The Farmhouse Middletown prides itself on local ingredients, homestyle meals

The Vibe Check: The Farmhouse Middletown
Concept: Farm-sourced ingredients and twists on homestyle dishes
Average entrée price: $27, ranging from $16 to $42
Kids’ Menu? Yes, offering $10 entrées
Alcohol? Yes
Live music? Yes
Hours: Sun 10-11, M-T 11-11, F-Sat 11-12
Website: farmhousemiddletown.com

The atmosphere of The Farmhouse Middletown recalls a childhood memory for Executive Chef Brandon Fredericks — his grandmother “elbows deep in meatloaf,” meal-prepping for family dinners at the crack of dawn.

A Wednesday morning at The Farmhouse painted a similar picture. Chefs bustled around the kitchen. One of them, like Fredericks’ grandmother, was “elbows deep” in a ground beef mixture. 

“(Customers always say), ‘My mom’s meatloaf’s better,’” Fredericks said. “Once we started putting (ours) out here, people said it was the best meatloaf they’ve ever had.”

The Farmhouse Middletown has prepared about 60 to 80 pounds of the stuff every week since opening in early August. 

But that pales in comparison to the 10 gallons of batter the restaurant goes through daily to make its complimentary cornbread, which is full of corn kernels and served with butter and syrup in tiny Dutch ovens.

The Farmhouse specializes in “universally appealing” comfort foods and has a strict philosophy: “If it’s not on a farm, it shouldn’t be on the menu.”

That’s according to Jason Kaufman, culinary director of The Farmhouse’s parent company, Titan Hospitality Group. The Maryland-based company manages restaurants across the mid-Atlantic region, including Blackwell Barn & Lodge in Wilmington. 

The Middletown restaurant is the third with the Farmhouse name. The first opened in Gambrills, Md., in 2024, and an Italian spin-off, The Farmhouse Tuscan, opened in Alexandria, Va., last year. 

What ties these restaurants together is their “farm to fork” concept, meaning they purchase produce, meat and seafood from farmers in the mid-Atlantic region as often as possible.

Elevated, homestyle dishes

There are some ingredients, like avocados, that are impossible to source from the mid-Atlantic region, but Kaufman has been surprised by what he’s been able to find locally.

For example, the beef on The Farmhouse’s smashed bison burger is sourced from BowTie Bison in Davidsonville, Md. The burger is topped with cheddar and Havarti cheese, bacon, chipotle crema and caramelized onions. 

The question on Kaufman’s mind when he created the menu was, “How can we take homestyle dishes and elevate them?” 

Other dishes that reflect that philosophy include the “Chesapeake Eggs,” deviled eggs topped with avocado, crab and Old Bay seasoning, and the “Bird + Berry” pizza, named for its pulled rotisserie chicken and blueberry barbecue sauce.

But there’s also a fair share of more modest dishes, like chicken and biscuits, pulled pork and BLT sandwiches and the ever-popular meatloaf. 

Served with crispy onions, whipped potatoes and corn and lima bean succotash, the meatloaf has an earthy flavor that compliments the subtle sweetness of the sides. Getting a bit of everything on the fork for one hearty bite is the ideal way to enjoy this dish. 

Farm to fork

There are seven Delaware farms that provide ingredients for The Farmhouse Middletown, such as Papen Farms and Broad Acres in Dover, Magee Farms in Selbyville and Mountaire Farms in Millsboro. 

When looking at farms to partner with, Kaufman looks for those that are family-owned and steers away from conglomerates.

But farms also have to be able to handle the number of mouths Titan Hospitality Group has to feed. For example, while Mountaire Farms is local and family-owned, it’s also one of the largest chicken producers in the country.

“There’s a lot of smaller farmers that can’t get us 400 pounds of something. They can get us 5, 10 pounds, 20 pounds,” Kaufman said.

Because the ingredients are the pride of The Farmhouse Middletown, nothing goes to waste, from vegetable trimmings being reused in stocks to the meat from rotisserie chickens being utilized in as many dishes as possible.

“We’re not really a restaurant that’s built on, ‘This is the skins of a carrot or this is the extra piece of an onion that we’re just going to throw in the trash,’” Kaufman said. “Farmers want to know that their products are being used A to Z.”

The Farmhouse Middletown team will also grow some of their ingredients themselves. Kaufman plans to start a small garden on the patio in the spring, with metal troughs full of chives, rosemary, parsley and other crops that will go straight onto the customer’s plate. It’s a tradition he started at The Farmhouse Gambrills.

“It’s one less thing on a truck. It’s better for the environment. You see what we’re growing and what we’re doing. And then, it creates more of an atmosphere where everyone has a responsibility,” he said.

‘Meat and potatoes’

Titan Hospitality Group has high aspirations for its Farmhouse concept, with plans to add two more locations in Maryland in the future, according to Kaufman. 

The company first expanded into Middletown after using market research to identify it as an “up-and-coming” area. Middletown has grown from about 6,000 people in 2000 to nearly 26,000 in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. 

“Fifteen years ago, it was all just open land. There wasn’t anything here,” Fredericks said. “Now, with all the shops and everything, there’s really nowhere to go to eat other than some chain restaurants.”

The Farmhouse Middletown offers diners a classy yet casual vibe. The decor ranges from deer mounts to paintings of dogs in bowler hats. There are many seating options, including booths, a private room for large groups and a lounge with a fireplace that will be lit in the winter. 

“People just want to come in and relax. That’s what we want,” Kaufman said. “We want families to bring their kids, and we want first dates to happen here.”

The all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch has been particularly popular for social gatherings.

“A lot of these tables, they’re sitting for hours and talking and eating food,” Fredericks said. “Our first brunch was 300 and some people. It was massive.”

Fredericks takes that turnout as evidence that Middletown residents have been hungry for The Farmhouse’s fresh ingredients and comforting meals.

“I definitely think this area is the blue-collar, hardworking people, the meat and potatoes,” he said. “So, they want food that’s filling. They want something that is more bang for their buck. If they’re going to spend money, especially in this economy now, they want something good. That hearkens back to the quality food, the quality farms, the quality service.”