Founding Farmers DC

Nothing to say really. the food was underwhelming and overpriced, the service rather snotty… I would say technically the prices are reasonable for a meal in that part of town but given the quality — def. not worth it. I’m being a bit generous with two stars. redeeming was the free drink we got given it took almost 50 mins to get our appetizer on a day that really wasn’t that busy… not a place I’d go back to on a whim.

No joke, two months ago when my coworker and I found out we have to go to DC on a quickie business trip, a reservation at Founding Farmers was made within minutes. I had never been, and she swears by it.
This review has two parts: I arrived an hour before my reservation to meet another friend for a drink so we sat at the bar. The second part is the actual dinner. At 5:30pm the bar was packed. Luckily, we snagged the last two seats. The bartenders are amazing and so friendly. Our drinks were great (though New York prices). Then comes the dinner… WOW. I swear I probably looked at the menu for a solid two hours figuring out the best way to attack it for our order. We started with the breads, chips, crisps appetizer and it was SO good. The chips, the crackers, the bread, the carbs, the dips, the CHEEEEEEESE! Then for my entrée I ordered the many vegetable salad and added salmon. BOMB. Everything was fresh, the salmon was cooked perfectly, the portion was rather large, and whatever they do to the peanuts in the salad is crack. My friend had the rotisserie chicken and loved it as well. Make a reservation, by 8:00pm it’s so packed people are even waiting outside.
Until next time, my beloved Founding Farmers.

«Meh. I’ve experienced better.» Is exactly how I would put it. The food is at best good, not great. The drinks are also only good, not great, and really expensive. The crowds at the restaurant get really annoying pretty much every time of the year. For some reason, its the «go to» restaurant in that area. During the school year, its always packed with students and parents «experiencing» DC area cuisine. During the summer, its slammed with tourists and the few interns that can afford a meal.
I think for these reasons it has allowed the service at the restaurant to really, really slump. I’ve only been a small number of times, but I’ve never had great service. Like everything else at this restaurant, the service is at best good, not great.
Its extremely overrated and I would highly recommend heading elsewhere.

Yes, I love everything here! seriously, EVERYTHING.
The cornbread takes the cake tho (see what I did there? :)) because it is literally a perfect combination of sweet and savory.
I went with a large group of friends so we all pretty much tried everything and not a single complaint. Food is flavorful, drinks are strong, ambiance is incredible and staff is very friendly/​helpful for those who are indecisive like myself. :) Def coming back.

I will be back. My friends suggested it when we were in DC. I had never been before but I’m glad they dragged me to it. We made a reservation and arrived a little early. They seated us upstairs during the time I requested. We had a great waiter. I forgot his name (I’m bad with names forgive me) but he went above and beyond to explain to me the great facts of the business. I ordered great food with the suggestions of our waiter. I already know what I’m getting next time I go.

As the ladies next to me described this place: «It’s like Applebee’s but, for like, hipsters…»
Thank goodness I had a reservation, the waits can be horrendously long (up to an hour) even during dinner time!
Cornbread ($ 5) — wow this was really really good right when it came on the table, it literally melt in my mouth! Paired with the sea salt butter and honey, it was downright heaven in my mouth! As it cools down, the corn kernals get annoying to eat so try to finish it while it’s hot!
Fried green tomatoes ($ 8) — meh; the real stand out is the cilantro green sauce and the cheese white sauce
Yankee Pot roast ($ 16) — this was nice and flavorful with a bed of roasted veggies and mashed potatoes; I wish there were more vegetables and less potatoes but the flavors were there + a sprig of rosemary too!
Service was pretty slow but it’s worth the reservations! Next time I’m getting the corn bread again :)

Founding Farmers is a must-​try in DC! I had the Yankee pot roast, which was a solid, hearty dish. It had a gigantic portion of pot roast atop a bed of mashed potatoes with a healthy portion of veggies. I also had a taste of the shrimp and grits, which was a cacophony of delicious flavor; the andouille sausage gives it a kick.
The cocktails looked amazing, and will definitely come again to try them next time.

This has easily become one of my favorite places to eat!
I love the atmosphere and décor of the restaurant.
The first time that I went, I had the glazed salmon, whipped potatoes and collard greens. Omg everything was cooked to perfection! I ended up taking leftovers and everything still tasted fresh.
The service was ok. Our waiter was impatient and we felt rushed at times.
The second time that I went, I had the prime rib dip sandwich with whipped potatoes. I was bummed that the collard greens were only seasonal! I was craving for some lol. My lunch was delicious nonetheless! The service was fast and our waitress was kind and helpful.
The only reason why I don’t give this place five stars is because of the service. I felt rushed during both of my visits. I understand they are very busy but I hated feeling like I was being rushed. I had food on my plate and was constantly asked if I was finished. That was quite annoying. I should be able to order my food, take my time eating it and not be rushed so the next person can be seated.

