Delicious Grass-fed Burgers on a Beautiful Farm at Together Farms near Eau Claire, WI

By Angie & Jeff

September 27, 2023

It’s been rainy in Western Wisconsin the last several days, after a long absence of rain leading to a drought. So, while the rain is needed, it’s a little disappointing when it falls on those coveted fall weekends in Wisconsin, as it did this past weekend.

Jeff lived in Juneau, Alaska for a number of years which has forever changed his attitude about rainy days. If you’re not familiar with Juneau’s weather, it is not the Alaska stereotype of the winter tundra of more northern parts of Alaska. Instead, the weather in Juneau is similar to Seattle with moderate temperatures even in the winter and plentiful rain.

He says if he didn’t learn to do things in the rain ranging from fun like hiking to chores like painting his house, yep, you read that right, then those things would never happen. This attitude about rain has rubbed off on Angie now, too. Early in our relationship (20 years and counting now) if Angie saw a rainy day she would suggest canceling any outdoor plans.

Not anymore, so despite the rain this weekend, we decided to proceed with our fun plans anyway. On Saturday, we enjoyed the Ginormous Pumpkin Festival at River Prairie Park in Altoona. You can check out our reels of the giant candy filled pumpkin drop here and here, as well as the dog costume contest highlights here.

On Sunday, we decided to visit several area apple orchards and then culminate in a visit to Together Farms. We were pleasantly surprised as the weather got more pleasant as the day progressed ending in a partly sunny afternoon at Together Farms.

Angie has followed Together Farms on social media for a while and wanted to visit, but we hadn’t fit it in until now. As an aside, the posts about the antics of their farm animals are enough alone to follow this account. Angie loves all the posts about their sheep named Goat who thinks she’s a dog.

During the TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) conference that we attended in July at the Pablo Center at the Confluence, an area tour for visiting travel bloggers included a stop at Together Farms. The raving of the travel bloggers who visited Together Farms about their experience solidified that it was a stop we had to fit in this season. This urgency was increased by a recent social media post from Together Farms that they may not offer Burger Nights in 2024. You have to go. Now.

The beauty of a trip to Together Farms starts before you even arrive at the farm with an approximately 30 minute beautiful drive south of Eau Claire through the rolling hills of the Wisconsin countryside to the farm in a rural area with a Mondovi address.

On our Sunday visit, we came from the Osseo area after finishing our visits to several orchards and that led to a relaxing drive meandering down several county roads. We enjoyed the pops of fall colors just starting and admired many idyllic and historic barns along the drive. We were surprised by a big bald eagle that swooped right in front of us quite near the farm. We tried to capture it in a picture or video, but it was only meant for us to enjoy with our eyes this time.

It was just after 2 p.m. when we arrived at Together Farms on Sunday and we were really surprised to see only one other car in the parking lot and they were leaving as we drove in. At first we wondered if we were mistaken and they were closed that day, but Angie had just checked their social media and nothing was posted suggesting they were closed.

We wandered down the hill on the driveway following the signs from the parking area and quickly found the farm store open and the woman working the register assured us that the farm was indeed open for Burger Night, errr, Day?

The farm store, which we understand is a new addition this year to Together Farms, is a really great place to stop in. On a farm known for their grass-fed beef, there is of course a large display case of their farm meats.

The store also includes a great selection of really fun items for yourself or to gift to others. In particular, we really enjoyed perusing the clever t-shirts. Do yourself a favor and know the shirt sizes of those close to you before visiting so you don’t have to text them a random, “What is your shirt size?” As we did to several people during our visit.

As you walk around the corner from the farm store, you will see the small counter to peruse the menu and order your food. This was the hardest part of our visit. What do you choose? They have an abundance of cleverly named tempting burgers as well as pulled pork, cheese curds (because Wisconsin), fried pickles, and a kids and dessert menu.

After a long time hemming and hawing, we made a decision on our order. Jeff ordered a Mind Blue-ing Burger (which Angie had to say outloud to get the joke) which included bacon, blue jack cheese and caramelized onions with the grass-fed beef patty. 

