Farmand's Kitchen — Local services in Lakeway

It’s such a breath of fresh air to finally have a good restaurant in Steiner Ranch, by someone who knows how to run a restaurant. If you live in Steiner Ranch, you know what I’m talking about!

Tony (owner) seems like a great guy and is always running the business. I emphasized “running” because we often see restaurant managers and owners just sort of loafing around without accountability. Not Tony! He’s obviously a hard worker and was very kind to my wife and I when we met him last weekend.

The exterior of this restaurant has a very different tone/vibe than the interior, which, honestly, is a good thing in my opinion. The outside is red and black, and you can’t see much of the interior. The inside of the restaurant is beautiful and vibrant and feels very clean, fresh, and relatively high quality. The back patio looks great and I’m excited to come here on Sundays to watch football. The restrooms are very nice and HALLELUJAH they use good toilet paper! No more wiping my bum with that 1-ply crap they have over at The Bull 🤭.

The prices are fair and the portions are generous. We hope they don’t jack the prices up once they gain market share.

Here are some honest thoughts on the service, food, and drinks. Mostly good, some constructive, all well-intentioned. I recommend checking this place out and gave it 5 stars for a reason!

Service: The staff is friendly. The service is slow and our waters were empty most of the time. It wasn’t that busy at the bar either. The bartender could use some coaching on suggestive selling and being more proactive about refills/more drinks. The bar staff seems pretty green, BUT, they’re nice and certainly not bad.

Drinks:

Skinny margarita was unbalanced/too sweet. It should be lime-forward but was agave-forward.

The gin cocktail is an absolute home run. It’s delicious, bright, sweet, tart, and balanced. Never take it off the menu!

Tequila mule was great. Could enhance this with a splash of grapefruit liquor over the top.

Food:

Beet side salad: Fresh, light, and delicious. I love that I can get an $8 side salad and feel like I’m getting a value, while not having to commit to something more expensive. I like eating tapas-style.

Chicken sliders: These are DELICIOUS. The chicken was perfectly cooked and crispy and delicious. It even kept well to eat later. The potato bun was soft and fresh and tasty. The sauce they use seems like a tzatziki or something similar and it was very good. I hope they never change this or remove it from the menu!

Mezze plate: The hummus and cheese are good. The naan wasn’t great and I’d prefer a puffy pita instead. Pickled onions felt a little out of place and messy. This plate feels overpriced for what you get. I’d rather just have the hummus, cheese, and some pita.

Dusted wings: These were tasty and plentiful (albeit small and seemingly frozen), however I didn’t expect them to be battered and was pretty bloated afterward, resulting in me barely touching my entree. I’d prefer something without a batter. The creamy green sauce was really good though!

Caesar salad: This would have been good, except it was over-dressed. I like the delicate crumbles instead of big thick croutons. The dressing was great. But, it was overdressed and the lettuce was kinda wilted/drenched so it lacked the bright, crunchiness I want with a caesar. Made for a squishy bite.

Chimichurri steak wrap: It was a big loose burrito with a lot of lettuce and rice and a flour tortilla that was falling apart. This would have been better in a lavash wrap or a spinach tortilla. I was expecting a tighter wrap and didn’t taste chimichurri at all. The steak was plentiful, but the chunks were too large and since they cooked it Medium-Medium Well. It was tough. Kind of a bland, messy bite without the chipotle sauce (which was good). It tasted like a burrito from Chipotle. Needs refinement.

Harvest bowl: My wife liked this and it’s a generous portion. I’ll get...

Went here with my family of 5 and had an extremely enjoyable dinner.

It was our first time here so we went ahead and ordered more than we usually would just so we could try a bit of everything.

Starters; Dry rubbed wings - Crispy on the outside but juicy when you bit into them. We had both of the Ranch sauce and jalapeño sauce on the side for dipping. The dry rub gives a little kick but does lean into a bit more saltiness than I would normally prefer. Don’t expect “buffalo wing” sized wings as these were on the smaller side but they did not disappoint.

Crispy Chicken Sliders - Another winner - with a lightly fried outside while still being juicy. The house pickles and buttermilk ranch add a nice bit of flavor. Again, portions are on the smaller side as you get 3 sliders that are literally one-bite sized but the quality is there.

Sweet potato fries. - Whoever is manning the fryer is doing an excellent job. Nice and crispy on the outside while still that nice and soft texture inside. These are definitely incl the spicier side - not the typical sweet potato fry experience but still very good.

Entrees Cheese burger with some bacon added was great. They do a great job of combing the flavors of the Cheddar, pickles, caramelized onions and burger sauce. The bacon is REALLY good but it comes with a $5 up charge but worth it in my opinion.

Harvest Green Bowl - Large portion. Everything was super fresh and all the different ingredients really complemented each other.

Chicken Cesar wrap. - Big Portion and fancies things up with the cornbread croutons. These fact the the chicken is chopped up and not simply diced definitely adds to the texture and flavor of the wrap.

Redfish sandwich - A nice sized whole filet pan seared with great seasoning and hatch chilli tartar which gives an otherwise ordinary fish sandwich some real flavor and uniqueness.

We also tried the side Beat salad and it did a great job of mixing all the ingredients to provide a unique flavor and texture. Goat cheese and pistachio crumbles really pop in this side dish.

We didn’t save room for dessert but will definitely be back to give those a try as well.

Giovanni took great care of us and they definitely employ a team mentality as the dishes were brought out by different members of the wait staff. We never waited long for anything we needed.

The outside area is laid out really well with lots of seating in a “21 and over” area that allows for bar service while still maintaining a large “backyard” setup with a play set and other games to keep the littles occupied.

There’s definitely a bit of the “Steiner Tax” but it definitely feels like you’re getting a step up in quality for the added expense.

Farmand’s is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and we’ll...

Stopped in for lunch and we’ll be back for sure! The design is gorgeous and has a much better flow than the previous restaurants in this location. You can tell how much thought was put into every detail.

We were greeted immediately with a smile by Carly, who was also our waitress. She clearly knew the menu and was able to make great suggestions (especially the blackberry margarita with a tajin rim). Everything felt elevated, from the table tops to the floors to the tile backsplash, and we loved the murals. They put just as much thought into the outside, creating different spaces for different types of people, including a shaded area that’s only for 21 and up, and of course, the renovated playground with four slides.

Carly’s service was great and we even got to meet the owner, and had a nice conversation with him as well.

The best part, though, was the food. My Husband had the Farmand‘s burger with sweet potato fries, which were both absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. I had the chicken Caesar wrap with Texas dusted fries. Also delicious and cooked to perfection. The tortilla was excellent, I’m not sure if it was made in-house, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, it was so fresh and thin and giant. To top it all off, My Husband had an Oreo shake. We would absolutely order everything again however, the menu has so many incredible options that I cannot wait to try everything else they...