that chef-owner Guroux Khalifah adapted from his mother’s recipe. Sandwiches named for Kansas City landmarks — the Wonder (fried chicken, fried egg, American cheese, beef bacon), the Crown (a double smash burger on a biscuit), the Charlie Hustle (Nashville-hot chicken) — anchor a menu that also runs to biscuits and gravy, a chicken-and-bacon-jam mac, house “Troost Juice” lemonades and boozy milkshakes. It began as a $150 morning pop-up inside a 63rd Street fish house in 2017, opened this permanent home in December 2022 after a pandemic detour, and added a fried-chicken sister brand, Howlin’ Fowls, and a second location back on 63rd Street in 2026. The tagline on the wall is “crafted for the culture.”

Description

District Biskuits occupies a colorful corner storefront at 504 Armour Road with indoor seating and a patio that Khalifah has built out with shade sails, lighting and music for weekend day parties.1 The menu is short and biscuit-centric. The “Districts” are the sandwiches, each named for a Kansas City place: The Wonder (fried chicken filet, fried egg, American cheese, beef bacon) is named for the historic Wonder Bread building on Troost and is the best seller; The Crown is two smash-burger patties with grilled onions, pickles and DB sauce; The KC Live! is a chicken-sausage patty with pepper jelly; The Cure is soft-scrambled eggs with beef-bacon jam; The Charlie Hustle is Nashville-hot fried chicken with hot honey, slaw and dill pickles.21 “DB Originals” cover biscuits and gravy, jumbo tenders, the DB Mac (mac and cheese, fried chicken, bacon jam, hot-honey butter) and the DB Hash — crispy hash-brown coins under chicken-sausage gravy, bacon jam and cheese, which Khalifah names as his own favorite.213

The biscuit itself is the point. Khalifah describes his as “more towery and buttery than most,” engineered to hold up as a sandwich rather than crumble; he freely credits Popeyes as one reference point and frames the whole project as Kansas City-style homage — “I feel that I show respect to the southern style biscuit. I can’t take any credit for inventing it.”3 Customers have proven it can carry anything: “A lot of people didn’t think that The Crown would work on a biscuit. Now it’s one of our top sellers.”3

“Crafted for the culture,” the tagline that greets customers, is meant literally. “It means that this business has been crafted for the culture of Black people, melanated people,” Khalifah told Startland. “It centers itself around the culture of Kansas City and what it means to be a part of this city.”1 That shows up in sourcing: the coffee is Black Drip Coffee, the hot honey on the Charlie Hustle comes from Mother Clucker, and the chicken sausage is ground by Wiener Kitchen in Overland Park.1 The drink list runs to six flavors of house “Troost Juice” lemonade (spikeable for 21+), and milkshakes named for Union Station, the Benton Boogie and the South Side — the last one studded with crispy fried potato bits, a fries-in-the-milkshake habit Khalifah says he picked up from his brother, the rapper Tech N9ne.23 The Pitch noted in 2023 that Travis Kelce had just been in for a Charlie Hustle, a Wonder and a Union Station shake.3

Ownership and history

Guroux Khalifah is a Kansas City native who trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta and came home to cook in higher-end hotel and restaurant kitchens, including Bristol Seafood and Lidia’s.435 He worked as a private chef, burned out, and after a trip to the Dominican Republic decided to “do something simple”: a biscuit, using the process his mother had shown him and that he had been tweaking for 15 years.1 His family has fed the East Side for decades — his uncle owned Lutfi’s Fried Fish at 1664 E. 63rd St., and his brother later ran District Fish & Pasta House in the same storefront.5

In 2017 he bartered a deal with Lutfi’s to use the kitchen in the hours before it opened, starting with $150 — “a package of chicken, some flour, and butter” — and serving chicken biscuits from 7 to 10:30 a.m. under the name The District Biskuit House (the K is for Khalifah).315 Business was dead until he called into Hot 103 Jamz’s “Why you mad though?” segment to complain that the hosts hadn’t tried his biscuits; “the next day, a flood of people started coming in,” and within two months there was a line around the building.1 The pop-up grew into a permanent stand at the Adam’s Mark hotel near the Truman Sports Complex, which closed when the hotel shut down in the COVID-19 pandemic; Khalifah closed the Lutfi’s pop-up in 2020 as well and stayed afloat on catering, pop-ups and restaurant consulting.41

