Orchard Restaurant and Cidery: A Fresh Look at the Dining & Cider Experience

Verona, Wisconsin

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Updated Crusin’ Rating: A

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This week, we are doing an update to our first ever review posted on the blog.  This update is on the Cider Farm, and it’s pretty relevant because the Cider Farm as it appears in that first blog post is no more.  Not to worry though, although that tasting room has closed - a new venture by the same owners, and serving the same cider - has opened not far from the original location - reimagined now as a cidery and restaurant.  

The new venture is called Orchard and is run by John Biondi and his wife Deirdre.  They are still carrying the same Cider Farm ciders made from English and French cider apples and you can still expect the same quality of cider to be coming out of those bottles.  In that way, what we wrote originally on their cider still rings true today and this article is going to focus on the new space and new menu that’s being offered.

I’ll level with you, I really only have one nitpick - and it’s an aside thought, really.  Hannah and I have been in the trenches at Cider Farm, with Hannah working there for a good chunk of the past several summers.  We do our best to not let that affect our review.  Our original review was before either of us started there, and this review is coming after we have parted ways (amicably) with picking up hours behind the tasting room bar.   John is wonderful and I maintain, without any rose colored glasses, that Deirdre is growing apples like no one else can. Hannah and I are both in agreement that they still put out the best hard cider in the state.

That being said - I think the cider has fallen off, just slightly.  Even if it has, it’s still the best mind you - but after having so many tastes on both sides of the bar throughout the past few years I think it has just fallen off a little.  There’s a little less boldness and complexity to some of them.  That Belgian, while still great, doesn’t have all the nuance it once did.  The hops in Equinox, while lovely, grassy, and reminding you of a summer's day, aren’t quite as brightly floral as they were.  The rose, not quite as charmingly tart and strawberry notes not quite as juicy.  

It could be attributed to any number of things - we’ve seen the glass for the bottles change, a few different cider-makers, different combinations of apples, and different growing conditions throughout the years.  The cider is still some of the best, it’s perhaps just lost some of its charm along the way.

The new space though ramps up that charm in terms of vibe.  We both have fond memories of the old location: moody, jazzy, close to home, and an intimate space.  Also some not so fond memories - loud, everyone mistaking it for Brennan’s market, too small at times, quite often hot.  

Orchard improves on many of those aspects.  It’s more polished, brighter furniture, white ceilings and light woods are almost a complete 180 from dark metal, dark walls, and honey-stained wood.  The space, on a May afternoon was absolutely flooded with light and made all the brighter from the decor choices.  The bar, at least three times as large in terms of space compared to the old place (maybe double the seating, if not more).  Multiple bartenders working, a hostess, several waitresses - and a guy coming around to make sure your topped up with water on a hot and stormy day.  

The Cider Farm’s former location always had food.  There was a time where it was sandwiches and small plates.  Right before they closed, it was crepes on the weekends, charcuterie and pretzels on the weekdays.  At Orchard though, there’s no mistake that this is also a fully realized restaurant.  You know by now that we aren’t food critics, but you should also know that we enjoy trying new food on our travels and we certainly have tried enough of it by this point.  I got a fried chicken sandwich with hot sauce, and Hannah snagged the house burger with a house salad.  

My sandwich featured apples mixed into the slaw,  Hannah’s salad had apples and candied cherries in it.  I saw a pizza with an apple featured.  Our food was good, solid even.   We both ended with clean plates and I could easily see us eating there again.  We both liked that apples were incorporated to keep everything on theme.

Another aspect we both really enjoy and respect quite a bit is that John is trying to keep everything behind the bar local to Wisconsin.  Not only are the apples still grown on the farm in Mineral Point, the bitters are local to Milwaukee, he’s got State Line’s full line of spirits (Madison), J. Henry & Sons (Dane), Wollersheim Brandy (Prairie Du Sac), and Limousin Rye (Cambridge). Not only is he stocking stuff local to Wisconsin right next to his own Wisconsin Cider and Apple Brandy, but he’s picking some quality stuff that we have tried and enjoyed from around the state. We are so excited about the shared passion with John in supporting local as much as possible.  

The cocktail menu still offers the old suspects from the past (including an old-fashioned designed by yours truly), but also a lot of new additions that weren’t possible at the old location - from Whiskey Sours to White Russians.  I was pleasantly surprised by a sour made with the Cider Farm’s own Eau de Vie as the base spirit that was smooth and creamy  with pleasantly balanced apple undertone mixing with some of the lemon.  

Between the brightness, the large bar, the revamped menu, and plenty of seating - along with the fact that it feels more polished, I will say that Orchard improves upon it’s predecessor in a lot of ways.  I know Hannah and I will be back, and I think if you’re in Madison, or even visiting from out of town and would like to try some of the best hard cider you can have, along with some solid food options, you should stop on by.  Maybe we will catch you there!

Until next time, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’!

To learn more about Orchard Restaurant in Verona please visit their website at: www.theciderfarm.com or on Facebook: @OrchardVerona or on Instagram: @OrchardVerona

To learn more about The Cider Farm in Mineral Point please visit them on Facebook: @TheCiderFarm or on Instagram: @The_Cider_Farm