Angie settled on the Burger of the Week called A Burger Named Goat, after their aforementioned sheep named Goat. The Burger Named Goat included creamy goat cheese, roasted roma tomatoes, a garlic and fresh basil mayo, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction on the grass-fed beef patty.

All the burgers also come with fries and a pickle, so our order was complete for food. That’s just two of the 13 burger options available that day, because Sunday the special Rise & Shine Burger including bacon, egg, cheese, and WI maple syrup on a croissant is an option. Can you see why we had trouble making a decision?

After ordering and paying for your food, you’re given a buzzer like one would get when waiting for a table in a restaurant to alert you when your food is ready.

Together Farms also offers a Buy One Get One Birthday Burger deal for your birthday or half-birthday! Angie’s birthday just passed recently and she was able to sign up for this great deal via the Together Farms Facebook Messenger after seeing a sponsored post about it on Facebook. Although, full-disclosure, we more than spent anything we saved on the birthday burger in the farm store.

While eating, we saw signage on the table that you can also request your birthday burger in person with your ID. We both thought it was really neat of Together Farms to include half-birthdays for those with winter birthdays when Burger Night isn’t offered.

Your next stop is just ahead, labeled the Woodshed Tavern, to purchase your drinks. The extensive list of options is really impressive for a burger farm! If you know anything about Wisconsin liquor regulations, you know they don’t make things easy on small businesses like Together Farms.

But, despite their limitations around being able to serve liquor they offer an extensive list of beers on tap, spiked seltzers, wines, unique sodas, and even creative options on Sunday like Winey Mary which is a Bloody Mary made with white wine.

Jeff was not feeling adventurous and ordered a Dr. Pepper. Angie tried a Wisconsin made soda called Wiscopop in their Strawberry flavor.

Long lines were not an issue during our visit, but there is a ‘fast’ lane for those who know what they want and are paying cash if you visit on a busier time. They do take credit cards, but the cash line appears to be an express lane for a busy night.

Together Farms has a really fun kids playground area with a playset and slide, a kids size picnic table, and a really cool whimsical blue playhouse with a neat sloping roof.

Also for older kids and adults they provide opportunities for entertainment with a twist on the traditional table shuffleboard game found at many bars, often called shufflepuck. Instead of using silicone sand and weighed pucks, they’ve replaced these items with pool balls, which is perfect for the game table being outdoors.

There’s also a fun giant pig that some creative person made from a massive log. There is a step stool nearby in case you need it to climb onto the pig. Jeff could not resist and had to sit on the pig and have his photo taken.

The burgers we had were delicious and it’s obvious that the owners of Together Farms care a lot about making great food. The burgers range in price from $19 to $23 and include really great crisp, thick cut fries and a pickle spear. The quality you are getting is reflective of the price. Jeff really enjoyed the burger condiment bar and piled his burger high with tomatoes, onions, and lettuce.

Together Farms has a rewards program that allows you to earn points when you visit and additional points for interacting with them on their social media. Just by joining their email list you’ll get the required 1 point to get access to a special menu plus a free birthday drink!

From here you’re on your way to earning points for all kinds of great items, some of which are: a free pound of ground beef (10 points), a $20 farm store gift card (25 points), 2 tickets to an exclusive members-only chef’s dinner (50 points). Check out Together Farms Rewards to see all the different reward options. We didn’t realize this during our visit or would have joined then, but will next time.

Later, as we chatted with the owner, Steph, as the only guests there until the last few minutes of our hour at the farm, she mentioned the Packers game impacts their turnout.

We’re not sports fans and so the Packers game and impact of it had escaped us. Later in the season, we catch on and like to grocery shop and run other errands during Packer games because everything in Wisconsin is empty unless offering a chance to watch the Packers.

When people try to talk sports to us, often to Jeff, and assume we’re fans, we like to tell the following story. About 15 years ago we moved back to Eau Claire from central Wisconsin. (Jeff was born in Eau Claire and lots of his family lives here too.) We were at a party for Angie’s work at the time; a group of her coworkers were standing in a circle with her talking about Aaron Rogers. Jeff walked up just as Aaron Rogers name was said and Jeff’s comment was, “Oh, does he work here, too?” Granted, Aaron Rogers was only a couple of years into his time with the Green Bay Packers, but he was a household name for most in Wisconsin by then. We giggle about this still today.

