Maryland Restaurant Named One of the Best Under-the-Radar Spots in America

Founding Farmers is renowned for its spatchcock chicken, a quarter-bird quick-roasted in an 800-degree oven for $19, according to Cheapism.

That dish helped land the restaurant’s Montgomery County location at Park Potomac in Potomac on Cheapism’s list of “The Best Under-The-Radar Restaurants in Every State.” To compile the rankings, the publication reviewed Yelp and Tripadvisor reviews alongside local news reports to identify standout dining spots that might otherwise fly under the national radar.

It is not the first time the farmer-owned brand has caught the publication’s eye. Cheapism previously named Founding Farmers as Maryland’s top brunch destination.

Beyond Potomac: A Growing Mid-Atlantic footprint

While the Park Potomac dining room draws local diners with items like scallops Meuniere, slow-braised beef short rib, house-made chicken pot pie, and chicken and spinach enchiladas, the broader business has been quietly scaling up its backend operations.

The farmer-owned restaurant, catering, and distilling company recently relocated its Washington, D.C. headquarters to a sprawling 17,000-square-foot facility situated at 8100 Cryden Way in District Heights. The company originally purchased the Prince George’s County property back in 2024 specifically to supersize its commercial kitchen capacity.

That facility is now fully operational. It functions as both the corporate home base and a high-volume production center supporting the brand’s eight restaurants and extensive catering business across the Mid-Atlantic region.

Inside the District Heights center, workers produce a range of scratch-made products. Operations include house-roasted coffee, handcrafted chocolates, fresh-baked pastries, administrative functions, holiday offerings, culinary classes, and the company’s dedicated contact center.

The corporate expansion carries a notable local employment target. The company aims to create more than 90 new full-time jobs at the Prince George’s County facility by the end of 2027, adding to a current workforce of more than 1,400 employees.

Founded in 2005 and backed primarily by American family farmers—including members of the North Dakota Farmers Union—the concept opened its very first restaurant in Washington, D.C., in 2008.