A Trip to Farmhouse: Beulaville's New Treasure

    It’s been a while since I’ve done a review. You know sometimes life just happens, but it’s a new year, and it’s never too late or a bad time to try new food! When I decided it was time to start writing again, I was torn on where I should visit first, but my editor (I have a food column in the Duplin Times Newspaper) already had something in mind. She mentioned that she heard about Farmhouse opening a new location in Beulaville. That’s all she had to say - I was all over it!

    If you live in Duplin County, you might not be familiar with Farmhouse unless you live in Beulaville because the original location is in Deep Run, which is Lenoir County. Although the owners were not the original owners, they were no strangers to the industry. Penny and Freddie Harper of Albertson purchased Farmhouse in 2020 after operating a gas station and deli in Albertson, NC called R-Mart. Penny’s parents always loved to cook, and were the original owners of the R-Mart store and grill where she worked as a child. So she said she got her skills in the kitchen from them. When they bought Farmhouse, they were able to sell the items they were already selling at the store and even expand the menu which is something they always wanted to do.

              In 2021, an opportunity arose for the Harpers to open up a Farmhouse in Beulaville, and they didn’t hesitate to take on the challenge (seeing that Beulaville was a larger market). It took 6 months to get everything ready for opening day, and the doors officially opened on November 15, 2021. In just over a year, they already added breakfast, expanded their hours, and started opening more days during the week.

             Now that you know a little bit about Farmhouse, let’s get to the good stuff because I know you’ve been waiting. I spoke to one of the managers beforehand to let them know I would be coming to do a review. I asked the manager Jenna what were some of the most popular items on their menu. She told me the chicken and ranch pasta, steak and cheese sub, and the homemade pimento cheese and bacon panini. When I arrived at the store I again asked the person that was taking my order what I should try, and she said the same thing! I took that as a sign that I needed to stick with one of those three options. I was torn because I wanted every one of them. I ended up choosing the pimento cheese panini, and baby, I am not disappointed in my decision AT ALL! This was no ordinary grilled cheese sandwich. It was full of gooey pimento cheese. Not the thick stiff cheese you get a lot of times at fast food restaurants. It also had bacon, tomatoes, and purple onions on them. For those of you who are thinking, “EEEEL purple onions on a grilled cheese,” fix that scrunched up face you’re making and just try it! It added so much flavor to the sandwich without being too potent. At first bite, you taste the richness of the cheese and then it is followed by a burst of flavor from a household favorite especially in the south, BACON! The two things I loved the most were that the bread was toasted perfectly with grill lines for added aesthetics, and the cheese and bacon weren’t layered on top of each other. They were blended together into a creamy and cheesy mixture. I loved it, and I will definitely be back to try the other two dishes that were recommended.

Overall I give them an A!