The Farm Bar and Grille — Restaurant in Dover

My partner and I ate out this Sunday at ‘The Farm’ for the first time. It came highly recommended and we expected a fun ‘fast casual’ turn and burn experience. Unfortunately, we will not be going again. Right now a lot of restaurants are struggling with staff and supply shortages so I’m inclined to forgive a lot, but ‘The Farm’ pushes it a little too far. To summarize, a place like this can either have great food and subpar service, or great service and subpar food. Not both. Service was amateur hour, allergy management nonexistent, and food barely worth the wait despite large portions.

Before I jump in to details I think it’s worth mentioning that the entire FOH staff was unmasked(did not see kitchen staff): we all have different feelings about this, so take it as you will. This fact had no bearing on my reception of the other issues dining in.

A list of FOH grievances in order of occurrence (last is most severe) :

-We sat early in the service and it still took 10+ minutes to be greeted. Our waitress had 2! Other tables, one waiting for food and one finishing up. Not triple sat or anything, just doesn’t know how to consolidate steps or prioritize.

-When asked about the beer list the waitress showed us a handwritten list of tap beers on the back of her order pad instead of reading it to us or maybe, remembering the not-extensive list

-The bartender poured us a FLAT pumpkin-head from the tap and insisted it was supposed to be that way, they did give us another beer(different tap) which was satisfactory.

Signature cocktail I ordered (which was an uncreative manhattan) was so diluted it had no flavor. I can’t imagine anything vaguely referencing a manhattan would ever be intended as this chilled mess. I did not watch him make the cocktail, bubbles on the top and shards of ice in beverage indicate it was strongly shaken and the dilution was crazy; My guess is 2+ oz of water ? Strangely it wasn’t overly tall so perhaps the pour was short too.)

-waiter and food runner? (I could not tell if the youngest of the team was support staff or not) constantly left door to the patio open each time they went AND after they came in, it’s cold out now guys. I had to ask them to keep it close after shutting it myself 3 times which was not unnoticed by staff

• -I told the waitress about my food allergy, which is a tricky one, and after me explaining it, it wasn’t mentioned again until AFTER I had started eating and she asked me what it was again- * makes me question if there was any communication to the kitchen and made me wonder if I was going to be sick: fortunately I intentionally ordered something I was fairly confident I could have without modifications and did not have a reaction. For those wondering THAT IS EXACTLY HOW YOU HURT PEOPLE BY CROSS CONTAMINATION

Unfortunately the issues don’t end here as the kitchen has it’s own thing going on to. In no specific order:

-Waitress told us that they recently changed the menu, and had 86’d 4 items ?!

-did not have a soup of the day despite being listed on the menu; not that it sold out; that it was a work in progress. ( which is how one could describe the whole of the dining experience at ‘the farm’ )

food took 40+ minutes for an order fire ticket of fish & chips and a burger MR at the beginning of service. The same was true for other tables that got seated after us, waitress had to apologize a few times for the wait. Inclined to blame kitchen over server since there was no major seatings / rush.

portions where large as advertised but we both agreed the best part of our meal was the fries, which where ok but quickly got cold since the door to outside was constantly being left open.

Normally with all of these smaller issues and the food not being terrible, just not on par with our home cooking I would have given it 2 stars but because of the severity of the allergy...

Below you read the e-mail I sent to the owner of this estalbishment. I assure you this was a real expeirence I had at this resturant!

I am writing this letter in regards to my visit to The Farm, located in Dover, NH on Friday June 6, 2014 at approximately 6:00 PM. I unfortunately had a terrible experience while at your restaurant, which was a result of lack of professionalism from the manager you have in charge, Christine.

I was visiting The Farm with my daughter and friend. We ordered dinner and also an order of nachos. When I ordered the nachos I requested to have chicken on the nachos instead of pulled pork and for the all the toppings (salsa, guacamole and sour cream) on the side. While sitting at my table I noticed an order of nachos delivered to the table sitting across from me. When the nachos were placed on the table I heard the waitress state “nachos with chicken” and she set the plate of nachos on the table. The two customers at that table began to eat the food given to them. A few minutes later Christine, the manager, delivered another order of nachos to the same table, at that time was when she realized the original order of nachos they received was in error. Christine then picked the chicken nachos up off the table and walked down the stairs, which was right next to the table I was sitting at. Approximately 30 seconds later, Christine walked back up the stairs with the same order of nachos she removed from the table across from me. When Christine placed the plate on my table I ask her if those where the same nachos she removed from the table across from me. Christine’s response was, “No, these are for a different table. They will have to wait for their order now.” Thankfully I was able to witness the managers lack of integrity by trying to pass off a plate of food that was eaten off of by other customers. This incident makes me question how many other times Christine has done this without hesitation to lie or be held accountable.

A few moments later our waitress came to our table to ensure we received everything we needed/wanted. I informed the waitress what I saw happen with our order of nachos and informed her I do not want the nachos. Our waitress understood and confirmed that the nachos we received were the same nachos that came from the table across from us.

When our waitress came back to give us our check I asked her if I could please speak with the manager. When Christine came to our table I informed her that I was highly displeased with her lying to my face as a paying customer and attempting to serve me, my daughter and friend the same plate of food that was eaten off of by another table. Christine showed no sense of remorse for her actions and did not give an apology. I have never been to an establishment where the manager was completely content with allowing customers to leave completely unsatisfied.

I want to express my disgust in your establishment. I would often visit The Farm with friends, family and co-workers. I can assure you I will no longer be a patron to your establishment and my experience will not be left unspoken of. I would hope that you take this e-mail with the consideration it deserves. The overall experience was nothing short of terrible...

Came to eat here after the children's museum. It is almost hard to find if you're not familiar with the area. To get here you need to pull in behind a building, on a narrow dirt road that looks like a driveway. Parking spots are limited and a tight squeeze. It's located on the river and views would be better if there wasn't construction going on across the way. It was a beautiful afternoon, not busy, patio empty, just a few patrons inside, so a parking spot was easy to secure. Almost sat outside but the amount of wasps and yellow jackets concerned me - there was a sign at the hostess station stating that - but there was also many inside where we sat.

Our server was attentive at the beginning but then was hard to find.

We ordered: a quesidilla kids meal.

maple bourbon wings which were very yummy but very sticky. For these, ask for wet napkins, not the small little packets that don't clean your hands.

Fish tacos. The fish batter NEEDED seasoning so bad. I asked for cilantro but the server said they had none yet the sauce with the tacos were cilantro crema, & the salsa with the kids meal also had cilantro in it. So I'm not sure why I was told there wasn't any, tacos need cilantro especially with the pickled veggie and slaw. Tacos were full but chunks of cabbage made it hard to eat and the liquid from the slaw and pickling made it messy and drippy.

Ribs were amazing. Fell off the bone. Sticky. Sweet and smoky. Perfect!

The steak tips were good. Uneven cook on them due to size. Some were well others borderline raw. Green beans were meh.

Our wing appetizer came out 2 minutes before the meals which was difficult to eat with that many plates and drinks and a child using crayons at the table.

High chair had crusted up food stuck to it. Floors were FILTHY. Food everywhere underneath tables and in the walkaway where we sat by the door. Flies and wasps circling us the whole time - which was tolerable but annoying, esp when the flies land on food.

The waiter was MIA for 20 minutes after we were done and waiting for boxes to go. He didn't ask us how anything was. We had to flag another waiter down for items we needed. 4 boxes for our food and seemed irritated I asked for a bag- we had a young child and to go containers wouldn't stay closes, we couldn't possibly hold 4 boxes with a child easily. Took 5 minutes to even get a bag.

At least the food was...