New Farmshed Restaurant in SS
 

I don’t know where the new Farmshed Restaurant in Spanish Springs thought they were locating, but their prices are ridiculously high for that area. $16 for a hamburger when there are several places in the area MUCH cheaper. Fried chicken (thighs) $20. A side order of fries $6. And if the menu on their web site is complete, it is extremely limited. I hope they signed a short lease.

The owners are Villagers who have made a substantial investment in our community. I believe we should give them a fair chance to get established and work out any glitches.

The Villages is awash with restaurants that offer deals and low prices for those who watch their budget. For those restaurants to make a profit they need to shop prudently and be careful on their payroll expenses.

However, there is a niche market for Villagers willing to spend a bit more for higher quality and service. If this new business can meet the higher expectations that go with higher prices they can also be successful.

They opened last Thursday and it is a soft opening. The burger price is comparable to the better restaurants in TV. Fries come with the burger. The owners live in TV and the appropriate thing is to wish them success.

For a good burger that is not
 

out of the normal , and don’t worry so much you can still frequent the drive thru where you can have it your way

Well if the hamburger pictured is the one for $16, it looks like it may be worth it.

Farmshed American Diner

You get what you pay for. I think the menu looks great and can't wait to try it.

Looks like Farmshed is worth trying. The filet price is actually very inexpensive, and it seems their meats are fresh from a nearby farm. Good luck. Hope to get up there, shortly.

In case you haven't noticed, the price of food and labor is rapidly increasing. Inflation was 4.5% last month alone. Wages and food cost for our restaurants in TV will continue to rise and therefore so will prices. Welcome to the new reality.

We had two late lunches last week, a soft opening is a learning curve. Prices on the new online menu, are less than the menu last week.
Bloody Mary was flavorful, not as spicy as other places, $16. Greens were extremely good. $6. Little disappointed in the rest of the meal.
Staff attentive, but Do Not wear masks, so if you are uncomfortable with no mask staff you might want to wait.
We will give them a few more weeks, before trying again.

Assume you will not be visiting………so why the bashing?

I went to McDonalds a few days ago....Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal...just under 11 bux. Yep cheaper, and oh the ambience!

so much for the insistence that inflation is caused by a high minimum wage. Minimum wage is the same $8.65/hour here as it was last year. It doesn't go up until September.

This has nothing to do with inflation. Farmshed's prices aren't higher than they were this time last year, because they didn't exist this time last year. They're a local-centric restaurant.

For those who venture beyond the golden arches once or twice a year, local-centric restaurants tend to offer food from higher quality, smaller farms better managed with better quality feed and living conditions of the animals, and locally sourced vegetables and fruits are less likely to be GMO, with fewer pesticides introduced into the soil, than getting it all from a food distribution warehouse somewhere in Tallahassee. And yes, they do tend to be more expensive in general.

That said - if Farmshed had chosen to put their restaurant outside the town square and instead built up the block (there's a vacant building with a terrific parking lot they could've gotten for cheap, most likely), they would've paid a lot less for rent, and they could've passed some of that savings to their customers.

Aloha did not say a word about minimum wage.

Some of this stuff comes from the Pandemic and some of the financial mess comes from trying to do good and protect people to find out they won't work if they can get money for not working.

Some people almost always do the right thing, the good thing, the decent thing and some folks are not like that at all.

As for the vacant building; people are not pressured to choose where they rent. The high rent is because it is a prime location. Everyone knows how much the rent is here and know it is high in lots of areas of Florida that are considered destination hot spots.
It is market driven. I am tight as a drum but occasionally I don't mind paying for good food in a nice place.

So 14 posts, and only one post that has actually been in the restaurant (that would be us). Really don’t think it’s fair to judge an establishment unless you cross their threshold and consume their food. Arguing over price of an entree and it’s worth, really should be done after you actually seen the entree and consume it. Picture of food at any restaurant is just that, a picture of something you will never see on your plate.

Online menu is definitely a plus, we had no idea what restaurant was serving until we sat down. The prices are definitely lower than the first week of opening. Some menu items are less money, and now are offering 1/2 portions on one item. Two items have been added, but they may have just been sourced from vendors. We have never been to a soft restaurant opening that didn’t have some kinks to iron out.
I do wish they would have started with breakfast, then lunch, and dinner. Nothing like a really good breakfast place, to make you want to return for lunch.

