Butchers & Bakers — Restaurant in Farmington

I was very excited to bring my mother in-law here when she visited, I have been telling her about it (and about my favorite waitress) for months. I called a week before we went, to make a reservation and was told no reservation needed we would be ok to just come in since there was only 3 of us. I told them I had a preference for my waitress and the hostess said “there’s no way to know who will be working that day so just ask for them when you arrive” So the day comes we looked at the menu before we arrived and I told my mother in law what Kaitlin (my favorite waitress) has recommended in the past and decided what we wanted. When we arrived there was a line and I was told it was busy and the wait would be about 45 minutes. from the host stand you can see the entire restaurant, there was MAYBE 5 tables being used and the bar was FULL. The hostess said that the open tables were needed for reservations, I mentioned that I called the week before and was told that we did not need reservations and the hostess said “ I don’t know why they would’ve told you that “ so We sat for about 30 minutes and maybe two more tables got sat a few people left from the line and it seemed there was a party going in the upstairs room. I asked to speak to a manager, the hostess pointed out the gentleman manager, and I was told he was the GM. He was running around like a chicken with the head cut off, and I overheard him yelling at a few of the servers. i’ve seen him before, but he always seems so busy when we have had dinner before he’s always running around. Needless to say, I did not get to speak with him. Once we were Seated The restaurant was pretty full, but there was still maybe three or four empty tables. I asked if we could have Kaitlin and was told “ She doesn’t work here” And I couldn’t believe it because she always talked about how much she loved it there and I asked if she went to another restaurant or something like that and the person I asked did not know. our food took 45 minutes to get to us. The chicken was undercooked and the steak was overcooked and did not come with the egg that we ordered on it. The waitress seems like she was super busy. She probably came to the table once, we told her about the food and she said “I’m sorry, that happened sometimes “ she asked if we wanted it remade and I just didn’t want it anymore so I said no thank you we did not eat the chicken because it was undercooked. It was still on our bill. again, I asked to speak to the manager, but apparently he was taking care of the private party upstairs and was busy. Is this normal for the GM to take care of a party? when I went to the restroom, I spotted the manager up the stairs, and I was going to call him over, but he was again yelling at some of the servers. I just can’t believe a GM to act that way in clear view of guests. I understand restaurants have bad days, but I’m nervous to try again especially without Kaitlin there. KAITLIN WHERE DID YOU GO? I’d love to go to wherever you landed and I hope the best for you! Oh and not to mention the drinks we ordered (The beverage menu looks delicious) They sounded so good, but the drinks came after our appetizers and they kind of just looked thrown together again the waitress apologized and said the bar is very busy right now. This was my sixth time at this restaurant and the first bad experience I have had And like I said, I understand restaurants have bad days, but this was just one bad thing...

Agree with some of the others here that the location (inside and out) is beautiful. Lots of great seating options and style packed into an eclectic space, but the food is hit or miss. Waitstaff was great too.

But the majority of the food we tried I'd sum up as "standard mediocre" restaurant fair. Akin to what I'd expect out of a descent dinner but with more focus on plating.

Interestingly some dishes were fantastic, well seasoned, and unique. For example, the appetizers were great: the "garlic bread" was an interesting focaccia style bread laden with a blue cheese cream and some kind of herb oil; it was bright, savory and well put together. The fried calamari was on point too, great breading that held up, and properly cooked tender squid.

But then you get into the mains...overcooked under seasoned salmon on a bed of dried out carrots (Maybe trying to use that coal-fire? but sometimes dry high heat isn't the right move).

The butchers board was the biggest let-down, it was a beautiful display of meat cuts and fried chicken when we went. Sadly all were terribly under-seasoned and the chicken was overcooked and dry (even though I think it was thigh meat).

The brisket was shockingly bland despite being cooked nicely. It was tender with just enough of the fat rendered out, but utterly tasteless due to lack of salt, seasoning, dry rub...ANYTHING(?). The lack of attention to seasoning made an almost amazing dish suck. Ended up taking it home and dressing it up myself.

The fried "Nashville style" chicken was also very nice looking...but disgraces the namesake. It was neither hot, nor juicy. It was overcooked and again...under-seasoned, but the level of crisp on the breading was solid.

Saving grace on the butchers board was the incredible pickled cucumbers and slaw. The watermelon had a bit of kick from jalapeños used in the brine and that was dope.

I think most of the issues with the food are relatively quick fixes though, so there's definitely hope for this place. But at the moment it's just standard forgettable american-grill food that isn't...

I tried to make a reservation online last week for tonight. For some reason, I was not able to do the reservation online because the date was not highlighted as something I could actually click on. So I called the restaurant and they took the reservation on the phone. When I got to the restaurant tonight, there was a sign on the door saying they were closed because they were having a private party. I was a little confused by this since I had a reservation so I opened the door and they assured me that they could seat me. The entire restaurant downstairs where I normally sit was reserved for a party so they had set tables upstairs in the bar area for people that had reservations. However, it looked like there was already a private party going on in the bar… I don’t know if this was the party that was ultimately going to end up downstairs for dinner But I had to weave through people to get to my table, as this group was making toasts and speeches in a very public forum, and I felt like I was intruding on their gathering. I then learned that our table was about 2 feet away from this group and there was no way that I was ever going to be able to hear the people I was with because the group that was already there was so loud. The table they were going to see us at looked like it was an extension of this group that was already there… There was no way that I would feel comfortable sitting, trying to have a conversation with my friends while this group was a foot away from me and very loud. I was dumbfounded that this was our reservation. The restaurant should have just remained closed two people who were not part of whatever party was going on there. I turned around and walked out And tried to catch up with my friends who are on their way to the restaurant to regroup and find somewhere else to go. This was completely unacceptable. Very very disappointing. Normally I enjoy this restaurant, but tonight was...