This was the place I decided to start off my birthday, and it was a great choice!
My sister and I came in for weekday breakfast and we wanted to share both sweet and savory options. As a result, we ordered the Strawberries and Cream Stuffed French Toast, the Founding Farmers Breakfast, and an order of Beignets.
The french toast was AMAZING. The fact that it was stuffed with a cream filling put it over the top. I think it was the best french toast I have ever had.
The grits in Founding Farmers Breakfast that we ordered were great. They were a larger grain than what I’m used to, but I liked the texture, and they had good flavor.
Beignets came with three dipping sauces, and the fruit sauce was the clear winner. I also appreciated the fact that they added a candle to this for my birthday — it was a cute touch!
Decorations were both polished and whimsical.
I would definitely come back here if in the area; everything was very reasonably priced, and the food quality was high. We made a reservation, but they weren’t crowded when we were there (a non-​peak time — 10:30 AM on a Tuesday).

**Get a reservation first and save yourself a 2 hour wait for brunch.**
I’ve been in DC little over a week and I’ve already been here twice lol. My friends and I joke that this is the staple DC restaurant — you have to come here at least once, and if someone is visiting you, you have to take them here for at least one meal. While Founding Farmers isn’t the absolute best brunch I’ve ever had, it’s reliably good, has a great farm-​to-​table menu, and is just a fun trendy place to go on a weekend morning. I haven’t been for any meal other than brunch, but my friends say that any time of day you are sure to have a great experience.
The item to get here is the beneigts. They are warm, fresh, covered in delicious powdered sugar and tbh even better than the ones I’ve had in New Orleans. They come with a trio of sauces, so when you smother that beneigt in chocolate, strawberry, and caramel, you will be lost in decadence and forget about all the time you may have spent waiting for your table.
I love their eggs benedict. It’s only $ 10, a great cost for a brunch dish that’s typically on the pricier side, and it’s absolutely delicious. But honestly you can’t go wrong here whatever you order — after one visit you will see why it’s the hottest brunch spot in DC!

I now understand why everyone I know raves about this place. My girlfriends and I secured a reservation for 10 on Saturday night for a bachlorette party and had the best time. Service was a little slow, but with so many of us, and the restaurant being so busy (even at 9 pm there was still an hour wait for dinner!), I feel like they did a really nice job. Our server was super sweet and the food was fantastic. We split a bunch of aps and the standouts to me were the seafood deviled eggs and the bacon wrapped dates. For my main, I ordered the lobster mac and cheese-​which is just basically two breaded lobster tails-​on a bed of the creamiest, gooiest, most rich mac and cheese I think I have ever had in my whole life. It was intense to say the least! My best friend traded me some of her amazing pork chop and mashed potatoes (holy hell those were good!) for a few bites of my pasta, so I was very glad to have something to break up the richness.
They have a decent cocktail list, although tbh, what I ordered wasn’t particularly memorable.
I feel like we went bad by not ordering cornbread, so I guess I will just have to come back sooner, rather than later, to remedy that oversight.

Not a bad place for some food, but nothing special.
We came here as it was repeatedly mentioned in our guide book. Tried just walking in on the Saturday but it was an hour wait, booked online later and got a brunch slot for Sunday! Yay!
So, I’m British, I love a good queue. That said, I was getting a teensy bit antsy after queuing for 15 minutes despite having a reservation, with crowds of people milling around me… Maybe I was just hangry.
The food is ok, nothing to write home about. I ordered the steak and eggs, with toast. The (ranch) steak was ok, but a bit tough. The eggs were fine but the toast was… Well it was fried in oil and there was no butter, maybe it’s how things are normally done here but I like my toast toasted… With the option of butter and no adder oil. The blue cheese burger was bland, with minimal blue cheese, but apparently the mash was good!
The chef’s pick cocktail was nice! Small, but nice. Good list of drinks so it could make a great boozy brunch place.
Generally this seems like a good place if you want something filling and basic. I reckon you can find somewhere better though if you look around.

