Farm House Local — Restaurant in Larkspur

My wife and I stopped by on Sunday at this place. Our first impression was great - a little loud, but its sunday brunch. We were sat quickly despite how busy it was. We ordered breakfast; my wife has severe celiacs disease and cant eat any dairy or gluten. We actually don't go out often because of the risk of cross contamination, but we aren't local and gad a long drive ahead of us. The menu offered plenty of options and my wife told our server. When the food came out, my wife started eating her gluten free bread...or what we thought was gluten free. The fact that it was edible and didn't taste terrible should have been our first clue. 5 minutes later, a busboy comes out with the GF bread. Our server hadn't stopped by to touch the table after delivery, so we had no real way of knowing about the mix up. To be clear, i am a server myself, so i know how hard it can be to table touch within 2 minutes of food delivery when you are slammed, but when it comes to food allergies, you need to be on top of that.

We immediately started panicking, but our server still didn't stop by. Eventually the manager (owner?) and apologized. Now, if it had ended there, this would have been a 2 star review. However, the server did come by and apologize, and they comped our entire bill (including my bill) which we were not expecting. THEN, after we left, the manager literally ran down the sidewalk after us to apologize profusely once more. While my wife did end up getting sick, we really appreciated how they handled it. Mistakes happen, but they more than made up for it.

Despite the mess up, everyone there was extremely friendly, even though they were crazy busy. Plus the food came out quickly and was on point. I had the biscuits and gravy (i am not GF :D) and it was delicious. The spinach was different, but good, and the biscuits themselves were very good.

To conclude, despite the mistake, my wife and I would definitely come back. Unfortunately, we don't live in marin, so who knows when we...

Farm House Local is one of the most disappointing dining experiences I have ever had in Marin. I visited for the first time recently for breakfast. I arrived with great anticipation based on other reviews and the extensive biography of chef/owner David Monson that is exhaustively detailed on their website and menu.

The main dining room was overstuffed with small, cramped tables that were mostly unused. It had that atmosphere of a struggling restaurant. I was quickly seated and served coffee. So far so good. I ordered a simple, standard breakfast of two eggs over easy, bacon and potatoes.

It took much longer than I expected for my breakfast to arrive, especially given the thin crowd. I immediately noticed a thin layer of oil beneath the eggs ugh. Next, all of the food was lukewarm. The delay must have been due to my meal sitting on the ready shelf waiting to be delivered. The potatoes lacked seasoning and were cumbly. The bacon overcooked. All short of even mediocre.

This was not a meal cooked by a chef with Monson's claimed pedigree. He should be ashamed.

My coffee was empty and I had not seen a server since my initial pour. I tried to get the attention of the one server on the floor, but he was very engaged in an animated conversation with a regular. They talked and talked. He made eye contact with me then ignored me. Finally he broke away and served me coffee without apology.

The final disappointment was the cost. It was the most expensive breakfast I have ever had in Marin. The value to price ratio was zero. I will not return and I do not recommend it.

David Monson might be Parisian trained, but I don't think he has been a guest at his own restaurant for some time, he would...

This place is loud. Not just from the customers but the servers are loud. They took over one of the tables to prep roll ups and they were joking/talking, which is fine. However they were so loud it was hard to have a conversation at the table. They would also yell to each other from around the restaurant. Again, servers need to talk, that is fine. But yelling to the point multiple customers turn to look at why it’s so loud is not. The server tried not once but three different times to clear our plates while we were still obviously eating. There were other open tables so it wasn’t like there was a rush or the like. The table and chairs were dirty, one chair had bacon chunks and grease on it. The jam bowl had bits of someone else’s (hopefully) toast in it. The green sauce’s lid was crusty and caked with dried sauce.

The food was so so, edible but not seasoned. The over cooked potatoes with the eggs had zero seasoning, not even salt. They were so overcooked that a couple of them a fork could not pierce. The toast was somehow over toasted but also not toasted in the center. The French toast (which was the star of the show according to the MariIJ) was $19. Nineteen dollars for a dish that was good but was max a $14 dish. While the food was so-so, at the prices they are charging, the food should have been excellent. The prices were giving “its Marin, they can afford it” assumptions. The prices of hot beverages fall in to that same category, $3.50 for 12oz...