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Founding Farmers, Downtown, Potomac, and Tysons Corner


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Yes, as it turns out, Inox was literally ten years ahead of its time. It was one of the best restaurants ever in the Washington, DC area, but got caught in the middle of Tysons Corner development. The exact same restaurant would be an enormous success five years from now, maybe even less.

It really is a shame Inox didn't have the luxury of time.

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I will be at pre-opening event tonight. Hopefully they will give permission to post pictures and talk about the concept. The former INOX space is huge, it will be interesting to see how they reconfigured it (they actually built a barn in a portion of it). Founding Farmers- Tyson's is on Open table with a starting date of  February 5th.

More at  www.WeAreFoundingFarmers.com 

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My sources in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers building up above Founding Farmers have been getting free treats all week as the kitchen prepares for opening in a day or two. The ploy is working. These well-heeled executives have circled the opening on their calendars and are planning on being there en masse.

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And this is why we can't have nice things in Bethesda.

We can; it's just going to take a shift in the status quo away from inexpert opinions (and a change in alcohol regulations).

I have never understood why members of *this* website even mention star ratings, reviews by people who know less than they do, celebrity chefs who have never done anything of greatness. I mean, people are welcome to talk about what they want, but you guys are better than this. Read those previous six words again, please.

It goes to show that sheer circulation amounts for a lot. There are people who read *only* this website, and dine as well as anyone (refer to an event which I'll be posting within the next thirty minutes that you won't find anywhere else). There are restaurants who have advertised *only* on this website (in the form of being here) and have made millions, yes millions, of dollars. It's all here! I'm not going anywhere! Well, at least the website isn't going anywhere. ;)

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And this is why we can't have nice things in Bethesda.

The other top vote-getters: Woodmont Grill, Raku, Black's Bar & Kitchen, Mon Ami Gabi, Food Wine & Co., Persimmon, Matchbox

Sigh.

We can; it's just going to take a shift in the status quo away from inexpert opinions (and a change in alcohol regulations).

I have never understood why members of *this* website even mention star ratings, reviews by people who know less than they do, celebrity chefs who have never done anything of greatness. I mean, people are welcome to talk about what they want, but you guys are better than this. Read those previous six words again, please.

It goes to show that sheer circulation amounts for a lot. There are people who read *only* this website, and dine as well as anyone (refer to an event which I'll be posting within the next thirty minutes that you won't find anywhere else). There are restaurants who have advertised *only* on this website (in the form of being here) and have made millions, yes millions, of dollars. It's all here! I'm not going anywhere! Well, at least the website isn't going anywhere. ;)

Bethesda's biggest obstacle... Bethesdans :P

It won't be long until you can make the same statement about Tysons....move over Nostos and Shamshiry, the people who tend to vote in these polls will quickly embrace Founding Farmers as the best restaurant in Tysons....which isn't saying much, but still....

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It won't be long until you can make the same statement about Tysons....move over Nostos and Shamshiry, the people who tend to vote in these polls will quickly embrace Founding Farmers as the best restaurant in Tysons....which isn't saying much, but still....

Sad thing is, you're right.

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Hate to say it, but I can't imagine this concept surviving in Tysons, where restaurants go to die. I hope the new Metro stops and the foot traffic prove me wrong, but Tysons is where the IT crowd eats steak on expense accounts, and where everybody leaves at dinnertime except the IT crowd that eats steak for dinner.

FF pulling in $250K-$300K per week (Sorry Kibbee).

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How can that be sustainable? It can't be anything more than early buzz....

Was just coming here to post this link. Totally unsurprising. The numbers may (will?) drop as FF ages, but this was an obvious hit from the get-go.

There are 265 seats in the restaurant, so they are doing more than $1000 per seat each week? Where else in Washington is this happening?

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How can that be sustainable? It can't be anything more than early buzz....

There are 265 seats in the restaurant, so they are doing more than $1000 per seat each week? Where else in Washington is this happening?

Maybe at Old Ebbitt? That's the only place that I could think of...

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There are 265 seats in the restaurant, so they are doing more than $1000 per seat each week? Where else in Washington is this happening?

