Ranking ahead of places like St. Louis, Houston and New Orleans in Zagat’s list of 30 most exciting food cities is the very one in which Hillside Farmacy has made its unique home. Well, actually, it’s not the restaurant’s home that is so unique. It’s more the restaurant itself. 

First, there’s the play on the word. It intrigues people, you know. Is it a pharmacy that sells aspirin and artichokes, or is it a restaurant that serves organic salads and stocks its shelves with over-the-counter cold remedies? 

Funny you should ask. That’s exactly what I was wondering.

So, we checked it out. 

The exterior is very appealing. Green is my all-time favorite color, you know. And green makes a beautiful backdrop for yellow umbrellas. 

Ah-ha! Here’s a clue. “Support local farms.” I’m beginning to think there will be at least something inside these four walls that came straight from a place where veggies are grown. 

We must wait to be seated, but I’m glad for the opportunity to scan the place with my beady little journalistic eyes. 

Hmmm. Are those bottles of shampoo? Or, maybe syrup?? (I’m developing the drama for you here, my dear mystery readers.)

Oh, rats. It’s our turn to be seated already. And we’ve asked for a table outside. Oh, well, I bet my hubby and son won’t mind listening to my sophisticated theories, the likes of which would be found in the most suspenseful whodunit. 

After we’ve ordered, I grab my phone and say to the gentlemen who’ve accompanied me on this endeavor: Excuse me, my dear men, I must go to the ladies’ room. You cannot come with me. However, I’ll take pictures while I’m in there. Never will I be above taking photos in the restroom, especially if there’s a window in there that looks like this one. Wouldn’t this window look fabulous on the cover of a mystery novel? 

A quick snap of the dry goods reveals a revealing truth about Hillside Farmacy. It’s definitely not a pharmacy. See how good I am at this whole sleuth thing?

It doesn’t take just a whole lot to distract me when I realize there is a tray of food being hoisted over the shoulder of a server. I mean, it looks really, really good. It also looks like she’s headed outside with the whole shebang.

Just about the time my guys were about to draw straws to see who would go inside and find me, I found my chair at the iron patio table where this yumminess was being nonchalantly placed. 

No mystery here at the table. Just straightforward recipes made with fresh and flavorful ingredients. The college student in our group thought his burger was outstanding. He was not at all mystified by anything so far, so that didn’t surprise me. In fact, he rarely sees any hidden drama away from the periphery of his plate.  

I guess the mystery is solved. This is definitely not a pharmacy. It’s a place you go for fresh food, served in a spot that makes it easy to believe there’s got to be a farm somewhere just up the road. 

That calls for dessert! 

Desserts are determined daily at Hillside Farmacy, so you can come here often and never worry that you might get in a rut. That is, if you are ever really worried about a dessert-rut. Are you? I’m not. I could eat this vanilla gelato for breakfast lunch and dinner. It’s very creamy and so luscious. 

All this mystery talk has got me thinking.

Wonder if Hillside Farmacy has ever considered hosting mystery dinners for would-be detectives like you and like me? They could award bottles of syrup for the winning table! 

Yeah. I’ll suggest that – next time I’m sleuthing around the Farmacy on my way to the ladies’ room. 

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