Maybe a visit to try it out might be in order before critiquing anything, a slam to a new business just opened is uncalled for .

Prices seemed in-line imo.

Agree, they are not going to make it. Retired people like food deals. Some can pay anything but most can’t. Just got an excellent burger with fries at Ruby Tuesday’s for five dollars. Its their Tuesday special. Lady friend and I were out the door for $13 and some change which included a 20% tip!
That’s the way you do it!

Can build that burger better at home for less than 2 bucks.

YEAH, you can cook anything at home for a lot less. But that's not the point. May want to go out sometimes for a break or special occasion with friends.


Originally Posted by graciegirl View Post
Well if the hamburger pictured is the one for $16, it looks like it may be worth it.
I agree Graciegirl, it looks good. Kinda looks like Fiveguys burger and fries. So it would definitely be in line with their prices and much better atmosphere I'm sure.
We will definitely give it a try.
:bigbow:

A better more affordable menu would be a start..

The truth is if their over priced, they like many others have, will fail

Yep and their meat comes to this country in 50 gal. drum.

Wow, you really only left $2.00 for your tip? Even if you are enjoying a reduced price entree, you should tip as if you are paying the full price. The wait staff did have to take your order, bring it your table, get your two glasses of water, provide your bill and cash you out, and clear and clean your table for $2.00!

The menu is affordable to many Villagers. Prices are similar to Lopez, Palmer, BlueFin, ChopHouse, Wolfgang Puck and Prima which are busy.
Many people prefer not eating in mediocre chain restaurants.

:bigbow:

You are 100% correct. $2 is inappropriate.

You get what you pay for. Im sure this place will do very well once the word is out. For those not willing to pay for decent food, the drive thru is still open and you can still “have it your way” at McDonalds or other bottom of the barrel fast food places.

Here we go again, People want a country club in area but don't support it because prices are too high for some. Now a new food place opens and what is the first post!!!!! Prices too high!

Make for a great case why the family tore down country club. Why should they lose money? Same for the new place! Prices have gone up everywhere and will continue to rise on everything as long as the economy continues to rise.

Welcome to the real world! For the OP....Find your comfort zone and let others find theirs. Try to enjoy life!!!!! :bigbow:

I personally have been disappointed that the villages uses predominantly chain restaurants. I prefer unique, family owned dining. I think this is definitely a step in the right direction for variety.

The villages doesn't use, they have property for lease.

I guess it better than the $36 burger at the 21 Club.

Hacienda Hills Country Club building was torn down because it was not maintained properly AND they leased it to a business that totally ran it into the ground.

The hamburger picture is of 2 patties, probably overcooked because they are so thin. Not a nice 1/2# prime meat burger cooked the way you desire it. Once at Sips in Leesburg I ordered their burger and it came out this way - very disappointing.
Other than that their prices are somewhat upscale. But if they deliver with good food and a good portion they will do ok. I'm back up north for the summer and every meal I have had out is FAR better than anything I have gotten in TV. Suburbs of a major city - love it!

Agree, you mostly get what you pay for. We had lunch a Lopez last week, outside on the patio on a gorgeous May day, with a linen tablecloth and very good service. The price was a little bit higher than most other choices in The Villages, but to us, it was a very good experience and worth the price. We'll try Farmshed soon, and hopefully that experience will be good as well. If not, there are lots of other choices out there.

I ate at Farmshed last night. Food and service were good. Pricing is higher than many but certainly not all places in The Villages.

The menu is a bit limited but my guess is that is because they are trying using only locally sourced fresh ingredients.

My only complaint is that I asked for my steak to be cooked medium but it was closer to rare than medium.

I don't know if they will make a go of it or not. The limited menu and prices seem to work against that.

What they to seem promote about their restaurant is that all the ingredients are locally sourced directly from farms. The fact a restaurant sources direct from farms would never draw me to it but I know there are many who see this as a plus.

I think this local sourcing thing is what limits their menu and sets their prices.

I'm am going to go back and try a burger there but I don't think that this will every be one of my "go to" restaurants.

YMMV

Burger
 

Are you sure? With the current prices in Publix I kind of doubt that.

and then go online and brag about it...:ohdear:

Who/what was in that space, previously???

TooJay’s