It would not surprise me at all if the Merrifield Sweetwater Tavern does multiple turns per seat per day (they're open 11 or 12 hours a day, 7 days a week), plus ordering a meal at the bar counts as a "cover," and I'm not sure if bar seats count as seats (do they?)

Don't forget also, the revenues include drinks ordered at the bar, and I suspect Tysons Corner does one heck of a Happy Hour business.

---

Edit: Back to this thing again. At #100 in the U.S., it looks like they do just shy of $200,000 per week Don't forget, you've got developers pimping Tysons now; back in the days of Inox, they remained silent.

Remember when the developers said they'd keep the original storefronts in this building in Clarendon? Lying pieces of shit.

post-2-0-61443400-1425922570_thumb.jpg

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Do the math....if Founding Farmers is doing $350K a week, and he average cover is $50, they're doing 7,000 covers a week?

Do bar tabs count as covers? I doubt it, and think that's a significant portion of revenue that isn't showing up in their per check averages - potentially anyway. And sure, over 19 meals a week, I could see that.

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Invited out by some friends to join them here for dinner at the DC location I was not expecting much after looking through this thread. I certainly didn't have any issues with the food or service.

Started with an excellently made Aviation. and my entree was the chicken and waffles. Two tasty and nicely fried pieces of chicken (one white, one dark) with half a waffle, mac & cheese (a little dry for my taste) and my choice of side (very good roasted winter vegetables). The pot pie my wife had was very good as well. For dessert we had Uncle Buck's beignets that are served with small dishes of raspberry coulis, caramel sauce, and semi-sweet chocolate sauce.

Should it be voted the best restaurant in Tyson's? Who cares about some dumb ass poll. Based on my one visit,  It has good food, good cocktails, and good service and I would certainly return again.

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Stick with basic preparations. If it sounds like ingredients that you're not sure if they work together, they probably don't. If it's a dish that needs a chef's attention, rather than a line cook, avoid.

Things like fried chicken or meatloaf are much better choices than pastas, which are uniformly overcooked.

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On 3/22/2015 at 1:13 PM, DanielK said:

Stick with basic preparations. If it sounds like ingredients that you're not sure if they work together, they probably don't. If it's a dish that needs a chef's attention, rather than a line cook, avoid.

Things like fried chicken or meatloaf are much better choices than pastas, which are uniformly overcooked.

I had the meatloaf last week. The mashed potatoes were cold, the vegetables tasted like they came from a bag (in a slightly undercooked way), and the meat loaf was *very* salty. Be warned: They serve Diet Coke out of little bottles, and charge by the bottle.

To be fair, I also got a side order of biscuits, and they were excellent (I took half of them home), and the meal - despite what I wrote above - wasn't that bad. The mashed potatoes, in fact, were very good, the portion size was huge, and I could scarcely finish my meal.

If it's possible, it was both "less consistently prepared but a notch better" than Sweetwater Tavern, and also more expensive. 

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I've always wondered, is the use of the little Diet Coke bottles inconsistent with their Eco-friendly, sustainability message? Not sure about the use of thousands of glass bottles vs replacement of a standard dispenser.

At $3 a pop (get it?), the problem quickly becomes self-limiting. :)

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My wife is heading here tonight with friends in a book group. She tried (in vain) to steer them to someplace else, but failed.

Is there anything at all that is worthwhile on their menu?

My wife had a few thoughts.....she had well executed crispy shrimp, but the cole slaw was quite odd. And service, which started off fine, evaporated completely after the mains arrived. So, not a complete dud (desserts were good enough, she said), but no need to go back.

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We've been to the Tysons location a few times -- although not in the last month --  so I'll chime in.   I like the atmosphere. And, I've had excellent drinks, apps, desserts and coffee. (All of which, I will point out, sounds like a good book club gathering to me, even without a book).  I've not had lunch or brunch so I can only comment on our dinner experiences.  The menu is so big that I have a hard time deciding what to order, and I can't say there's one dish in particular that makes me want to go back. Of the mains, I enjoyed the burger and while I liked the campfire trout, it was not great. Katie really liked the chicken pot pie and my brother in law had the chef's cut that was tasty. I honestly cannot recall what cut it was but it was nicely done. 

