Let’s start with the good part: Homestead has one of the loveliest outdoor dining areas in the city. Cornstalks, ivy, honeysuckle, and tomatoes climb one wall, and there’s a large central garden with herbs, kale, strawberries, clover, and radishes. Tables are made of old doors or other reclaimed wood. At night the space is illuminated by strings of tiny white lights that hang overhead. It’s really quite charming.
The latest restaurant from the Fifty/50 Group, Homestead is located above West Town Bakery & Diner (formerly Bleeding Heart Bakery) and Roots Handmade Pizza (which is where patrons enter). It’s billed as “literal farm-to-table,” and while calling the 1,000-square-foot garden a farm seems like a bit of a stretch, it’s a nice concept, at least. Every dish on the menu includes at least one ingredient grown on-site, and a lot of the other food comes from local farms.