Restaurant closed, Farm House finds way to help community

Editor's note: Mr. Ward has decided to close the restaurant until the virus subsides ... but this still was a great idea he had. ... 

Following Texas Gov. Greg Abbot’s executive order Thursday to prohibit eating at restaurants throughout the state, essentially shuttering such establishments for the next two weeks, James Ward, owner of The Farm House in Mexia, has found a way to keep his employees working and help the community.

On Thursday morning at 6:45, Ward posted on the Farm House’s Facebook page that if people were having trouble getting items at stores, they could call in an order to the Farm House. He, in turn, made his order to vendors he uses for supplies and the items would be delivered by truck to the restaurant the following day.

Tables are set up in the restaurant’s roughly 2,000-square foot banquet room at the back of the building adjacent to the restaurant. The tables are filled with products that were ordered with names attached of who ordered them.

The banquet room is accessed through a door at the back of the building.

On Friday afternoon, a few customers came in to collect their orders.

“I was trying to figure out a way to keep my employees in a job and to help out the community with what people need,” Ward said. “I posted this online and within two hours, 45 people had called. People need sugar, flour, eggs, chicken breasts, tortillas, vegetables, bread, toilet paper, and other things. I ordered it. It got here (Friday) morning at 5 and I started putting together what they ordered.”

The items are available for the price Ward pays, plus a slight markup which covers the salaries of his employees. He has been able to keep 14 people working continuously on different shifts.

Ward said he was surprised at the volume of calls he has received.

“I didn’t realize people need that much stuff,” he said. “They’re calling, ‘we need this, we need this.’ These are items you can’t get at the store, for the most part.”

Ward said what he’s doing is new to him.

“I told people (Thursday), if we have to, we can turn this place into a grocery store,” he said. “There’s a learning curve. I’ve never been in the grocery business. I buy it, we cook it. I never got into selling it.”

Ward said on Friday that the order delivered was from one vendor. He uses four vendors for his business, so there is the possibility of getting more products.

Asked how often he receives shipments of goods, Ward replied, “I can get a truck every day.”

Ward said he accidentally over-ordered ground beef for Friday. He had 23 orders for 10-pound packages and, instead, ordered 23 cases of the product. There are eight packages in each case. But he posted on Facebook that there was an excess of ground beef and people were calling and stopping by to purchase it.

One customer who came in to claim an order Friday was Joyce High of Mexia. She was thankful she could get some household items that have been difficult to find in stores during regular shopping hours.

“You don’t know how long this is going to last,” she said of the COVID-19 threat. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Ward said he even had a volunteer stop by to help Friday morning. And the operation is being run smoothly by himself and Graciela Acevedo, the general manager of the Farm House.

Ward said he is following guidelines set out for dealing with the coronavirus threat. Sanitary wipes are being used. He and his employees are following the guidelines for social distancing. And to keep from having more than 10 people in the banquet hall at once, calls to those who ordered supplies are spread out during the day so everybody doesn’t show up at once.

With restaurants not allowed to open for dining until April 3, Ward could be in the grocery business for at least a few weeks.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do it,” he said. “As long as they’re letting people drive from their homes, and they’re not getting stuff at the grocery store, that keeps us in a job and people can get what they want.”

Ward said he currently is taking orders for Monday delivery. The deadline to order is 10 a.m. Sunday.

To order, call the Farm House at 254-472-0512. Or find the restaurant on Google. Orders also can be given through the restaurant’s website, farm-house-restaurant.com. Leave a comment on the website with the order.