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Buffet. And a very small one for a large house. There were four serving stations, one with all of the proteins, another with salads. A third with sausage, bacon and an omelette/pancake station. Deserts were at another. As I said, this made for long lines.

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Buffet. And a very small one for a large house. There were four serving stations, one with all of the proteins, another with salads. A third with sausage, bacon and an omelette/pancake station. Deserts were at another. As I said, this made for long lines.

This is an important issue - people waiting in lines at buffets are usually hangry. My guess is that there's no reason they couldn't have two sets of these in such a large restaurant.

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This is an important issue - people waiting in lines at buffets are usually hangry. My guess is that there's no reason they couldn't have two sets of these in such a large restaurant.

hangry=hungry and angry? Not a good combination, IMO.

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The early buzz has worn off somewhat, and I've now had quite a few lunches here. After all, when I actually go to my office, it's right above FF. Admittedly, I'm trying not to like it, but for a quick and convenient business lunch in that area, it's at least on a par with America Eats or Wildfire, which might not be saying much. I've also had the uber-trendy deviled eggs, no better and no worse than all the deviled eggs in every restaurant in the DC area right now.

I have tried the "many vegetable salad" and the "chicken salad salad" multiple times each. They are passable, inoffensive, somewhat over-priced but otherwise OK enough to nibble at while carrying on a business conversation with a colleague or two. I find sitting in the large back room to be the better location for a conversation. The front part, around the bar and in the small seating area to the right of the entrance, is too noisy. Granted, many modern restaurants like deafening noise because of some ridiculous notion that it equates to energy, but I'm not there to get buzzed by noise.

I also don't like how the menu presents the offerings, but I can say that about a lot of restaurants right now.

I guess my faint praise might be construed as somewhat damning, but I will continue to frequent this place on the basis of two criteria -- it's convenient and it doesn't suck.

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Admittedly, I'm trying not to like it

I do not know why, but I feel the same way.  Yet, I keep going back.  The food is solid, if not spectacular.  The Tysons branch has a juice bar, which I did not notice at the other locations (yes, I have been to all of them).

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Admittedly, I'm trying not to like it

I do not know why, but I feel the same way.  Yet, I keep going back.  The food is solid, if not spectacular.  The Tysons branch has a juice bar, which I did not notice at the other locations (yes, I have been to all of them).

+1

I used to feel the same way about Sweetwater Tavern in Merrifield, yet I've been there probably thirty times because it was *so convenient* at times for me and Matt. But Founding Farmers (in Tysons, anyway) is even a level above this - it's not somewhere I'd go out of my way for, because parking is sort of a pain, but if I was in the area, I'd go without batting an eye. I have Founding Farmers ranked as the #2 chain American restaurant in the area, just behind Family Meal (and I'm not convinced the satellites of Family Meal merit it being ranked #1).

That said, it's no Inox, which was one of the ten best restaurants in the DC area, and millimeters away from being ranked in Bold, but since I'm the only critic in the area who recognized this, I guess this is already long-forgotten by people.

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I had one forgettable meal at the Tysons location before Thanksgiving.  When I say forgettable, I truly blocked out most of it.  I remember parking that costs $6, no fountain soda--just cans, some small sandwich trio -- mediocre.  I don't remember what my friend had.  Place was mobbed.  I will never go back.

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I have Founding Farmers ranked as the #2 chain American restaurant in the area, just behind Family Meal (and I'm not convinced the satellites of Family Meal merit it being ranked #1).

I've eaten at the Potomac location at least 5 times (only once by choice). I've never a meal anything above mediocre. I'd rank every one of Lettuce Entertain You's places above FF.

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I've eaten at the Potomac location at least 5 times (only once by choice). I've never a meal anything above mediocre. I'd rank every one of Lettuce Entertain You's places above FF.

Are there more than one of any in the area? That's the sole criterion I use for Multiple Locations. Stella Barra, for example, is notably better than Founding Farmers. If you look at the American Restaurants section in the Multiple Locations Guide, it's a pretty darned lame list - not one is ranked in Italic (although Family Meal certainly used to be).

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Are there more than one of any in the area? That's the sole criterion I use for Multiple Locations. Stella Barra, for example, is notably better than Founding Farmers. If you look at the American Restaurants section in the Multiple Locations Guide, it's a pretty darned lame list - not one is ranked in Italic (although Family Meal certainly used to be).

