White Fence Farm, located in Romeoville, Ill., reopened on February 2, 2016 for their 62nd year. The first thing you notice about this place is the variety of chicken-themed carpet and rare antique items throughout. There is a hallway dedicated to old cars, parts, stained glass windows, old-timey big wheel bicycles, dolls, funky mirrors. A hodgepodge of old kitchen and farm appliances, old arcade games and quarter-dollar fake pony rides, and so much more.
There is even a petting zoo in the warmer months of the year. It is a museum, and they are always adding more and rearranging things, or so it seems since I only go there once a year. Every year, usually for my uncle’s birthday, my whole family gathers there to chow down on “The World’s Greatest Chicken.”
All of their dinners are served with bean salad, coleslaw, cottage cheese, pickled beets, and my favorite: corn fritters. Also with the choice of fries, mashed potato, or baked potato. The menu has expanded throughout the years, serving steak, shrimp, Icelandic fish, fried chicken, vegetarian options and more.
“Fresh, never frozen chickens arrive daily to be coated with our closely guarded secret recipe for breading, milled exclusively for us in Chicago,” says White Fence Farm's website. The chicken gets pressured cooked and flash fried for three minutes. It is healthier and less saturated than most due to a low-cholesterol soy-bean oil. They use the freshest ingredients and everything is homemade. It is hard to find places like this anymore. Typically, they provide the food family style, everything gets passed around the table.
The employees are friendly and well-prepared to handle large and small groups. Room after room of long tables and hundreds of chairs, it is easy to get lost. They do not have all the rooms open at all times, perhaps at one time they did. I remember the place being busier and more hectic when I was younger, but it has not lost any of its charm. Laughter and forks scraping across plates can be heard throughout the restaurant as families celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, or they are just there for a quick bite to eat.
Stuyvesant Peabody opened White Fence Farm in the 1920s with the idea of a simple, yet delicious, menu on an attractive farm. In the 1950s the farm was purchased by Robert and Doris Hastert who majorly expanded the building. They kept the restaurant in their family name for four generations and still operate it today. The restaurant in Romeoville is the only one of its kind but there are several carryout locations throughout the Chicagoland area. Their motto is, “It is always our pleasure to serve the world’s friendliest people, our customers.”
My family has been coming here longer than I can remember and I know we will never stop. White Fence Farm brings family together while holding on to long-kept traditions.
