farmerbrown

Ken O.
52 reviews
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Great ambience, drinks, sweet potato fingers

The sweet potato fingers and cornbread cakes are addictive but quite filling so don't eat too many. The drinks here are good, although not organic as far as I could tell. Nice ambience, very down home. Friendly staff.

Good place for happy hours after work! Speaking of working smarter by saving money, drinks are $1-3 cheaper during happy hour of course.

Ken's keywords: happy hour farmerbrown

Jordana G.
35 reviews
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Farmerbrown Gets Five Stars from Me for Business Model + Food

If I didn't know farmerbrown's story, I might not be as impressed by the place: it's super crowded every time I go there -- uncomfortably crowded -- and once I had a really bad specialty cocktail there that tasted like watered down juice.

But I love that the restaurant's mission is to support local and African-American farmers, using organic/biodynamic/and sustainably raised food as much as possible. I think it's even great that it's located on the edge of the Tenderloin district, bringing some vitality to a depress[ing] part of the city.

I LOVE Southern food. And while this may not be exactly southern, it's pretty darn close: fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potato fries? Yum.

It's southern with a delicious, sustainable twist -- sustaining both the people who grow the food, and those who eat it.

Both times I've gone, service has been friendly and quick.

And for the record-- when I returned to farmerbrown, I was served delicious drinks. Not sure what happened the first time around.

This marriage of farm fresh southern cuisine with local Bay Area ingredients in a down home soulful atmosphere gives farmerbrown its unique vibe. From the entrees to the cocktails to the interior design--everything is hand-made and carefully crafted by the staff.

Jordana's keywords: farmerbrown African-American farmers sustainably raised food Tenderloin

Hilary P.
14 reviews
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I'd go back for happy hour & pie

Coming from the South, I have very high expectations when it comes to soul food, and this didn't score so high compared to other Southern food I've had (with names like "the pit" and "the catfish shack"). It did, however, do several things really well. The best food of the night was the pecan pie with homemade whipped cream - my great aunt Connie can't make one better (and peacan pie is the only thing she can make). The sweet potato steak fries were fresh and tasty served with a nice aioli to cool them down. The cocktails were my favorite, esp. the grapefruit gimlet, with the cocktail list changing daily and happy hour $2 off all drinks from 5 - 7 pm, I cannot wait to go back to the bar. As for the fried chicken, mac n cheese, and cornmeal crusted catfish, eh, I've had better.

Adam W.
198 reviews
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Solid, sustainable soul food

I have a strange and somewhat unexplainable love of soul. To be fair, I am a human garbage can, and will eat just about anything you put in front of me (except goat cheese. I really really really hate goat cheese), but in spite of being raised in California with an incredible abundance of local, healthy food, and being raised by someone who hails from the Mediterranean and who constantly foisted the Mediterranean diet upon me, if I am ever in need of comfort, good old fashioned soul food is the only thing for me. Plus, my last meal before death is going to be a creamy chessy delicious mac n cheese.

So that being said, I came to farmerbrowns with a lot of expectations. For the most part, I was very satisfied with what i was given. This restaurant is nothing if not SIMPLE. They had a small cocktail list, but the two I sampled were both delicious (and cheap, I love happy hour). The wine menu was also simple (only 4 reds) but they were local and cheap, and the one we picked (pinot) was tasty. The dinner menu - also simple. I ordered the fried chicken with mac n cheese and a broccoli salad. The crust on the fried chicken was delicious, but it was just a little dry. The mac n cheese was good - not great (as i said, I have very high expectations for mac and cheese). The salad was kind of inedible. My girlfriend ordered the pan fried catfish with sweet potatoes. The potatoes were awesome, the catfish even more so. The other thing about this restaurant that rocks is that it is local and as sustainable as possible. That is why i was very thrown off when i was given a paper napkin with my meal. When i asked the waitress, she explained to me that they did a full analysis of how much energy and chemicals go into cleaning cloth napkins for a restaurant their size, versus buying and recycling 100% recycled, unbleached paper napkins. Turns out, the paper won (not by a lot). While I can't comment on the accuracy of their decision, I do like that they thought it through so much.

Valerie B.
95 reviews
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farmerbrown

This place makes it feel like it's posh to eat fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. I love those foods - throw in mashed potatoes and a watermelon margarita, and you've got me. farmerbrown has all of these lovely things. They focus on local food and organic food, which is why I really support it (no really it's because of the mac'n'cheese!). I mostly like the ambience, but sometimes it feels a little like I'm eating in a basement. Not sure if that was what they were going for, but sometimes makes it feel a little dank.

Valerie's keywords: food

Louda B.
81 reviews
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great food, ingredients sourced from african-american organic farmers

the gentlemen who opened this baby is also responsible for emmy's spaghetti shack (yum!) and the bluejay cafe. i knew i wanted to try it, and it's just two blocks from work. what intrigued me the most was the simple fact that they support local and african-american organic farmers. talk about sustainability! whatever they're doing works, because the drinks and the food are divine. the mac n' cheese is quite tasty. i'm not a big cocktails kinda girl, but the mint julep was really great. the amazing artwork by keba konte fills the inside, giving this place a great vibe. my only major issue was that service was pretty slow that few times i've been.

Louda's keywords: farmer brown organic local sustainable biodynamic african american farmers

Jessica P.
89 reviews
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Go for the food, get there early!

Having heard/read all the hype, I decided this would be the perfect place to go for a company happy hour. We show up and the bar is already full- so I ask about getting a table.
Basically, they seated us in the cocktail lounge/waiting area, but gave us the curfew of 7:30pm to be out of there for another party (who no doubt were encouraged to make reservations when they called...)

We drank, we ate, we generally loved the food. Then we were kicked out promptly at 7:25 pm.

I don't hold the bad handling of our party against the place, but be aware that the bar is small and don't listen to the hostess who tells you there'll be plenty of room.

Overall, the food was really good, the desserts sublime and the drink menu had something for everyone (my personal favorite was the Mint Julep).

I will definitely go back

Jessica's keywords: soul food