Farmhouse on North — Restaurant in Barrington

We really wanted to try Farmhouse on North for a while, but every time we had the time, the restaurant was closed for a private event or was already booked. Anyway, last week when I knew we would have some time, I again tried calling the Farmhouse and was able to make a reservation for a Friday at 5pm, right when the restaurant opens. When we arrived, I was surprised to see that indeed the restaurant used to be a very charming house. The doors to a restaurant were so enchanting, but they were locked. I called the restaurant, and a hostess unlocked the door for us. There were more people who later came in the restaurant and said they were there earlier, but thought the restaurant was closed because the doors were locked. The interior of the Farmhouse is beautifully renovated to bring to mind a lovely, old-fashioned but welcoming cottage. We were seated upstairs in a cute, intimate room. Our server, Jason welcomed us and was ready to give us some recommendations. We ordered some drinks and then decided to try three appetizers: pickle and hot honey flatbread, pigs in a blanket, and cheesy rosemary garlic bread knot skillet. I think the flatbread was to closest to meeting the menu description, even though there were just 9 tiny pieces of pickled cucumbers and the honey was not at all spicy. However, the dough and the presentation of the flatbread were both really good, so we were hopeful that the other appetizers would be better. The pigs in a blanket barely had any caramelized onions which would really help with the overall dryness of the appetizer. There was no spicy mustard, and the beer cheese sauce was cold and splattered on the plate, its texture reminded me of pudding. It could have been such a nice appetizers should the chef been more generous with caramelized onions and adding the sides of spicy mustard and the warm cheese sauce. Next up was the bread skillet; unfortunately, the chopped bread pieces were quite burned, and the cheese was not stretchy at all. You would think that you can't go wrong with a cheesy bread, but this one had little to no garlic or rosemary, and the cheese was dried out. I think mozzarella or another stretchy cheese would make a ton of difference in this recipe. The accompanying marinara was ok. For entrees, we ordered a braised short rib pot pie and a salmon. The first entree should have been called a deconstructed pot pie as all of the elements of the entree came separately on a plate. The 'pot pie' was not at all a baked meat pie with a top pastry crust. The meat was not warmed up thoroughly which is too bad. The mashed potatoes were tasty. The entree should have been served with roasted root vegetables, but there was mostly celery stalk pieces (a celery root would have been a root veggie) and some carrots. The addition of nicely roasted root veggies could have made such a difference.. Lastly, the salmon was decent. I got one rice 'tot' despite the menu saying that the entree consisted of more 'tots'; still, it was just fried plain rice, and I was not a fan. The veggies were actually pretty good, but the cucumber was not pickled. For any veggie to be considered pickled, it needs to be soaked in a pickling solution, vinegar and some spices, for at least a couple of days. Oh boy, whoever made the menu did have some great ideas, but whoever prepares these dishes does not come close to whatever is on the paper. I do love the farm to table concept, and we have tried all of the local farm to table restaurants which numbers are growing. I think this restaurant has everything to be successful: location, decor, impeccable service, and a great concept. However, despite the menu sounding delicious and attractive, there were too many shortcuts in the actual delivery. The reason I gave such a detailed review is that I strongly believe that with some constructive criticism, the restaurant can try to implement some changes to make the dining experience more worthwhile. In fact, Farmhouse on North has a great potential to be a trendy, hip restaurant visited by people of all ages trying to...

