Farm Stand strives to keep it local New shop offers craft beers, confections, deli sandwiches by Mike Ramczyk CORRESPONDENT
Dan and Bobbi Robers’ son suffers from seizures. Thanks to top-notch care at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, his neurologist gave him CBD, which, Bobbi said, works really well. That success, along with the fact both of the Burlington residents retired in 2018, helped sparked the idea of opening a business. Not Your Grandma’s Pantry became the couple’s first business venture in the spring of 2019, and the store, which is located inside the Chestnut Street strip mall adjacent to Reineman’s Hardware, is an organic, local, “farmstand-style” venue that just had its reopening last weekend. “We included all the best of the Wisconsin favorites we found in our travels,” said Bobbi, who is from Minneapolis and moved to Burlington at age 5. “We spent about a year traveling around doing the retirement thing and got bored.” The business was up and running by
October 2019, complete with a new kitchen area and overall renovation. By the end of December, Bobbi said, business was so good they considered opening a second location in Lake Geneva.
Capitalizing on busy Lake Geneva scene
Both lovers of craft beer, the Robers weren’t able to secure a retail liquor license in Burlington. The opportunity arose to lease a store site in the Fancy Fair Mall, located in the heart of bustling downtown Lake Geneva on Highway 50. “The opportunity for a lease store site came to our attention in Lake Geneva, and it was a fantastic deal so we thought we would expand,” Bobbi said. “It was perhaps a little sooner than we wanted but when opportunity knocks … we decided to get the seller/servers beer license allowing us to sell and serve craft beers, hard ciders and seltzers made by brewers from all over the state of Wisconsin.” “You try a flight of four craft beers on tap, have a pint to sip in the store or in the mall while shopping, take a growler (jug) of one of our tap beers, and grab a six-pack to go. We also offer a pick-6 where you can mix-n-match a six-pack of beer, cider or seltzer.” The Farm Stand opened Memorial Day
weekend, and Sunday saw a rush of young and old customers, just minutes before closing at 5 p.m. People were encouraged to taste test a Cherry IPA, along with several ales from the Door County area. The local success of breweries in East Troy, Elkhorn, Lake Geneva and Burlington seems evident, and the Farm Stand could be the next in line.
Much more than craft beer
But it goes well beyond a brewery. With confections such as Door County honey, jellies, jams, varieties of popcorn, taffy and caramels, fudge, s’mores, along with more state favorites like cheese curds, Illinois visitors and locals are treated to something they can’t buy anywhere. There are also Bavarian soft pretzels with four kinds of dip to choose from, brats and hot dogs. Bobbi said they didn’t bring the restaurant idea over from the pantry, because of the amount of time devoted to operating the kitchen. They are happy to be open, and they encourage curious customers to stop in and sample their four weekly, changing tap beers, which are all brewed in Wisconsin. Even though they just opened this summer, the Robers said she can already see the Farm Stand expanding.
Customers browse the selection of craft beers, confections and other specialties from Wisconsin at the recently opened Farm Stand in Lake Geneva’s Fancy Fair Mall. MIKE RAMCZYK Spirit of Geneva Lakes
SPIRIT of GENEVA LAKES
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