Look Inside D.C.’s Founding Farmers as it Preps for KOP Debut

Source, Philadelphia Business Journal, Kenneth Hilario

Behind closed doors, the team from Washington, D.C., restaurant brand Founding Farmers are preparing for its Philadelphia-area debut.

The King of Prussia, Pa., outpost of Founding Farmers, at the King of Prussia Town Center, has been in the works for more than a year now. And, when it opens, it will be parent company Farmers Restaurant Group’s first foray outside of Washington, D.C.

The 14,046-square-foot, bi-level outpost is a unique model within the Farmers Restaurant Group portfolio of restaurants; it will be a first-of-its-kind for the group, which hired over 200 people for the King of Prussia outpost.

The first floor of the restaurant will be the brand’s First Bake Café & Creamery concept, where offerings like bagels, coffee and ice cream will be served.

The second-floor main dining room will be the 10,786-square-foot Founding Farmers restaurant.

First Bake will open Oct 25, and the Founding Farmers restaurant will open Nov. 1.

This will be the first Founding Farmers to have a full-blown retail bakery, as well as a creamery and a full floor dedicated to the First Bake Café & Creamery concept.

The King of Prussia outpost is acting as a pilot program for the new concept, so Farmers Restaurant Group can use it as a guide for future expansion.

Farmers Restaurant Group is a for-profit, farmer-owned company, meaning individual farmers and groups invest money into its restaurants.

The farmers earn a return on investments, regardless and separate of whether or not they supply the restaurants, according to the restaurant group.

Given its history with farmers, the decor of the King of Prussia Town Center location is inspired by the “founding mothers and fathers, who were also farmers,” Simons said Tuesday during a tour of the restaurant.

Each Founding Farmers location is specifically designed for the area it’s located in; they each have the same DNA, but with touches inspired by the area.

For example, in King of Prussia, the plates have maps of Valley Forge.

A large wall guests pass as they walk up to the second floor will have a forest theme, since Pennsylvania farmers were surrounded by forests.

Founding Farmers gets ingredients from farmers through existing relationships, including the North Dakota Farmers Union, which supplies the flour to the restaurant.

Simons, however, said the company is looking at more opportunities to work with Pennsylvania farmers and organizations.