** make a reservation **!!!
My family and I were visiting D.C. and heard about this popular breakfast/​brunch place! We made a reservation, and thank goodness we did because when we arrived around 10 AM, the wait time was quoted to be about an hour. The restaurant is two floors, didn’t get a good look of the downstairs area, but the upstairs dining area was nice! It’s a little dark for a breakfast place, a lot of people, so it was pretty loud inside.
We ordered the Veggie Scramble, the Sausage, Mushroom, and Spinach Scramble, the Founding Farmers Breakfast, and the Pastrami Poached Egg Scramble.
Veggie Scramble — got ciabatta and grits as a side: Delicious! This is the plate I ordered, originally wanted the Sausage scramble, but my sister got it, so decided to get something different and the veggie also sounded good. It was loaded with veggies, and they were all cooked well — nothing was over or underdone! I believe the scramble was made with egg whites instead of whole eggs, so ask to switch if you’d like! The grits were a lot thicker and chunkier than I thought they were going to be, reminded me more of oatmeal than actual grits — wouldn’t recommend. The ciabatta was amazing — disappointed I got the smallest piece out of the table!
Sausage, Mushroom, and Spinach Scramble — got ciabatta and leek hash browns as a side
Pastrami Poached Egg Scramble — got ciabatta, doesn’t come w/​a side
Founding Famers Breakfast — got eggs scrambled, bacon, ciabatta, and fruit as a side
Only took bites out of the rest of the plates, but they were all delicious! The Pastrami Scramble would probably be the best of the four. The poached eggs were perfect, and it all came together really nicely.
The portions did look a little small when the plates first arrived, but after eating, I think it was a good amount! The service was subpar… maybe it was cause we were from out of town, but our server barely checked up on us! Anyways, not a bad place to grab breakfast, definitely is popular, so make sure to prepare for a wait if you don’t make that reservation!

Had to try out Founding Farmers — especially for its farm-​to-​table mentality. Being from CO I was searching for a more local option in the hustle of the city with mostly everything being Corporate. The food was good — I had the Vegetable Bucatini and my friend had the Chicken and Waffles of course.
I tried her mac and cheese and it was amazing! My pasta was also good, seemed a little standard and nothing really stood out as amazing. To me the experience in the end was a little corporate or basic.
Living in Denver I’m used to a more authentic feel when the restaurant claims to be farm-​to-​table, but given the location I can see its more broad appeal.
Overall, good dinner. Left full and satisfied. Would recommend checking it out for brunch and make sure you make a reservation!

Founding Farmers claims to be «farm to table» and make everything in house from scratch. The trend that seems to be sweeping the nation is this «farm to table» mantra that up and coming restaurants are practicing themselves, which is great. Founding Farmers seems to be one of the most popular and highly rated restaurants in DC so I strongly recommend making a reservation or you’ll have to wait for awhile like I did. They put their own spin on All-​American classics and have a wide range of items on the menu.
We ordered the spicy sausage pei mussels to start off with and thought they were amazing. I was literally using the mussel shells to drink the sauce it was cooked in. Very delicious and so fresh. Since the appetizer was so good, I could not wait for my main entrée and had high expectations.
For my main entrée, I went with the seafood bucatini. The lobster, shrimp and mussels it came with were cooked perfectly, seasoned relatively well, and definitely tasted fresh. However, when it came to the pasta I felt like I was eating straight up boiled pasta. There was barely any flavor in the noodles. The sauce is very watery so when combined with the thick bucatini — the bucatini does not absorb much (if any) flavor. Also, the pieces of bread it came with were burnt. Sadly, the seafood bucatini was a very mediocre dish that I had to amp up with Tabasco sauce. I tried my sister’s lobster mac and cheese (which was more like lobster rigatoni) and thought it was alright, a bit heavy on the bread crumbs… for $ 28 it was not all that. I did not get a chance to try the chicken and waffles but it seemed to be a hit since my brother ate the entire dish.
I did enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant albeit it was a bit loud and thought the service was great. Overall a decent dining experience.

Okay, I came back when I was in town again and this time I see what the hype is about! My friend and I both got something other than the chicken & waffles (which is overrated, see previous review), and both of our dishes were delicious! I got the eggs benedict with crab, which was super savory and had a decent amount of crab and perfectly poached eggs. I got hash browns for my side and they were crisp and really well-​seasoned. My friend got the ranch steak & eggs, and the steak was cooked just right and flavored well. Both entrees were reasonably priced at $ 14.
We also got seated upstairs this time, which I liked a lot better than the downstairs — it was spacious, well-​lit, and had lots of elegant booths and window-​side tables. Service was fast as well! I would definitely come back to try some of their sweet breakfast dishes.

