Folks in and around La Conner are talking turkey these days.

As in the signature turkey dinners that have long highlighted the menu at the popular Farmhouse Restaurant 4.5 miles north of town.

Its diners will be relieved to know they will still be able to gobble down that Thanksgiving-style delicacy year-round. The restaurant sold in January to Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill & Irish Pub, an Everett-based family-owned chain with locations also in Seattle and Spokane.

“Turkey will stay,” vowed new owner Shawn O’Donnell, Sr., “and the Swedish pancakes are not going anywhere and the pies, too.”

For O’Donnell, it’s a no-brainer, a fundamental business decision dictated by both mathematics and tradition.

“Restaurant people are numbers driven people,” he explained. “We have taken the top 15 best-sellers on the Farmhouse menu and those will stay. Then we will continue to follow the guests and what they purchase will stay and the slow movers will drop off.”

While the menu will keep what O’Donnell lauds as “Farmhouse classics,” he also plans to introduce proven winners from his other restaurants: corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, fish and chips and a variety of specialty burgers, among other selections.

With the main menu remaining intact, O’Donnell has new wrinkles in store for the building itself.

“After 40 years of operations, it’s time for a facelift,” he told the Weekly News.

The Farmhouse meeting rooms are slated for soft renovations, he said, including new woodwork, tile and carpet.

“We are going to make some changes, for sure,” O’Donnell confirmed, “but we will do as much as possible to keep and honor those traditions. This will involve keeping all the historical photographs and the amazing prints collected from years of Tulip Festivals. Most of the implements and memorabilia will stay. Much of it is exactly what a pub would call for.”

O’Donnell said the most notable change planned for the Farmhouse layout is to replace the restaurant’s familiar lunch counter with a pub area.

“We would like to do a ‘Cheers’ style,” he said, invoking the name of the famed TV sitcom from the 1980s and ‘90s, “with the pub in the middle and dining surrounding the pub. It’s a layout that has worked well at other locations. And then the current lounge area will be used for overflow dining, occasional Celtic music sessions and any groups looking for a cozy spot.”

O’Donnell said he well appreciates the lofty status enjoyed by the Farmhouse, dating to its original owner, Tore Dybfest, all the way through to Terry and Wendy Brazas, who took over the business in 2003. He has thanked the Brazas’ for having fostered a smooth transition.

The Farmhouse will be the O’Donnell family’s fifth restaurant. In addition to Everett, O’Donnell’s has two locations in Seattle –in Pioneer Square and the Fremont district – and another in Spokane.

“I’ve had a restaurant in Snohomish County since 1982 – I grew up in Mountlake Terrace – and have always been quite aware of The Farmhouse,” he said. “Most of that has been with admiration for what a cool thing they had built. Our hope is to also build an iconic brand that guests will drive miles to come for the Sunday buffet or as a great place to meet family from north or south.”

Purchasing the Farmhouse had been on the O’Donnell radar for some time.

"When I was approached that the Farmhouse was available,” he explained, “it was a couple years ago and with the pandemic the time was not right. So, when it came up again last fall, I had to step up and see if we could buy it.”

Eventually, the Farmhouse will adopt the Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub moniker. O’Donnell realizes that might take some getting used to.

"(It’s) an idea that some have cringed at,” he concedes, “but I promise we will serve the community in many ways. We will work to be a valued business in the Valley. Our goal is to also build an iconic staple that will last for years.