Founding Farmers, a restaurant owned by Farmers Restaurant Group, will open on April 11 at Reston Station, a major mixed-use development by Comstock.

The restaurant, which pushed back its opening date several times since 2016, will take up a two-level, 10,000 square foot location at 1904 Reston Metro Plaza.

The location features a private dining space to seat 40-50 people, a large mezzanine, and a bar with cocktails from their D.C.-based distillery. Their First Bake Cafe will offer freshly-baked goods, sweets and a Compass Coffee blend. The cafe is designed for Metro users and others who looking for a quick bite.

The second floor is dedicated to the kitchen, requiring staff to speed up and down stairs to serve orders.

The build out was complicated by a lengthy permitting process and the unique design of the restaurant, which requires an elevator due to limited space for loading fresh deliveries, staff said.

Founding Farmers relies on daily fresh deliveries and has limited kitchen space for freezing products. It serves weekday breakfast, lunch and dinner and a weekend buffet brunch. According to promotional material, the restaurant’s dishes are made with “pure ingredients honoring the farmers and their hard-earned bounty.”

Parking, which is not free at Reston Station, will be validated. Valet parking will be offered for $3, allowing guests to pull up their vehicles at the plaza.

No word yet on when Sweet Leaf, a community cafe near the Founding Farmers location, will open.

The restaurant has other locations in the District, Tysons Corner, Montgomery County, Md., and King of Prussia, Pa.

Photos by Fatimah Waseem

Founding Farmers plans to open its Reston Station location in early 2018.

The opening of the restaurant, originally set for summer 2017, was delayed due after plans to the 10,000-square-foot location (1901 Reston Metro Plaza Drive) were revamped.

No firm opening date has been made public, although the company has begun hiring for all positions and expects to open in the first quarter of this year. In August, a company representative told Reston Now the restaurant will open next month.

A spokesperson for Comstock Partners, the owner of Reston Station, said the company went back to the drawing board to improve the design and layout of the restaurant after opening a new location — Farmers & Distillers — in the District.

“After opening their downtown D.C. restaurant a year ago, they decided to make some major changes to better improve operations,” said Maggie Parker, vice president of communications and community outreach for Comstock Partners. “They can’t wait to open.”

The Reston restaurant rests on the ground floor of a planned 200-room hotel at Reston Station and on top of the 3,500-space Reston Station Transit Facility. A large mezzanine is planned at the site, which sits next to the 45o-unit BLVD at Reston Station.

The farmer-owned restaurant include a full-service menu and bar with breakfast, lunch and dinner and a Farmers Market buffet brunch on weekends. A “First Bake” menu will offer takeaway breakfast and coffee on weekday mornings, according to the restaurant’s website.

Founding Farmers is owned by more than 47,000 family farmers of the North Dakota Farmers Union and is supplied by hundreds of family farms, according to its website.

No update was available on when Sweet Leaf, a locally owned cafe chain scheduled to open next to Founding Farmers will open. Signage on the store front indicates an opening in the winter of last year.

(This post was updated on Friday, Jan. 12 at 10:29 a.m. to include background about Founding Farmers). 

Photo by Fatimah Waseem