He searched for a permanent location through the pandemic with local developer Ilan Salzberg, and settled on 504 Armour Road — a former Subway, most recently a friend’s business that “wasn’t working out” — in November 2021.41 A soft opening in November 2022 drew a line “wrapped around the parking lot”; the official opening was December 13, 2022.14 Startland profiled the restaurant in February 2023 and The Pitch ran a “Mise en Place” interview that September.13 Khalifah told The Pitch he was refining the biscuit to survive freezing so he could wholesale it to coffee shops and bakeries.3

Howlin’ Fowls, a Nashville-hot-and-regular fried-chicken concept Khalifah began developing around 2024, now runs as an afternoon menu inside both District Biskuits locations, with its own Instagram (@howlinfowls).65 In June 2026 District Biskuits opened its second location back in the 1664 E. 63rd St. storefront where the pop-up began; Khalifah has said he would like the brand to grow regionally.5

Last verified: 2026-08-28 · Source: the restaurant’s own website menu pages (Drinks, Menu, Howlin’ Fowls) · Confidence: High. The site publishes one menu for both locations; Howlin’ Fowls hours differ by location (North: Thu–Sat noon–8, Sun noon–5).26 Transcribed with the restaurant’s own spellings.

Districts (biscuit sandwiches)

  • The Wonder | Troost Ave District — fried chicken filet, fried egg, American cheese, beef bacon. ($13.95)
  • The Crown — 2× smash burger patties, American cheese, grilled onions, pickles, DB sauce. ($13.95)
  • The KC Live! — chicken sausage patty, American cheese, sweet & spicy pepper jelly. ($11.95)
  • The Cure — soft scrambled eggs, American cheese, beef bacon jam, caramelized onions. ($12.95)
  • The Charlie Hustle — Nashville hot fried chicken, hot honey sauce, creamy coleslaw, dill pickles, DB sauce. ($13.95)
  • 816 Chicken Biskuit — fried chicken filet, buttermilk biskuit. ($11.95)
  • 913 Biskuit (Veg.) — fried housemade veggie patty, buttermilk biskuit. (price not listed)
  • Add-ons ($2): egg, cheese, caramelized onions, beef bacon, coleslaw, beef bacon jam · Sauces ($0.85): DB sauce, ranch, honey mustard, BBQ, hot honey

DB Originals

  • Biscuits + Gravy ($10.95) · Jumbo Tenders — up to 3 sauces, choice of sides ($11.99) · DB Mac — mac & cheese, fried chicken, bacon jam, hot honey butter ($13.99) · DB Hash — crispy hash browns, chicken sausage gravy, bacon jam, shredded cheese ($13.00) · DB Breakfast — biskuit or Belgian waffle, choice of protein and eggs ($15.50)

Sides

  • Fried hash coins ($3.95) · fried sweet potatoes ($4.50) · baked mac & cheese ($4.95) · waffle fries ($5.95) · sweet potato fries ($5.95) · coleslaw ($3.95) · fried mac & cheese balls ($5.75) · sausage gravy ($3.95) · DB Bites, sweet treat ($3.95)

Beverages & milkshakes

  • Troost Juice house lemonade — strawberry, crazy berry, mango, tropical, peach, very berry ($4; spiked $8/$12) · orange or apple juice ($3) · Pepsi products ($2.50) · house coffee ($3.50) · iced coffee, vanilla/mocha/caramel ($3.50) · Pure Leaf tea ($2.75) · bottled water ($3)
  • Union Station Shake — coffee ice cream, toasted marshmallow, Nutella ($6.95) · Benton Boogie Shake — chocolate, Oreo, peanut-butter caramel ($6.95) · South Side Shake — chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream, crispy fried potato bits ($6.95) · add booze to any shake +$1.95

Howlin’ Fowls (Howlin’ Hot or regular)