I’ve been to DC three times in the past 4 years and I always make sure to stop by this spot for brunch, even if I have to wake up for the first seating!
First off– BEIGNETS. They are to DIE FOR! They come with three sauces: raspberry, chocolate and caramel. And they are fresh, fried, fabulous amazingness, hot right out of the kitchen.
Leek hash brown sides are brown and crispy and a unique spin on the traditional hashbrowns. They come on the side of a lot of dishes, including all of the benedicts. My favorite benedict is definitely the crab one. It comes with jumbo lump crab with perfectly poached eggs.
Delicious food, great company and great service! Definitely will come back again next time I’m in DC!

A friend recommended this spot to me while I was on a business trip. Luckily enough, I managed to grab a reservation the morning that I was planning on coming here. The place was absolutely packed even at 11:30 in the morning when a large line of people waiting by the entrance. There is a bar area downstairs with normal seating as well as additional seating upstairs.
We started off with a bread, chips, and crisps basket that also came with 4 different spreads: romesco, pimento cheese, green goddess, and onion dip. I really enjoyed the pomesco which was a tomato-​like spread as well as the pimento cheese. The basket was huge with foccacia bread and kettle chips along with crisps. The restaurant has the same menu for lunch and dinner so prices and portions are the same no matter what. The main thing with this spot is that they get all their ingredients from local farms.
I decided to go with the chicken and waffles as my entrée since it was listed as a signature item on the menu. The food came out really fast as we weren’t even really done munching on the bread basket. It was a massive plate as it came with mac and cheese as well as a side of my choice which I chose whipped red potatoes. The fried chicken piece was huge while the waffle came with both butter and syrup. The chicken was so crispy and tasty while the mac and cheese was so rich but delicious. The whole entrée came together perfectly, and I forced myself to finish the whole thing because I absolutely loved it.
If I ever come back to DC, I plan on checking out some other items on this menu. It definitely lived up to the hype but I am glad that I had a reservation. The restaurant is very popular so make sure to get a reservation ahead of time but definitely worth checking it out!

Prior to dining at Founding Farmers, I was in love with the concept of the restaurant; after dining at Founding Farmers, I was in love with the actual restaurant.
A friend and I went for Sunday brunch with a reservation, and as every other review states, you’ll want to come here with a reservation because it gets INSANELY busy. Is it worth waiting an hour for? I cringe at the idea of waiting that long to sit at a table when you know you can make reservations, but for Founding Farmers, I would consider it. Maybe.
Anyway, we started off with the beignets — mistake! These were so freaking delicious that we were borderline full before our main plates came, so if you want the beignets, I suggest you get them as your dessert instead. But these are perfectly fried and ever-​so-​lightly dusted with powdered sugar with phenomenal dipping sauces (my favorite was the chocolate).
For my entrée, I got the beef pastrami poached egg hash — essentially eggs benedict atop a decadent hash in lieu of the English muffin (which is a choice for bread, but it’s served on the side — I got the ciabatta instead). Just… really, really good. When you get the perfect bite of hash + egg, fireworks.
Service is excellent, and the restaurant is a surprisingly affordable farm to table option (for brunch, at least). If I were a DC native, Founding Farmers would easily be at the top of my list for a random occasion to dine out.

So glad I got the opportunity to dine here while visiting a friend in DC, it really is 5-​star experience from all angles. Food, atmosphere, and service are all stellar from start to finish.
We came with a large party (8), on reservation… this simple factoid is a blessing in itself as usually restaurants that have this good brunch service don’t take reservations at all. We were seated and cared for with the utmost attention and the waitress was extremely knowledgable of the menu. Of all of the dishes our group ordered most notable was the fried chicken and waffles which was the best take on it I’ve ever had (even including the fantastic Pies N’ Thighs of downtown Manhattan, NY). Something about their breading prep and chicken quality puts the product at out-​of-​bounds delicious. Also fantastic was the closing beignets which had the perfect consistency, and well-​rounded flavor.
Conclusively this a must when in DC. The pictures on Unilocal don’t do their dishes justice. Go found your own opinion about these farmers at your earliest convenience.

Ein unglaublich tolles Restaurant! Sehr nette Bedienungen, großartiges essen! Alles frisch und qualitativ sehr hochwertig! Sehr zu empfehlen !!!

Excelente lugar. Muy buena seleccion de bebidas, especialmente cerveza. El servicio tambien es bueno ya en tu mesa. Mi unica queja es con el servicio de «hostess» lentos y malhumorados. la comida es buena pero no perfecta.

El mejor sitio para comer bruch. Buenísimo y ambiente chulísimo. Eso sí, deberían poner una buena carta de vinos. Un buen restaurante no puede tener sólo esos vinos.