A Trip to White Fence Farm Always Worth the Drive

It may be the dead of winter, but the recent reopening of a beloved Romeoville restaurant is making these chilly times a bit more palatable. Yes, White Fence Farm, located at 1376 Joliet Road, has woken up from its month-long hibernation. Though I have eaten food from their carryout location for years, I hadn’t visited the actual restaurant since I was a little kid, so I was excited to make a return visit last week.

I would describe the White Fence Farm as more of a compound than a farm. It’s huge! The farm includes eight spacious dining rooms, a petting zoo (can’t wait to check that out in warmer months), an arcade section and collections of classic cars, teddy bears, dolls and figurines. 

We sat down to dinner in the Frontier Room, a wilderness-themed room with various animal heads on the wall. However, the only animal on my mind was chicken. White Fence Farm is known for its delicious fried chicken, and while there are other main dishes on the menu, including steak, shrimp and fish, I couldn’t imagine ordering anything else. 

The meals at the Farm are very hearty; with your main dish, you also get bean salad, coleslaw, cottage cheese, pickled beets, your choice of potato,and corn fritters (more on those little bites of heaven later). The potato choices are baked, fried or mashed, the latter of which comes with a homemade gravy in a shade that I would describe as “Highlighter Yellow.”  I am not a gravy fan, so I went with the baked potato.

My meal was exactly what I expected; the chicken tasted just like I remembered, with a delicious golden-brown coating. The bean salad and coleslaw were also very good, and I gave the beets a try and found that I liked them as well. However, the piece de resistance was, by far, the corn fritters. The crunchy, sugary coating combined with the warm cornmeal inside is just amazing, and the fritters are very small, so you can eat a few of them (or maybe seven) and not feel too guilty.

The beverage menu at White Fence Farm is as classic as their food menu. I saw a lot of drinks named after men (Rob Roy, Tom Collins) and a lot of drinks that were basically your choice of booze plus sour mix. I had a daiquiri that was pretty much just a frosted glass with rum, ice and sour mix, and I actually liked it better than the usual frozen umbrella daiquiris found at other restaurants.

I also tried the dessert that I fondly remember my dad ordering when I was little: the brandy ice. Brandy ice is basically vanilla ice cream mixed with brandy and a little nutmeg, and I highly recommend it.

After dinner we did a quick tour of the various antique collections and arcade, which would be a great place to hang out if you had a long time to wait for your table. I’m looking forward to going back and exploring it again.

White Fence Farm is the perfect spot for a dependable and delectable family meal.