Independence MO original 2000; founder Dan Gerson (died Sept 2023); sold 2010 to Chad + David Offerdahl father-son ownership; now 29 locations across KS / MO / OK / AR; franchising since 2019. Tier 2 with franchise + multi-state disclosure pattern.
Description
The Big Biscuit opened in Independence, Missouri in 2000 as a single restaurant concept founded by Dan Gerson. With no vision for expansion beyond the original two locations, Gerson sold the business in 2010. From 2010 forward, father-son duo Chad and David Offerdahl + loyal operators grew the concept; David remains in important advisory role as co-CEO; Chad serves as CEO.12
The operation has grown to 29 locations across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Franchising began in 2019; the first franchise location opened in 2020. The majority of locations remain corporate-owned. Dan Gerson died unexpectedly in September 2023.1
Why Tier 2 classification
The Big Biscuit illustrates a multi-state-franchise-active Tier 2 case. Even though the founder + ownership transition is well-documented and the Offerdahl-family ownership is real:
- 4-state operation crosses the threshold for “chain”
- Active franchising since 2019 is structurally chain behavior
- 29 locations with multiple operators per location is operational scale beyond the Tier 1 family-restaurant model
The classification is Tier 2 — KC-rooted with KC HQ but operating at multi-state-chain scale. Per Editorial-Firewall-Registry-Stress-Tests: the Registry handles this with explicit disclosure (multi-state + franchise + ownership history all documented).
KC-metro locations
Multi-location operator pattern (per 2026-05-17_strategist-session-decisions-rounds-1-10 §D6.3): per Geographic-Scope, only the KC-metro locations enter the Map dataset — Oklahoma, Arkansas, Springfield/Columbia/Joplin/St. Joseph MO, and Topeka/Wichita/Lawrence KS are excluded. Of 31 company-wide locations, 15 are in the KC metro (8 MO + 7 KS). Each metro location is its own Map pin linking back to this operator-level page. Addresses verified 2026-06-02 against the official locations page (https://bigbiscuit.com/locations/).[^5]
Missouri (8)
| # | Location | Address | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Independence | 16506 E US Hwy 40, Independence, MO 64055 | Original KC-area anchor (2000) |
| 2 | Westport | 4039 Mill St, Kansas City, MO 64111 | Building under construction through Spring 2026; restaurant open |
| 3 | Barry Road (Northland) | 6332 NW Barry Rd, Kansas City, MO 64151 | |
| 4 | Antioch (Northland) | 5502 NE Antioch Rd, Kansas City, MO 64119 | |
| 5 | Blue Springs | 530 NW Hwy 7, Blue Springs, MO 64014 | |
| 6 | Lee’s Summit | 1640 SE Blue Pkwy, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063 | |
| 7 | Liberty | 840 S MO-291, Liberty, MO 64068 | |
| 8 | Raymore | 307 N Dean Ave, Raymore, MO 64083 | Cass County, southern metro edge3 |
Kansas — eastern Johnson County (7)
| # | Location | Address | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Overland Park — Antioch | 11148 Antioch Rd, Overland Park, KS 66210 | |
| 10 | Overland Park — 135th | 8520 W 135th St, Overland Park, KS 66223 | |
| 11 | Lenexa | 16111 W 87th St, Lenexa, KS 66219 | ”87th St” (official) vs “87th Terrace” (Yelp) |
| 12 | Mission | 7017 Johnson Dr, Mission, KS 66202 | Opened Feb 11, 2024 — former Don Chilito’s site; newest metro location |
| 13 | Olathe | 13505 S Mur-Len Rd, Olathe, KS 66062 | |
| 14 | Prairie Village | 5400 W 95th St, Prairie Village, KS 66207 | |
| 15 | Shawnee | 12276 Shawnee Mission Pkwy, Shawnee, KS 66216 |
Out-of-metro (excluded): Joplin, Springfield ×2, St. Joseph (MO); Lawrence, Topeka, Wichita ×2 (KS); Broken Arrow, Edmond, Midwest City, Oklahoma City, Owasso, Tulsa ×2 (OK); Fayetteville (AR). Rogers AR and Manhattan KS are “coming soon” (not yet open; outside metro regardless).4
Sources
Footnotes
-
The Big Biscuit — “Our Story” page. https://bigbiscuit.com/who-we-are/. ↩ ↩2
-
Startland News — “Cook to CEO: Chad Offerdahl sticks to Big Biscuit basics as breakfast industry trends funky — ‘That’s not us.’” Published 2025-02. https://startlandnews.com/2025/02/big-biscuit-chad-offerdahl/. Source for Dan Gerson founder + 2010 sale + Offerdahl father-son + Chad as CEO. ↩
-
Raymore (Cass County) sits just south of Belton/Grandview on the metro’s southern fringe. Included here pending Geographic-Scope confirmation of the southern boundary — flagged to Strategist 2026-06-02. ↩
-
The Big Biscuit — official locations page, https://bigbiscuit.com/locations/ (verified 2026-06-02). Asserts 31 open locations company-wide across MO/KS/OK/AR + Rogers AR “coming soon”; KC-metro addresses as listed above. Mission KS opening (Feb 11, 2024, former Don Chilito’s site) confirmed via https://bigbiscuit.com/attention-mission-kansas-were-open/ and franchising.com. ZIPs cross-checked against Yelp/Tripadvisor listings (updated 2026). ↩
See also
- Registry
- Editorial-Firewall-Registry-Stress-Tests