No, I don't think so. We have one each of:

Big Bowl

Community Canteen

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

Mon Ami Gabi

Stella Barra Pizzeria

Summer House Santa Monica

Wildfire

I've dined at all except for Joe's and Community Canteen, and I'd rank them all ahead of FF.

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There is also a Mon Ami Gabi in Bethesda and a Community Canteen on Sunset Hills in Reston

MAG is a consistent favorite for a relatively inexpensive mid-tier meal (especially for Sat/Sun Brunch and with $15 LEYE birthday awards for card member and spouse).

Although very expensive (especially if you spring for the Stone crabs which my spouse always does), our 2 times at Joe's were very enjoyable with great service an a nice menu variety. Las Vegas Joe's also very good, but we have never been to the Miami flagship.

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I had one forgettable meal at the Tysons location before Thanksgiving.  When I say forgettable, I truly blocked out most of it.  I remember parking that costs $6, no fountain soda--just cans, some small sandwich trio -- mediocre.  I don't remember what my friend had.  Place was mobbed.  I will never go back.

Against my instincts and desires, but in order to preserve household harmony, my wife and I made a reservation for Easter Brunch at the Tysons location. As a rule, I dislike buffets, and I rarely eat at restaurants during holidays.  Regardless, I tried to set aside my preferences, and vowed to have an open mind about the experience.

We arrived a few minutes early for our 1:15 reservation, and the place was packed. They offered very inexpensive valet parking, so chose that option to avoid garage parking, ticket validation, etc. The entry way was packed with people, and I overheard the host quoting wait times of 2 hours.

After a few minutes of waiting, during which I exchanged a few pleasantries with their hard-working pastry chef, we were seated. I believe a regular menu was available, but we chose the $30 buffet. (Drinks not included).

Their buffet operation is a bit unusual. In addition to the standard self-service routine, FF offers a number of "passed" items. Servers occasionally walked by with plates of deviled eggs, bacon lollipops, crostini, fried green tomatoes, and a few other items. Unfortunately, it wasn't clear which items which items were going to be passed, and there was no way to tell when the food would show up. Our server was friendly, even though she was extremely busy. I asked about deviled eggs, and she made good on her promise to bring some by.

Honestly, only a few items were memorable:

The fried chicken was quite good; hot, crispy, and moist. No complaints.

The aforementioned deviled eggs were disappointing, and sorely lacked seasoning.

The bacon lollipops (bacon threaded onto wooden skewers) were fine, but there were two other versions of bacon on the buffet line.

Roasted salmon was sadly overcooked.

A variety of  scrambled egg dishes were available, and freshly prepared by a cook. More on the eggs in a bit.

Finally, the mini-desserts were plentiful, and for the most part, very good.

Here's what really put me off about the experience; As I was perusing the buffet, two members of the staff carried out an enormous transparent bucket full of raw eggs. Now, I enjoy eggs, but I don't enjoy seeing 10+ dozen of them in a restaurant. Yikes. I watched in amazement as the staff poured some of the eggs into a smaller bowl, where they could be used by the cook as she prepared her egg dishes. Why they didn't think to take the smaller bowl back to the kitchen, and refill it in more appropriate (and potentially less hazardous) area is beyond me. Fortunately, the eggs were transferred without incident.

As I mentioned, our server was great, and she salvaged an otherwise mediocre experience.

I'm a bit predisposed to dislike buffets, so I'd probably have to rate the FF version as better than average for the price.

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Before reading these reviews, going to Founding Farmers was actually one of my first choices once I move to Washington; now, not so much. Where else would some of the members recommend to go in the area? 

You've got the Dining Guide at your disposal, my friend.

Go into the "Help Needed" Forum, describe your situation, pick a few candidates, and hear out people's opinions.

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Had brunch at the Tysons outpost this morning and it was excellent. It's a huge spread, including a bevy of items too many to list.  Standouts were the egg hash, bacon, homemade breakfast sausage, fried chicken, Mac and cheese (I'd go back just for this), deviled eggs, eggs Benedict, and many others. They also passed around 6+ food items in the dining room that aren't available at the buffet table. $30 per person and totally worth it. 

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