Get your Hardee's biscuit fix at Carl's Jr.

Jay Hafemeister is serious about biscuits. So serious that he has introduced the famous Hardee’s Made From Scratch Biscuit at one of his Carl’s Jr. locations.

Confused about blending the two brands? Here’s the story.

Hafemeister’s family were originally owners of local Hardee’s franchises.

“The group of Franchisees from Colorado that made the Carl’s Jr. conversion in 1998 signed our franchisee agreement as Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s,” he said.

The main reason for making that agreement was for the biscuits.

“The Hardee’s biscuits have a cult-like following and we wanted to be able to bring back the biscuits after the switch was made from Hardee’s to Carl’s Jr.,” he said.

Hafemeister has been working for more than a year on making the Hardee’s Made From Scratch Biscuits a reality at his Carl’s Jr.

The key to the success of the biscuit program is freshness and the biscuits’ makers.

“This is truly an industry leader,” he said. “We have our team of biscuit makers rolling out dough and constantly making fresh biscuits every 15 minutes, all morning.”

Not just anyone can walk in and land a biscuit-making job with Hafemeister.

“My ideal biscuit maker is someone that pays attention to detail, has a knack for baking and takes a lot of pride in their end product,” he said. “I remember going around to our restaurants with my father when I was younger and meeting all of the different biscuit makers. I had my favorite biscuit maker, as did many of our regular guests. You can see who is making our biscuits everyday and its not uncommon for our biscuit makers to make the rounds of the lobby when they are in-between batches of biscuits to speak with our regular guests.”

The first Carl’s Jr. to sell Hardee’s Made from Scratch Biscuits is at 1059 Space Center Drive (on the corner of Powers Boulevard and Galley Road). Emily Freeman is the lead biscuit maker there. She grew up in Florida, where there are several Hardee’s, so she knows her dough.

“I know the Hardee’s (biscuit) loyalists will approve of her biscuits,” he said.

Crystal Kaiser, who works at the Fountain Carl’s Jr., is a biscuit crew member who has been promoted to a biscuit maker trainer.

Once Hafemeister is satisfied that the new biscuit program is running well at the launching restaurant, he will start baking biscuits at the Carl’s Jr. at 1890 Chelton Road.

“That date is set for Feb. 23,” he said. “I’m not interested in rolling this out too quickly. We want to be sure to meet our high quality standards. The hope is to open one location at a time between 2 to 3 weeks apart to make sure our biscuit makers are being trained well.”

The plan is to have all 11 Carl’s Jr. locations in the Colorado Springs metro area serving Made from Scratch Biscuits by April 30.

Here are some details:

• Biscuits are served from 6 to 10:30 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 6 to 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

• The menu includes sausage, ham and bacon biscuits. You can add cheese and egg to all biscuit sandwiches.

• There’s the Strawberry Jam biscuit, too. It’s a biscuit with jam in the center and a drizzle of icing.

• Biscuits are sold in increments of one, two, six and by the dozen.

• Prices start at 89 cents for a plain biscuit and $1  for a sausage biscuit.

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Contact Teresa J. Farney
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