Restaurant Review: Founding Farmers

A few weeks back, one of the people I follow on Twitter posted a tweet about Founding Farmers having a viewing party at their restaurant. The chef had been featured on a show called Meat & Potatoes on The Food Network and they invited everyone to come out to watch it at the restaurant's bar and enjoy some complimentary appetizers.

I'd heard many rave reviews about their sister restaurant, Farmers & Fishers, so of course I jumped at the chance. We arrived around 9:30, the viewing party was scheduled for 10:00, and the place was still pretty full. We decided to grab a seat at the bar. The first thing I noticed was how spectacular it was. They had every type of liquor you could possibly imagine with an ample collection of infused fruits sitting in large containers. It was way past happy hour and a week night so I decided to pass on drinks and ordered an appetizer and meal instead.

The menu had so many great options, it was hard to decide. While driving over I perused the menu and was all set on getting the Southern Fried chicken salad but somehow ended up ordering the Shrimp and Grits instead. My friend and I ordered the skillet cornbread for an appetizer. It came out in a matter of minutes, which was perfect because I was famished. It was so delicious I could've easily eaten the entire thing by myself, despite how large it was, but had to save room for the food.

Shortly after, our meals arrived. Both of our meals looks incredible. I admit I was jealous of my friend because he ended up ordering the Southern Fried chicken salad I had originally planned on getting. His salad was like nothing I'd ever seen before. There was 3 huge pieces of golden brown, fried chicken sitting on top of a bed of crisp greens, with avocado, red onions, chunks of bacon, cherry tomatoes, cheddar, topped with a mixture of honey mustard and ranch dressings. I took one bite and knew that would forever be my staple choice on their menu. While my shrimp and grits were also very good, that salad was hands down the best thing I've eaten in quite a while. Truthfully, I've had better shrimp and grits elsewhere but I enjoyed the fact that the shrimp was very fresh and I like their farm-to-table concept. The grits were also very smooth and creamy and not at all gritty, which I'm not a fan of.

Let me not forget to mention the other appetizers we sampled during the viewing party. They had their signature Bacon Lollis and fried green tomatoes. Being that I'm a true lover of bacon, when I saw bacon I stopped eating myown food and had to get a taste. They were large slices of bacon (just the meat) with a coating of brown sugar and cinnamon served on a stick. Had I not already eaten so much already I would have taken a handful, but I didn't want to be greedy. Then the fried green tomatoes came around and I fell in love. I've had them on a few occasions from other places but was never all that impressed. These on the other hand, were breaded in cornmeal and the green tomatoes were perfectly tender. I've never experienced anything like them.

Not only was the service excellent and the food impeccable, when the check came we didn't even cringe. I was shocked at how affordable our meal was and we both even ended up with leftovers to have for lunch the next day.

Since then I've been back once and can't wait to go back many more times. Hopefully, next time I'll be able to make room for dessert.

Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.822.8783
http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/