The bar area, right, and family dining area are seen at the nearly complete Farm to Fork location.Farm to Fork, a Ringgold restaurant well-decorated with "Best of the Best" awards, is completing a $4 million build-out off Battlefield Parkway, at 120 General Lee Drive. The new 10,000-square-foot space, including a full bar, two banquet rooms, a family dining room and an outdoor patio, is set to be complete in mid-December.
"This place is, no joke, this place is huge," said owner Hugh Harris. "It will be one of the largest restaurants in the Southeast. Also, we have our own parking, now."
The size of the space lends itself to options for atmosphere.
"When you come in you'll be asked for electronics or no electronics," Harris said, explaining that guests can choose to be seated in the quiet family dining room, where "it's just you, your menu and your waiter," or on the bar side, where 16 TVs, an upgraded sound system and live music will offer entertainment in addition to the meal.
One thing that isn't changing is the focus on locally sourced ingredients, said Harris.
"We like to cook everything as fresh as possible. The only things frozen in our restaurant are our ice and our shrimp," he said. "My wife and I grow a lot of vegetables from our property here in Ringgold, but we can only do so much, so we have to outsource. Most of our produce is from Chickamauga. We do encourage local farmers to come and see us - knock on our door, because we are interested. If you grow it local, we are interested in using it."
The new menu will preserve all the old favorites from the original location, with the addition of high-quality seafood and upscale cuts of beef: filet mignon, New York strip and sirloin.
"You hear a lot in the Ringgold market 'we need a nice sit-down restaurant,'" Harris said. "We're gonna give you that."
The high-end options will carry over to the catering side of the business as well. Farm to Fork is able to accommodate catering requests for up to 1,000 people and offers options like steaks and seafood that one doesn't usually see at a catered event, said Harris.
The restaurant caters both outside events, like the Sundress Ball and the Longest Table fundraisers, as well as in-house events. The on-site banquet rooms can host everything from children's pizza parties - Harris invested in an authentic pizza oven - to class reunions and large corporate parties, he said.
"All in all, there will be a children's place, a corporate space, outdoor seating with our own smoke house out back, a full bar and a quiet dining space with a chef's table that's cooked for by me," said Harris.
The chef's table can host a private party of up to nine guests with a custom menu. It will be reservation only.
To learn more or make reservations, call 706-937-3675. The restaurant is currently located at 118 Remco Shops Lane.
Contact Heather Newlin at 423-757-6579.