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The Farmacy moves distinctive breakfast and lunch into East Village
Eatery shows its New Mexico origin story with hatch green chiles
The "croque maiden" served on buttermilk waffles
It's a good sign when just about everything on the menu sounds tasty. Except I only have so many quarters on me, and they get you just six minutes apiece at downtown parking meters these days. That means I don't have much time to deliberate or make nuanced decisions, so I'm going to go with my gut.
My dilemma is that my gut adores hatch green chile peppers, and there are a lot of them here. I'm sitting in The Farmacy, a recent arrival to East Village that does all day breakfast and lunch after 11 am. It turns out its scratch kitchen comfort food concept has already proven successful in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hence the hatch chiles.
Two simple interior dining rooms
They're a part of the pork belly grits ($15.50), the biscuits and gravy ($11.75), the eggs benedict, the breakfast poutine ($14.75), and, I suspect, the breakfast burrito ($13.75). Even if I weren't so keen on the earthy, smoky spice of a hatch, there remain six different $12-15 breakfast sandwiches to choose from: one on an English muffin, one on a buttermilk biscuit, a couple involving gravy.
Did I say six? That's if you don't flip the menu over. Over on the backside's waffle section — in among $13-14 waffles topped with streusel; berries and vanilla; and bourbon cream with pecans — I spot a couple more breakfast-y sandwiches. And that's when my gut makes its call: the "croque maiden." ($14). Loosely inspired by the croque madame, it's a ham and Swiss melt made on buttermilk waffles, with a surprisingly smooth maple mustard glaze. Oddly, the cheese is melted over the top of the sandwich. Not odd at all: there are plenty of hatch green chiles inside.
A back patio for serious brunchers
I guess you might consider this a brunch spot, and there's a spacious dining patio behind the restaurant, well off the street, that makes a good setting for it. But I'm here after 11 am so that I can also peruse the short list of lunch sandwiches on the menu. Again, the range of choices leaves me wishing I had more quarters for the meter. Do I go for the house-brined, spicy fried chicken ($16.75), the tuna melt ($15.75), or the one with fried ham and olive tapenade ($16.75)?
When in doubt, try the Reuben ($17.25). Made with house-cured corned beef, it's served complete with sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and Swiss cheese on marble rye. I suppose if I had asked, they would have added a few hatch green chiles for me.
A Reuben, made with house-cured corned beef
I like the Reuben, but I'm surprised to find that I like the waffle sandwich better. Not only for the chiles, but also for that maple mustard glaze. It doesn't make sense to me on paper, but tastes meant-to-be on the sandwich. Despite being a transplant, The Farmacy isn't a chain restaurant — its food is far more distinctive than chain-fare. It's merely an Albuquerque favorite that's had the good sense to move to San Diego.
Here's something you might be interested in.
The Farmacy moves distinctive breakfast and lunch into East Village
Eatery shows its New Mexico origin story with hatch green chiles
The Farmacy moves distinctive breakfast and lunch into East Village
Eatery shows its New Mexico origin story with hatch green chiles
The "croque maiden" served on buttermilk waffles
It's a good sign when just about everything on the menu sounds tasty. Except I only have so many quarters on me, and they get you just six minutes apiece at downtown parking meters these days. That means I don't have much time to deliberate or make nuanced decisions, so I'm going to go with my gut.
My dilemma is that my gut adores hatch green chile peppers, and there are a lot of them here. I'm sitting in The Farmacy, a recent arrival to East Village that does all day breakfast and lunch after 11 am. It turns out its scratch kitchen comfort food concept has already proven successful in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hence the hatch chiles.
Two simple interior dining rooms
They're a part of the pork belly grits ($15.50), the biscuits and gravy ($11.75), the eggs benedict, the breakfast poutine ($14.75), and, I suspect, the breakfast burrito ($13.75). Even if I weren't so keen on the earthy, smoky spice of a hatch, there remain six different $12-15 breakfast sandwiches to choose from: one on an English muffin, one on a buttermilk biscuit, a couple involving gravy.
Did I say six? That's if you don't flip the menu over. Over on the backside's waffle section — in among $13-14 waffles topped with streusel; berries and vanilla; and bourbon cream with pecans — I spot a couple more breakfast-y sandwiches. And that's when my gut makes its call: the "croque maiden." ($14). Loosely inspired by the croque madame, it's a ham and Swiss melt made on buttermilk waffles, with a surprisingly smooth maple mustard glaze. Oddly, the cheese is melted over the top of the sandwich. Not odd at all: there are plenty of hatch green chiles inside.
A back patio for serious brunchers
I guess you might consider this a brunch spot, and there's a spacious dining patio behind the restaurant, well off the street, that makes a good setting for it. But I'm here after 11 am so that I can also peruse the short list of lunch sandwiches on the menu. Again, the range of choices leaves me wishing I had more quarters for the meter. Do I go for the house-brined, spicy fried chicken ($16.75), the tuna melt ($15.75), or the one with fried ham and olive tapenade ($16.75)?
When in doubt, try the Reuben ($17.25). Made with house-cured corned beef, it's served complete with sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and Swiss cheese on marble rye. I suppose if I had asked, they would have added a few hatch green chiles for me.
A Reuben, made with house-cured corned beef
I like the Reuben, but I'm surprised to find that I like the waffle sandwich better. Not only for the chiles, but also for that maple mustard glaze. It doesn't make sense to me on paper, but tastes meant-to-be on the sandwich. Despite being a transplant, The Farmacy isn't a chain restaurant — its food is far more distinctive than chain-fare. It's merely an Albuquerque favorite that's had the good sense to move to San Diego.