When primitive men, women and asgender people crossed the Bering Straits to escape global freezing, they eventually made their way to the Phoenix area. Ever since, their progeny has been trying to figure out how to escape global scorching which transpires on most summer days (seven or eight months a year). They built Biosphere 2, the world’s largest controlled environment. They built a swimming pool in Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. When compelled to leave the air conditioned confines of their homes, Phoenicians risk third-degree burns from their car doors and flee to their summer homes in Prescott and Heber where instead of 130, the temperature is only 99.
They also join hordes of tourists in a utopian concept called Agritopia. Though that sounds like the name for a 60s hippie commune, Agritopia is an area devoted to an urban agriculture community. At the heart of Agritopia are fields owned and tended to by the Johnston family. Perhaps realizing they could make more money hawking burgers than selling vegetables, the family converted the 1960s era farmhouse. Today it’s the site of Joe’s Farm Grill. It’s supposed to be a “take on a modern design of avery large 50’s style burger stand” but it reminded us of a caferia.
Visitors approach Joe’s Farm Grill as if transfixed (picture the mutitudes risking life and limb to boldly go where few have gone before to see a real UAP (formerly known as UFO) on the other side of Devil’s Tower in Close Encounters of The Third Kind) . They weren’t summoned by some advanced society from space, the final frontier. They’re visiting at the behest of Food Network gliteratti Guy Fieri who visited Joe’s during a 2011 episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Fieri is the pied piper of restaurants. Where he goes, servile viewers follow. Many of the devotees believe he drives his 1967 Camaro to every shoot–even when he visits Hawaii.
The charismatic Fieri may be the master of the one-liner and sound effects, but he describes food very well, making each restaurant he visits sound like a dining destination. He began his “review of Joe’s with: “At Joe’s Farm Grill in Gilbert, Arizona, they’re growing it and grilling it.” If you don’t want to watch the Joe’s segment again, here are other noteable gems from the spike-coiffed chef: “At this joint, they’ve got their own take on outside the box.” He described Joe’s barbecue chicken grilled pizza as “actually a cobb salad on top of a pizza skin” and called it a “pizza chain killer.” There was more, but you get the point.
As we approached Joe’s, we noticed how familiar the landscape was. It wasn’t just the prosaic cookie-cutter homes with their acres of green grass (in a water-depleted desert) we recognized, but the route itself. Joe’s is less than a quarter mile away from Source, the transformative Mediterranean restaurant from Chef Claudio Urciuoli. Being so close to Source, we prayed Joe’s would live up to the hype or Source would seem so very far away. Joe’s is a veritable oasis in the middle of a grassy desert. Acres of farm-raised deliciousness seemed so un-Arizona. So did the towering trees throughout the premises. Those trees are home to enough birds to traumatize Tippi Hedren.
Perusing the menu, we were intrigued by several “to share” starters. Most noteably were the onion rings (fresh-cut, hand-breaded in rosemary dill panko served with ranch dressing). The idea that onion rings might be redolent with the lip-pursing flavor of dill pickles (from cucumbers grown on the farm?) was irresistible. Your first impression of the onion rings is that they’re not quite golden, but tinged with notes of green and red. Then you’ll discover they’re rather heavily breaded–to the detriment of the onions themselves. Instead of sweet onion, the emphasis was on heavy breading.
Two sections of the menu are dedicated to burgers while another showcases chicken sandwiches. Most intriguing to me was the BBQ Bacon Blue Burger (Applewood smoked bacon, blue cheese, one hand-breaded onion ring and Joe’s Real BBQ sauce). Though BBQ sauce and onion ring are completely superfluous on a burger, one can never have enough blue cheese and Applewood smoked bacon. As expected, both were superb! So was the beef patty, six-ounces of local, natural, fresh-ground chuck cooked “pink” unless otherwise requested. Joe’s can prepare your burger to any exacting specification. Nestled in a sweet bun, only more blue cheese and more bacon could have made this burger any better. Oh, and get rid of that onion ring!
My Kim ordered the BBQ Sampler plate (pulled pork, three ribs, two sauce-dipped chicken tenders) with a side of French fries though she couldn’t even finish half of it. A light hint of smoke and lots of sauce defined this barbecue. Not that it was bad. If Joe’s wanted to it could serve barbecue exclusively. Especially good were the pork ribs. Though messy and dripping with sauce, they’re meaty and tender. My Kim has an affinity for pulled pork. Joe’s seemed rather densely “packed.” We prefer the tendrils of porcine perfection to be more distinct, not blobby. Fries were out-of-a-bag quality.
It’s not very often my favorite part of any meal is a beverage. Though I tend to drink water most of the time, Joe’s has a milkshakes menu (premium ice cream, fresh fruits, homemade sauces, fresh whipped cream and an all-natural cherry on top) that proved irresistible. Available milkshake (or you can request a malt instead) flavors are dark chocolate, fresh strawberry, real vanilla bean, butter pecan and seasonal creation such as the peach-mango with strawberry. Shakes are served in steely cups that retain cold. My Kim loved her dark chocolate even though she’s almost strictly a milk chocolate aficionado. The melange of peach, mango (resembling Gerber baby food) and strawberry was terrific.
Even better was the mango and berries cheesecake. We probably would have enjoyed it even more had the mango “lagoon” below the cheesecake not resembled the aforementioned Gerber baby food. (It doesn’t matter how old you are, you’ll always remember choking down Gerber baby food.) Berries atop the mango sauce were fresh and crisp. The cheesecake was dense and creamy with a tasty Graham cracker crust. We didn’t get much of a mango flavor from the cheesecake itself. When we wanted mango, we had to scoop up more of that Gerber sauce.
English gardner and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh believes “Too many children grow up thinking vegetables come from the supermarket rather than from the ground.” A visit to Joe’s Farm Grill might do the trick in showing them where vegetables really come from. Even if children don’t like all the vegetables placed in front of them at the kitchen table, they’re bound to like the Joe’s experience.
Joe’s Farm Grill
3000 E. Ray Road Bldg 1
Gilbert, Arizona
(480) 563-4745
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LATEST VISIT: 31 December 2023
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$$
BEST BET: Peach-Mango with Strawberries Malt, Dark Chocolate Shake; Peach, Mango and Berries Cheesecake; Onion Rings, BBQ Sampler, BBQ Bacon Blue Burger
REVIEW #1371