  • Fried chicken 2 pc & side ($10.95) · 4 pc & side ($14.95) · 8 pc & 2 sides ($26.95) · chicken only 2/4/8 pc ($8/$11/$20)
  • Hot Honey Chicken & Waffles ($17; all dark or all white +$2) · Howln’ Hot Mac ($13.95) · Howln’ Hot Tenders — 3 jumbo tenders, biscuit, waffle fries ($14.95) · Howln’ Hot Chicken Biskuit — with slaw, dill pickles, DB sauce, waffle fries ($13.95)
  • Sides: baked mac & cheese ($5.50), braised green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, waffle fries, sweet potato waffle fries, creamy coleslaw (each $4.95), fried mac & cheese bombs ($5.75), brown gravy ($2.75) · Extras: signature biscuit ($4), Belgian waffle ($4), pickled jalapeño ($2.25) · Dessert: The DBP — sweet cinnamon biscuit, vanilla bean custard ($4; +ice cream $1.50)

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Channa Steinmetz, “District Biskuits in North Kansas City has lines out the door for food ‘crafted for the culture’,” Startland News, republished by KCUR, 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: $150 start; first brick-and-mortar opened December 2022 after years of pop-ups and catering; 2017 start inside Lutfi’s Fried Fish on 63rd Street; soft opening November 2022 with a line around the parking lot; Le Cordon Bleu (Atlanta); private-chef burnout and Dominican Republic trip; mother’s biscuit recipe tweaked over 15 years; 7–10:30 a.m. pop-up hours; Hot 103 Jamz “Why you mad though?” episode; Lutfi’s pop-up closed 2020; NKC space chosen November 2021 after a friend’s business there failed; indoor and outdoor seating, liquor license, day-party plans; “crafted for the culture” meaning; Black Drip Coffee, Mother Clucker hot honey, Wiener Kitchen chicken sausage; The Wonder named for the Wonder Bread building; DB Hash as Khalifah’s favorite. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  2. District Biskuits — official website, “Our Menu” (Drinks, Menu and Howlin’ Fowls tabs). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: every item and price in the Menu section; Howlin’ Fowl – North hours Thu–Sat noon–8, Sun noon–5; Howlin’ Fowl – South hours Tue–Sat noon–9, Sun noon–5; spiked Troost Juice and boozy shakes. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Sarah Sipple, “Mise en Place: Kansas City’s art of homage with Guroux Khalifah of District Biskuits,” The Pitch, 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta and hotel/restaurant background; original name “The District Biskuit House” (2017); bartered kitchen deal and $150 start; biscuit design (“more towery and buttery,” holds up as a sandwich; Popeyes as a reference); The Crown as a top seller; homage framing; wholesale/freezing ambition; Tech N9ne as his brother; Travis Kelce’s order; address 504 Armour Rd and 2023 hours. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  4. District Biskuits — official website, “About us.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: 2017 pop-up origin at Lutfi’s; growth to a permanent location at the Adams Mark Hotel by the stadiums; hotel closure with COVID; search with developer Ilan Salzberg; “former Subway shop” at 504 Armour Rd; opening December 13, 2022; email nkc@districtbiskuits.com. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Katelyn Umholtz, “KC restaurant was built off biscuits. 10 years later, it’s back in its first home,” The Kansas City Star, 2026-08-08 (syndicated via AOL). Retrieved 2026-08-28 (original: kansascity.com) — Confirms: 2017 pop-up in the hours before Lutfi’s Fried Fish opened; Lutfi’s owner was Khalifah’s uncle; “Biskuits” spelled with a K for his last name; NKC as the permanent home with crowds; second location opened at 1664 E. 63rd St. in late June 2026 in the same storefront, most recently his brother’s District Fish & Pasta House; Bristol Seafood and Lidia’s on his résumé; Howlin’ Fowls as a sister concept begun about two years earlier; regional-brand ambition. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. District Biskuits — official website, “Howlin’ Fowls menus.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Howlin’ Fowls as the in-house fried-chicken menu; Instagram @howlinfowls; a header stating “Operating hours: Thursday – Saturday, 4 PM – 9 PM” that conflicts with the per-location hours listed on the same page (see Open questions). ↩ ↩2

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On the record — ks.city/registry/district-biskuits-north-kc · record updated 2026-08-28