Farmhouse vs. Farmhouse

One has a Michelin star. The other has milkshakes. Mayhem ensues.


Farmhouse Restaurant in Santa Rosa serves 72 different kinds of omelets, giant plates of hash browns, five-inch tall burgers and milkshakes. Forestville’s Farmhouse Inn is better known for foie gras, rabbit three ways, French Sauternes and having a 2011 Michelin star.

Now you wouldn’t think most folks would confuse the two, but a series of coupons issued by the Santa Rosa diner-style eatery has more than a few thrift-seeking gastronomes trying to cash in at Catherine Bartolomei’s Forestville restaurant.

It started several weeks ago when Bartolomei said she started getting calls from people wanting to use the other Farmhouse’s Buy One Get One 1/2 Price Entree coupons for dinner at her place.

Things escalated when another coupon ran on BiteClub, and Bartolomei said she was bombarded with calls from guests looking to take advantage of what they thought were fire sale prices at the haute Forestville eatery. Adding to the confusion, she says regulars kept asking when she decided to open a diner in Santa Rosa.

Admittedly, I too was taken by surprise when seeing the ads for the first time as well. For a good 15 minutes, I Googled the two, trying to figure out if they were related. You’ll end up with results for both if you type in “Farmhouse” and “Santa Rosa”.  In fact, the Farmhouse Restaurant in Santa Rosa is owned by Carol Ferrari and Mike Berges who’ve owned the similarly-named Farm House restaurant in Sebastopol for 19 years.

If you’re keeping score, that’s three farm houses in a 25 mile radius.

For most of us, it’s mostly a giggle. But how the whole name game will play out is still anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, consider yourself warned that you won’t be able to pay for that glass of small production Russian River pinot and day boat scallops at the Farmhouse Inn with your coupon for a free beverage from the Farmhouse Restaurant.

Then again, sometimes all you want is a Coke and a cheeseburger. And I’d bet you there’s a coupon around somewhere for that.

Farmhouse Inn, 7871 River Road, Forestville, 887-3300
Farmhouse Restaurant, 3020 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, 595-1484
Farm House Restaurant, 7824 Covert Lane, Sebastopol, 823-2088

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