As summer nears its end, restaurants are serving up the heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, and peaches we look forward to all year long — some from their own backyards.
In recent decades some restaurants have taken the locavore movement to the next level, not only sourcing the best ingredients for their kitchens, but actually growing vegetables and raising livestock themselves, too. That allows chefs to plant beautiful, delicious varieties that may not have the shelf life for a grocery store, as well as control everything from soil health to sustainable practices. And when the farm and restaurant are all part of a single holistic dining experience — well, there’s nothing more idyllic.
Across the United States, Canada, Jamaica, and Mexico, here are 11 restaurants with their own farms, where dinner comes with a backdrop of tomato vines and plum trees. Book a table, walk the grounds, eat its bounty, and soak up summer.
Acre Restaurant & Cocktail Bar (San Jose del Cabo, Mexico)
Harvesting for the kitchen at Acre | Courtesy of Acre
Nestled in the foothills of San Jose del Cabo in Baja Mexico, Acre features 25 acres of treehouses, organic farms, event spaces, and an acclaimed restaurant and bar. Home to a papaya farm, citrus and mango orchards, and an animal sanctuary, it’s a hub for all things relaxation and celebration. Bartenders mix signature cocktails using produce grown just outside the bar, such as a “gin basil smash” with seasonal herbs and the “animas sour,” which combines bourbon and citrus from the orchard. For dinner, feast on salads with farm field greens and share a whole grilled fish among the table.
Farm House Restaurant at Fair Oaks Farm (Fair Oaks, Indiana)
Fair Oaks Farms is one of the Midwest’s leading agritourism programs, boasting a dairy, pig farm, and apple orchard, plus dozens of immersive and educational experiences. Public awareness about sustainability and animal welfare are huge priorities, so the farm hosts school tours and workshops all year long, making Fair Oaks a family-friendly stop. A meal at the on-site restaurant is the perfect way to end a day at the farm — dishes are made with ingredients grown and harvested on site and other farms nearby, including artisan cheeses, seven different cuts of steak, and salads with orchard apples.
Flame and Smith (Bloomfield, Ontario)
Sustainability has always taken priority at this mom-and-pop restaurant, which centers a wood-fired oven and ingredients from local producers. But after a local farmer gifted the owners seeds for rare heirloom beans a few years back, they planted them on their property, starting Millpond Gardens, a two-acre backyard garden that now supplies Flame and Smith. Taste the fruits of their labor in dishes such as the mezze board, which combines baba ganoush and pickled peppers with the restaurant’s signature hearth-baked bread, followed by salads of shaved raw vegetables and grilled sea bass with artichokes and herbs.
Inn at Dos Brisas (Washington, Texas)
Mushroom toasts at The Hope Farm | Credit: Elizabeth Gelineau
In the hills between Houston and Austin, among lakes and pecan trees, lies this Relais & Châteaux property with a fully operative organic farm and award-winning restaurant. The 42-acre farm provides the restaurant with heirloom ingredients such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash grown without hormones, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers. The grounds are also home to a berry patch, fruit orchards, and an herb garden, plus a 7,000-square-foot greenhouse for year-round cultivation. Try homegrown melon with prosciutto and blue cheese, hubbard squash tortellini, and pasture-raised wagyu beef with trumpet mushrooms.
The Hope Farm (Fairhope, Alabama)
Situated in a quaint town in southern Alabama, this urban farm and wine bar was created as a “fair hope” for a sustainable future. Cultivated mushrooms are a specialty, including uncommon varieties such as lion’s mane and pioppino, along with hydroponic greens, seasonal vegetables, and fruits like figs and kumquats. Begin with the warm mushroom salad, along with a shared main course for the table —think flounder with panzanella or crispy brined chicken thighs over edamame succotash. For dessert, don’t miss the lemon meringue pie, topped with blueberries and candied lemon slices.
Mustards Grill (Yountville, California)
Mustards Grill has been a must-stop for locals and visitors to Napa Valley wine country for more than 30 years — and chef Cindy Pawlcyn has been nurturing a kitchen garden long before they came in vogue. Today, the two-acre gardens provide 20 percent of the restaurant’s produce throughout the year, using composting and natural fertilizers. Beets, purple potatoes, French melons, and tomatillos inspire summer dishes, and diners love to tour gardens after a meal. Fan-favorite dishes include the Dungeness crab cake with garden greens, daily-changing seafood tostada, and an “adult” grilled cheese with fontina and Cabot cheddar.
A salad at The Restaurant at Patowmack Farms | Credit: Alex Ponce de Leon
Osso Farm Restaurant (Chardon, Ohio)
This pasture-to-plate restaurant serves up the flavors of Flying W Farm, a livestock-focused family farm started in 2012 from a love of raising happy, healthy animals. Since then, the farm has expanded to raise heritage breeds such as Belted Galloway cattle, Mangalitsa pigs, Nigerian Dwarf goats, and chicken, turkey, and ducks. Osso offers an intimate dining experience in the heart of the farm, showcasing housemade charcuterie and cheeses, confit duck leg, and steaks topped with chimichurri, blue cheese, or béarnaise. With separate burger and barbecue menus, there’s something for everyone.
Quiessence at The Farm at South Mountain (Phoenix, Arizona)
Located on a riverbed of rich soil, the Farm at South Mountain exemplifies self-sustainability and local craft. Tucked near the back of the property, Quiessence — the most upscale of the farm’s three restaurants — uses just-harvested vegetables, edible flowers, eggs, and herbs from the on-site garden, including delicata squash and sugar snap peas. The chef plans the garden beds, creating a synergy between the kitchen and gardens that shows up in daily-changing menus that might feature salads of grapefruit and pickled ramps, handmade fettuccine carbonara made with duck eggs, and crispy-skin salmon with braised greens.
Zimbali’s Mountain Cooking Studio (Negril, Jamaica)
A pepper harvest at Zimbali’s | Courtesy of Zimbali’s Mountain Cooking Studio
This family-owned and -operated restaurant in the mountains outside Negril is one of Jamaica’s most popular, combining travel, education, dining, and theater in one delicious package. Diners sip fresh juice and enjoy a tour of the organic fruit farm with more than 1,200 trees, then watch as a chef prepares their six-course meal showcasing farm ingredients. The menu changes frequently and diners can choose between main course options, but sample dishes might include baked chicken with mashed yams or apples stuffed with flambéed pineapple and banana.
The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, Virginia)
One of the first farm restaurants in the U.S., The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm also sits on one of the first certified organic farms in Virginia. Since 1986, the farm has used biodynamic methods to nurture the land and promote healthy plants, resulting in next-level ingredients for dishes such as a farm egg with boquerones and fennel and sweet corn ravioli with chanterelle mushrooms. The atmosphere doesn’t disappoint, either — from inside a glass conservatory, gazebo, and open-air tent, diners take in spectacular views of the Potomac River. Fun fact: reservations are required so the staff picks just enough food, and no more.
Ronin (Bryan, Texas)
Ronin is located in a renovated historic downtown building near Texas A&M University, and the restaurant’s sustainable, family-owned farm is just seven miles up the road, where the team regularly hosts full moon dinners, private events, and family farm days. The farm grows much of the food that’s processed and cooked for Ronin’s menu, in addition to raising chickens and pigs. Updated daily, the menu highlights the week’s harvest, which in summer means watermelon and goat feta salad with pickled peppers, fried farm chicken with grilled vegetables, and cocktails crafted with pea flower-infused vodka and herb bitters.