Steph also mentioned that the weather in Eau Claire can impact turnout for them despite the weather often being different between Eau Claire and their beautiful farm. Her advice is to check the radar if you think it might be raining at Together Farms when it is raining in Eau Claire.

Often you will find it’s nice, dry and sunny,  just south of Eau Claire so you can escape the rain for a nice day or night out! Even if it is raining, they are open rain or shine and, as mentioned earlier, offer some nice covered spaces to enjoy your food under while listening to the rain on the roof.

On a nice summer day/night when the Packers aren’t playing, it can be packed and so they recommend you have chairs with you just in case they are low on seating.

Another perk of visiting Together Farms aside from the beautiful scenery and delicious food and drinks, is the cast of characters that live here in the menagerie of animals. Of course, a grass-fed beef farm has cows. We enjoyed watching the antics of several calves in the field with the beautiful white cows with black face accents near the parking lot.

We mentioned Angie following the amusing stories of Goat the Sheep on Together Farms social media previously. We weren’t able to meet Goat because she was out in the field with her two lambs on Sunday. However, Steph ensured we met their gentle giant, Mr. Fluffypants who is part Great Pyrenese, part Great Dane, and part Newfoundland.

He is the tallest dog we have ever seen! He ensured he was being petted at all times by nudging each of the three of us, Angie, Jeff, and owner Steph when he deemed it was that person’s turn to take on the petting duties while we chatted.

We also enjoyed watching their Australian Cattle Dog, Immy, wander about the grounds and find multiple spaces to nap after each wandering. Immy happily accepted petting while resting in the various places chosen for naps during our visit.

We read on Together Farms table literature that there is another dog and four cats that we didn’t meet during our visit. As well, the pigs and sheep were only spotted on the hills in the distance. Another neat feature about Together Farms is nearly zero food waste because the dogs accept scraps and the pigs eat up what the dogs do not.

While we were enjoying our meal, we both spotted a large white animal running across the hilly field just across the pond from us. The first inclination for both of us was that it looked like a unicorn. Seriously the way this beautiful moment presented itself to us we swear it really could have been.

Dropping back into reality, we then discussed if it was a horse or a donkey. It looked like a donkey to us but we hadn’t seen a white donkey before so we wondered if it was a horse. After inquiring with Steph, she confirmed it is a white donkey and that the donkey is a guardian animal for the livestock in that field. 

We had both heard of dogs as guardian animals but we hadn’t heard of a guardian donkey before! So, if you want to show your kids the white unicorn, hopefully you will get a glimpse during your visit.

In addition to everything mentioned so far, Together Farms regularly offers live music and sometimes comedy shows during their Burger Nights. There was live music scheduled a few hours after our visit on Sunday.

Their signage on the farm and their website also promotes that the farm offers private events for a very low cost, options to camp on the farm, local fundraisers, and farm tours. You can get in touch with them through their website or social media to learn more.

As a related aside, it is worth noting that the farm doesn’t smell at all like a farm. We have both visited or driven past farms that underscore why, “Welcome to Wisconsin! Enjoy our Dairy Air!” is a joke here. That wasn’t the case on this farm at all. And, the bathrooms are outdoor porta-potties but were so clean and not smelly they seemed brand new.

Together Farms is scheduled to end Burger Night for the season, and maybe forever as mentioned above, after they close on Sunday, October 8th. But, they have announced one pop-up date for the later fall of October 21, so that gives you a bit more flexibility on dates to get out there and experience your dinner on the farm.

Together Farms is open for Burger Night on Thursday and Friday night and all day on Saturday and Sunday, but we suggest you check their social media for any updates to this or for other possible pop-up dates.

Together Farms has consistently been rated best pop-up restaurant or best food event in the local people’s choice award of sorts, Volume’s One Best of Chippewa Valley. Don’t miss your chance to try this fantastic farm fresh food in a gorgeous setting!