We had the opportunity to stop and visit a really cool restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive In's & Dives on Food Network. They are known for their organic vegetables and fresh foods. I have been wanting to check this out for about 2 years and finally the opportunity came.
I attached a little history about the restaurant with some photos I took.
It may not look like a home any longer, but Joe’s Farm Grill is created from the Johnston Family home built in 1966. Jim and Virginia Johnston decided to move from Chandler to the farm to be closer to Jim’s work. They hired D. D. Castleberry to design and build them a ranch-style, slump block home for their young family. Sons Joe, Steve, and Paul were excited about moving out to “the country”.
The home was a wonderful place to grow up with plenty of adventure for young boys. The large trees made for good climbing and tree houses. Living on the farm was ideal for the family, too, since Jim could be home for most meals and work with the boys during the summer and, as needed, during the school year. In later years, Steve Johnston would spend time raising his family on the farm and, later still, brother Joe lived with his family in the home.
In the planning of Agritopia, it was always envisioned that a restaurant coupled to the urban farm would be a major focal point for the project. We also intended, from the start, that all of the homestead buildings should be kept and remodeled and that the mature trees must be preserved. This helped guide our redevelopment of the Johnston home into Joe’s Farm Grill.
They decided to keep the 60’s era look and change it to a mid-century modern design of a “burger stand”, while making sure that we took the greatest advantage of the peaceful setting created by the large trees. This meant that we wanted to blend the indoors and outdoors. The resulting butterfly roof and open breezeway make for an airy patio that offers shade and excellent views.
Al fresco dining is one of the great things about living in Arizona. There are only a few months where it is less comfortable. During warm months we’ve added coolness through shade and an integrated misting system. When it’s cold, an hydronic patio heating system (the concrete has heated water lines built into it) warms our guests.
So what is left of the original house? Most of it, actually. The dining room is the former family room with its fireplace. The kitchen is where all of the bedrooms were located. The home’s kitchen and dining room were taken out so we could create the breezeway.
By the way, Jim and Virginia still live “on the farm” in an Agritopia home. So do the families of Joe and Paul. They are all frequent diners at Joe’s Farm Grill, enjoying meals together.
The home was a wonderful place to grow up with plenty of adventure for young boys. The large trees made for good climbing and tree houses. Living on the farm was ideal for the family, too, since Jim could be home for most meals and work with the boys during the summer and, as needed, during the school year. In later years, Steve Johnston would spend time raising his family on the farm and, later still, brother Joe lived with his family in the home.
In the planning of Agritopia, it was always envisioned that a restaurant coupled to the urban farm would be a major focal point for the project. We also intended, from the start, that all of the homestead buildings should be kept and remodeled and that the mature trees must be preserved. This helped guide our redevelopment of the Johnston home into Joe’s Farm Grill.
They decided to keep the 60’s era look and change it to a mid-century modern design of a “burger stand”, while making sure that we took the greatest advantage of the peaceful setting created by the large trees. This meant that we wanted to blend the indoors and outdoors. The resulting butterfly roof and open breezeway make for an airy patio that offers shade and excellent views.
Al fresco dining is one of the great things about living in Arizona. There are only a few months where it is less comfortable. During warm months we’ve added coolness through shade and an integrated misting system. When it’s cold, an hydronic patio heating system (the concrete has heated water lines built into it) warms our guests.
So what is left of the original house? Most of it, actually. The dining room is the former family room with its fireplace. The kitchen is where all of the bedrooms were located. The home’s kitchen and dining room were taken out so we could create the breezeway.
By the way, Jim and Virginia still live “on the farm” in an Agritopia home. So do the families of Joe and Paul. They are all frequent diners at Joe’s Farm Grill, enjoying meals together.
At Joe’s Farm Grill, we focus on common food done uncommonly well and served quickly. Common foods such as burgers, fries, pizza, salads, and ribs are common for a good reason: people love them. They taste great! We have taken these common foods to the next level.
First of all, we source the best QUALITY ingredients we can find, emphasizing local ingredients. As much as possible, we use fruit, vegetables, and herbs from The Farm at Agritopia, right at our front door. After that we look to other local farmers and then other parts of Arizona. Not everything can be entirely local, but we give it our best shot.
Secondly, we are concerned about using the most HEALTHFUL ingredients. For instance we use local, natural beef for our burgers and transfat free oils for frying, dressings, and marinades.
Thirdly, we minimize using prepared foods by crafting as much as we can in our own kitchen. This includes hand breading our onion rings and making our own specialty sauces. It takes more TIME and EFFORT, but you can taste the difference.
We also take common food to the next level in the way it TASTES. Each of our recipes focuses on bringing out the natural goodness of the quality ingredients. Our menu changes to reflect what is in season, so you can be sure that the flavor of each item is at its peak.
So, enjoy the food at Joe’s Farm Grill, knowing that these common foods have received uncommon care and thought in their preparation.
Fresh lettuce growing on our farm. Much of our produce is harvested the same day we cook it.
We do virtually everything from scratch. Even our pickles are made in-house.
All of our sandwiches are grilled to order and the buns griddled for crisp carmelized edges.
My favorite sandwich is the Fontina. I highly recommend it. JJ had the grilled BBQ Chicken pizza. Another winner! The website to check out the menu is http://www.joesfarmgrill.com
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