Farmside Kitchen - Durham RTP — Restaurant in Durham

UPDATE [2024-05-12]: Happy to report that since my last review in 2021, Farmside is back to a 5-star rating.

Our office has since moved further away, but it remains a lunchtime favorite. We especially love ordering from Farmside when we have guests in the office (8-12 people), and our order has always been correct and kindly labeled for our convenience. Our guests always rave about their bowls. It's a refreshing break from heavy meals and fast food.

Our office favorite is The Rancher, but mine is still the Root Veggie Bowl. I also love their lemonades. You can't go wrong with any of their flavors.

Way to make a comeback, Farmside!

UPDATE [2021-10-07]: After my glowing review, I've had to bring my rating down from 5 to 3 stars. My husband and I do take-out from here at least once or twice per month for lunch because we love the farm bowls, and we order exclusively online for convenience. Unfortunately, and more recently on some of our orders, one of us will have missing ingredients from our bowl, whether it's the protein (which we've added to our order manually), or the grain (brown rice), or one of the toppings. We usually don't find out until we're back in the office, but maybe we'll have to check our bowls in the car before we leave the restaurant. In any case, we understand that mistakes happen (especially during the lunch hour rush); perhaps some kind of quick quality control check would be helpful before take-out orders are put out? My daughter loves the chocolate cookies, btw.

Hoping there's an opportunity in the future to revise the rating back to 5 stars! We really do love Farmside!

Ok. I loved Gusto when it was here, and was so heartbroken when they closed. But...BUT...Farmside, you've captured my heart with your farm bowls. I never used to eat salads (raw veggies are, in general, not a regular part of my palate), but you've opened my eyes.

I had the Root Veggie bowl with grilled chicken (online ordering and pick up were so easy!). Most of the contents are cooked (joyous occasion 😅!) and the honey ginger dressing was incredible. So savory (for the umami-seeker? YES!!). The whole salad was fresh and full of texture, with the perfect amount of everything in it. And thank you for not overfilling my bowl!! I was able to mix in the dressing without making a giant mess. 😆

I would love to see a half-sized salad in the future. My salad was good for two meals. The day-after salad was still delicious, but it's best fresh! Regardless, I'll be back. I'm still talking about this farm bowl to anyone who will listen. Ugh. It's really...

Very much a Cava style restaurant from the bins of fresh greens to the employees that seem like they have too many other things to do to help you. For some reason, I think when my food is scooped and slopped into a bowl, military style, makes it a little less appetizing which was my experience at Farmside.

My family and I stopped by on a weekend (Saturday around 12:30) and it was not busy BUT there was clearly a large pickup order the staff was preparing. They were at the tail end of that order when we walked up so we were okay waiting until they finished the order. We weren't in a rush. Once they were ready to take our order it was, again very militant, "what can I get you?". I gave my order of The Pitchfork and was asked "everything on it". I answered and the slopping into the bucket began.

The Pitchfork comes with shredded romaine as the base salad which was fine overall however, I would have preferred the kale. I didn't have a chance to ask for kale once I committed to "everything on it". Once the slopping began there was no going back.

I am a fan of the bowl I had and everyone with me really liked their bowls too. There are several drinks to choose from that you wouldn't normally find like their array of sparkling drinks. We went back up to order avocado toast and they were out and had to make more. After about 15 minutes we went back up and they had some. I will say it was about the most dismal avocado toast I've ever had. There was barely enough avocado on the bread to cover the bread. The bread did taste amazing though.

Overall, I like the food, I like the theme, I like the localness, I love the sustainability (compostable bowls and utensils) so I'd go back. I'd just have different expectations of the level of...

After an emergency run to Raleigh (4 hr drive) and checking into a hotel, we needed to find a place for dinner. According to one child, the name suggested a “country cooking” like place, so off we went. It was not what he expected! The menu was based off of various salads (which I found hilarious because getting this child to eat a vegetable is trying at best)

A wall of salad greens (lettuce, kale, arugula, etc.) is behind the counter. As you place your order at the counter, the “greenery person” plops a handful of greens into a bowl. Your bowl is then passed to the next counter clerk who adds the various toppings (corn, peppers, protein, dressing,etc) and it eventually ends up at the person ringing up the transaction. We arrived about an hour before closing and there were 3 other people in the restaurant. Food was fresh. I personally enjoyed my meal as that is how I normally eat (mostly vegetarian) A few detractors… the bowls, cutlery and straws were the biodegradable paper products. These just have weird texture and for me, alter the taste of my food. The beverage cup was a disposable plastic cup. Had I known about the BPP, I would have probably chosen elsewhere to eat. Yes, I am that sensitive to the texture. Also, the staff were performing their pre-close cleaning in the dining room. Not a big deal except for the smells of the floor cleaner. For 3 people, tab came to almost $60. That’s steep for a bowl of salad on biodegradable bowls and a beverage per person. My next time in the Raleigh/Durham area I will probably go back, but will bring my...