Nestled in the heart of downtown is a plethora of little restaurants and places that may only have one or two locations. This past week I decided to head out to Farm Burger for dinner before taking myself to One World Brewing right in the basement of Farm Burger for a live concert and drinks.
“I’ve been here since 2019, but I’ve worked with the Farm Burger owners for longer than that,” said manager Savannah Bowen. “Most of the kitchen staff has been here longer than me, and all the people working right now have been here for over a year.”
Bowen said there’s something about getting fresh, locally sourced meat that just changes the experience and makes Farm Burger unique. There’s always burgers around, but the product here just tastes different, tastes better.
“We source all of our meat from Hickory Nut Gap. They’ve been wonderful partners and customers always talk about just how different our beef tastes when comparing it to other burger spots in Asheville,” Bowen said.
Atmosphere: Farm Burger brings the farm with it’s aesthetic. They’re leaning hard into bringing that down-home feel with their hardwood flooring, rich wooden seating set firmly into the floor like a permanent picnic table and a commemorative pole of stickers that make the place feel like a bar in the rural countryside of Kansas or Missouri. There’s nothing outstanding about it, but it does give you that feeling of going somewhere different than the bustling tourist city of Asheville.
Service: Service at Farm burger is quick and efficient, taking a sort of fast-food approach to things where you pay at the counter, take your number and sit down, waiting for a lovely tray of burgers and fries to come to you, piping hot and cooked just to your preferred doneness. Service here is fast, as it’s mostly burgers and fries after all. The feeling of eating a restaurant-level burger but then just being able to leave at your leisure is something entirely unique in downtown Asheville, as far as I’ve found.
Presentation: Farm Burger presents their food just how I want it from a good, down-home burger joint. Wire baskets lined with parchment litter the tabletops at the end of your meal, and it all feels perfectly appropriate. I find myself full after any meal there, with their fry portion sizes being massive, especially when combos are only $12 or $13. There’s hardly something to complain about. Any time I’ve been, there is always quick service with attentive servers that are always there to ask how the meal is, make sure your baskets are taken away and keep a clean restaurant.
Taste: Burgers are something that can be done poorly and still satisfy my craving for meat, cheese and bread, but Farm Burger truly makes me want to savor each bite. The burgers there are always well seasoned, with a large range of options to cook your meat. If you’ve not tried a rare burger in your past, let Farm Burger be your first.
The locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients at Farm Burger are always shining through. From seasonal tomatoes and lettuce to grass-fed beef sourced from Hickory Nut Gap farms there’s always something freshly sourced and curated just for this joint. I bought the sunny-side burger, which comes with Applewood-smoked bacon, a sunny-side-up egg and salsa verde. There’s something very satisfying about the rich egg yolk flowing over this already fatty, delectable burger cooked just until the inside is warm. The crust on the outside of the burger adds just that extra bit of texture as you bite through the pillowy soft but delightfully chewable potato rolls they use for buns at Farm Burger. The fries are delightful, lightly seasoned by default, but commonly served farmhouse style with herbs and parmesan covering each fry. Every fry is crisp, and they’ll be crisp until you finish the last one.
Overall Impression: Farm Burger has two locations in Asheville at the moment, and likely will stay that way so it can continue to locally source as much of their product as possible. This means there’s only two places in Asheville to source your own beautifully cooked, well-seasoned and seared burgers. A quick stop, paying before you’ve even sat down and paying what I would consider below-average for downtown Asheville. There’s never a time I would turn down a burger like they’re flipping on the daily at Farm Burger. There’s always time to stop and get a burger, even if you’re on the go. Take a moment, really think about where you could go spend $40 or $50 in Asheville, but never forget those few spots like Farm Burger where you can get away with a $30 meal-for-two. Farm burger receives a firm Ferguson stamp of approval.