For those who maybe found this place by just browsing yelp like me, yes this place is in the building that used to be a residential house :) Normally, that would probably let me think it won't be spaciuos enough or maybe remodeled cheap, but that absolutely isn't the case. To start with, Parking is allowed right down the North st., but only on one side, so on a really busy night you may need to park couple of blocks away, just keep that in mind. Interior is very interesting, I should say. It is made to still feel like the house, very cozy; there are a lot of small decoration details around that create that home-feel. Chairs, floors, tables, benches and pillars they all are in wooden style and match each other. I have to admit, the table we got was kinda worn and super wonky, but I checked the one next to us while it was empty and it was perfect in comparison, so that was just my luck :) The menu is very creative, unlike all other places that are categorized as "American". Aside from a Burger and Cheese curds (they were out of the latter, unfortunately), they have a huge variety of craft artistic dishes AND they rotate menu items quite often. Picture of the menu that I saw online was only few month old, but the one I was given in there was completely different. To be honest tho, with a server like we had, you don't really need a menu at all. The gentleman (I didn't catch his name, probably was too hungry) told us very briefly, although with quite a few adjectives, about every single menu item; describing them even better than paper reads. He was super attentive, extremely polite, always smiling, answering all questions, changing silverware accordingly, estimating cooking time for every dish, taking empty plates right away - that was one of the best services I ever got. But that home-feel of the entire place makes me feel this gentleman is related to ownership or something; because I can't beleive someone can work with so much dedication :) There was just two tap beers, but believe it or not, it was more than enough. I went with a super light pilsner, while my girlfriend took the red ale that tasted like a great amber with notes of stout. They do go great along with the food, so I am sure these aren't just few random beers on the list, someone definitely spent time pairing them. I tried vegan soup and I liked it, it is very good as a start before everything else. Burger was good, it had very distinctive grilled flavor (probably due to the onions), amazing bun and flavorful sauce. Fries tho were quite regular, and thats the first time in my life when I asked for a ranch on the side, but preferred ketchup over it. Don't take me wrong, ranch was AMAZING and you can tell its homemade; it was all about the fries... they just were better with ketchup idk why. In her turn, my girlfriend got duck breast, and OMG it looked so good... it had squash puree and sauerkraut on the side, i tried both and either one was extremely flavorful. She also liked the duck breast. And to wrap it up, we got the pecan pudding, maybe it had something else, but those roasted caramelized pecans were so amazing that I forgot about everything in my life, while enjoying them. I am just a huge pecan fan, so disregard this last sentence 😊. Anyway, I had a great Friday night and an amazing flavor experience at Farmhouse; and I feel like I'll be back...

Very good food with some blips on service. Staff seemed very young & inexperienced. We - party of 2 - were seated quickly, served water by Young Man #1. No ice, but when I asked, he obliged by bringing a full glass of cubes. Plenty for us both to chill the water & I used the spoon from my service to serve cubes. #1 then came back to apologize for leaving out a spoon from my setting - nice catch! I assured him no fault & explained how I'd used the spoon. Waitress took our orders & agreed to substitute cider for the orange juice in the special $5 mini mimosa. I had the mini bloody mary. Both drinks were good, although kind of a short pour on the mimosa. Then the wait..... A large party - 8 or 10? - came in & was seated near us - making just the 2 tables to serve in the small room. 20+ minutes pass & no food arrives. Finally Young Man #2 brings out a large order & sets it on a tray stand. Obviously NOT our order, but we're hopeful our food will follow shortly. Not only does that not happen, but no server appears to distribute the plates on the tray. Minutes pass. Plates sit. WTH? Finally my friend asks the large party if they would like their food before it gets cold. IIWM, I'd have helped myself. Server suddenly appears along with #2 & large party gets their orders. Waitress assures us our order will come out "in just a minute" Minutes pass. When we ask server (again) status, her explanation is that another large party arrived in the other dining room. And this should affect our order because??? Finally our food arrives. My shrimp & grits is good, but for $14 perhaps a 4th shrimp would have been nice. Friend's Country Breakfast has cold scrambled eggs. Which she does not send back, fearing another 20min wait. When waitress asked the standard "Everything all right?" cold eggs were mentioned, no comment from waitress. Best part of the meal was Roasted Marshmallow Coffee dessert drink. Which did arrive quickly. I ask for the check & the mimosa sub of cider for OJ added $4 to the cost of the drink. So $9 for maybe 8oz of cider & champagne. It would have been nice if that was mentioned when the order was placed. To sum up: Cute place. Good selection of brunch choices. Service uneven. Food good, not great. Would I come...