Ellie’s Farmhouse

This is what happens when two old friends, who met working in a restaurant reunite after decades to do things their way.

"I think when everybody gets into it, they always want to own their own restaurant. We talked about having a place where you could smell the bacon and fresh coffee.  We wanted a clean, comfortable place where you could sense the things were made and cared for.

“All the things you learn over the years, it sets you up for success later in life. And I feel like we're completely ready to knock it out of the park with Ellie's and really just create a great dining experience where we can be the best breakfast and lunch place wherever we go.

And you’ll definitely want to go to Ellie’s Farmhouse.

Located in Methuen, Ellie's Farmhouse is a farm fresh eatery created by Andy Green and Rick Angelo: two friends who met working together in a restaurant decades ago.

"Ellie's is a concept that Andy and I came up with because we really wanted to accentuate fresh fruit and great people.  We've worked with a lot of really great people and know that's what makes restaurants stand out. And we knew that if we put great people with really fresh food that people would know. And they would taste it, and they would see that the food is happy, because we're happy making it."

And when it came to the menu, they wanted to serve things they would want to eat.

"We're not going to put out something that we don't feel good about. Being made from scratch, taking that ownership and putting that quality of time into each and every item. So important."

"We really wanted to make sure that everything on the menu is legitimately something that we loved eating and enjoyed. We wouldn't put it on the menu if we didn't really, really like it."

Ellie's is one of the few places Phantom has found with an appetizer section to their breakfast menu.

"I'm a fat kid at heart. And so I love food. And I think appetizers complete your meal.  People love it. We try to keep them value priced and it's really working working well for us."

So as you're kicking off your day, you can kick off your meal with spring rolls; stuffed with scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon or spinach, served with cilantro lime ranch for dipping.  Or try a basket of fresh donut holes.

"We all know hot doughnuts are better than cold donuts.  We fried the donuts hot fresh, they're going right to your table we lather him and our Maple cream sauce, which is just phenomenal.  Just a real simple appetizer, get it on the table, great to share and you're gonna love them."

And what would breakfast be without bacon- and here it is served as a shareable starter.

"We season it with cinnamon sugar, and then we put a little drizzle over our cinnamon maple syrup over it over our cinnamon raisin toast.  It is phenomenal bacon. And if you come in and try it, you're gonna love it."

The rest of the breakfast menu is lined with flavors from around the globe.  There's the Mediterranean omelet loaded up with Kalamata olives, spinach, onions, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and the flavor packed Adirondack Bennie.

"I love the Adirondack Bennie. You got your maple bacon there. You've got sauteed spinach, grilled tomato, nice poached eggs with our great Hollandaise sauce over it and it just pops."

And for some south in your mouth, try the Baja Grill, which features three eggs loaded with pico de Gallo, jalapeños, black beans and guacamole, all topped with plenty of shredded barbacoa.

"It's a shredded beef that's slow cooked. It's got just a perfect subtle, subtle heat to it. And it's just a real impressive plate and when people get this, they're like, they don't expect that when they come to a breakfast place a lot of times and they're just like Wow, this is great. So the really positive feedback with that item."

The lunch menu is lined with comfort food favorites, from tacos to turkey sandwiches to tater tot poutine. You can get yourself a slow cooked roast beef sandwich topped with cheddar and crispy onions. A big juicy burger piled with a fried egg, cheddar, bacon, has browns and fried onions. And one of the best fried chicken sandwiches around.

"It's you know, just fresh lettuce, tomato onion on a brioche roll, beautiful fried chicken breast just exploding out of the bun, topped with Monterey jack cheese and our our homemade chipotle aioli on top with some pimento peppers. It looks great. It tastes great. It's fresh, it's hot, it's big. And literally, everybody loves it. Between The cheeses and the toppings with the roll that we have. When you bite into it, you know that that sandwich was literally love for and you're like, God, that's good."

And while the farm fresh ingredients are what draws people to Ellie's, it's the service that keeps them coming back.

"Family's important to us. And we just want people to come when they come to Ellie's, they're going to be part of our family when they come in. Just enjoy your enjoy your time here. Enjoy your family while you're here. And just have a great dining experience."