My Own East Valley Review

[KarenSherwood]

I always browse the media reviews for something interesting, and was happy to find this item so close to home (from the 12/1 AZ reviews):

Joe's Farm Grill...Michele makes the trek out to Gilbert and loves Joe Johnson's new offering Joe's Farm Grill. For those of you are familiar with Taylor's Automatic Refresher in Napa and SF then you will notice touches of Taylor's at the Farm Grill.

It's not much of a trek for us...a mere 2-1/2 miles. I've been meaning to stop by since the neon signs on windmill footings went up a few months ago. Friday nights I'm shutting my son back & forth from downtown Gilbert and always notice that they're doing a brisk business. Tuesday, while running errands, I convinced DH that we should check it out. I'm so glad we did! We're long-time fans of Joe's Real BBQ in downtown Gilbert, so I knew it was going to be good.

The restaurant itself is different and interesting. You order from the center, a covered outdoor portico, and get a beeper to summon you when everything is ready. There's a toasty dining room opposite, and plenty of outside tables when the weather is good. The have heaters installed over many tables, which would've been perfect had we not had a chilly breeze. Luckily there were plenty of tables inside.

DH ordered the BBQ Blue Cheese Bacon Burger (B4) and I ordered the fontina and mushroom burger (after a LOT of dithering), and we ordered garlic fries to share. The burgers are some of the BEST I've ever had! I like mine medium, and it was perfect....well grilled on the outside with a generous bit of pink inside. The fontina was creamy and the mushrooms were excellent. DH kindly gave me a bite of his...the BBQ sauce was tangy-sweet and smoky, the onion ring nice and crunchy. His only complaint was that the pickles were sweet-ish instead of a sour dill. The garlic fries....OMG were they good! Garlic, cheese, herbs and olive oil, and amazingly not terribly messy, but definitely worth a finger licking or two.

I want to go back and work my way through the menu. There are so many possibilities!

Something that wasn't mentioned in Michelle's review was the cafe and bakery next door. I try not to use cliche's like 'charming' very often but that's the BEST word for this lovely, cozy place. The main room is open and airy and reminds me of a country garden or a Parisian cafe. There's a patio space overlooking the farm and a snug back room with leather chairs and plenty of table space for your treats.

My daughter and I have a tradition of going to Starbucks on the one morning when she has a late school start because of finals. Yesterday was THE day, but instead of heading to Starbucks I took her to Joe's. Good move, mom! We got gingerbread latte's and then struggled to choose a goodie. We finally decided to compromise and ordered a peppermint & white chocolate scone and a cheddar chive scone, for each of us to share. The very attentive gal who took our orders split the scones and gave each of us a plate with half & half. The peppermint scone was light and crisp with nice melty chocolate spots and crunchy peppermint pieces. The cheddar scone was savory and just plain wonderful.

I'll choose the cafe over Starbucks any day! One more place that's worth the drive, even if it's only 2-1/2 miles.