After the previous owners closed Wilbur & Rudy’s Farm Table, McCrory and business partner Chris Sedgwick—president of the Sedgwick Restaurant Group—began discussions for a country tavern-style concept in an area “starved for restaurants,” McCrory said.“We went through a bunch of ideas of who we wanted to be and how we wanted to portray ourselves culinarily,” McCrory said. “[The people out here] want some healthy options, but they also want a good burger.”
The restaurant has both lunch and dinner menus, featuring dishes such as slow-cooked beef brisket; Key lime chicken Caesar salad; and the Smashed Barn Burner Burger, made with double-smashed SBC patties—or short rib, brisket and chuck patties—fire-roasted green chiles, pepper jack cheese and chipotle aioli on a toasted brioche bun. The bun is branded with a number seven using the restaurant’s branding iron.
However, McCrory said 7 Acre is most well-known for its desserts. Megan Allen, pastry chef and colloquially known by her coworkers as “the pie queen,” handmakes the desserts—such as the chocolate layer cake and the Pride of Alabama Golden Eagle Pecan Pie—fresh every day from her personal recipes, she said.
“This restaurant in particular has seen the most success in the dessert program out of any restaurant I’ve ever worked at in my 40-plus years in the industry,” McCrory said. The restaurant is aptly named for its 7-acre garden in the backyard of the restaurant, General Manager Josh Read said, which is planned to grow produce and herbs for use in-house and help preserve the land of the longstanding Milton landmark.
Keeping in line with preserving history, McCrory said he and Sedgwick repurposed the original flooring to serve as the backboard of the front entrance wall. Additionally, he said the bar shelves and booth rails were milled out of local red oak trees and donated by one of 7 Acre’s regular customers.
“We wanted to build a community here and be a part of the history of Milton,” McCrory said. “We have great neighbors, and we try to be a good neighbor right back.”
7 Acre barNgrill
850 Hickory Flat Road, Milton
770-777-2273
www.7acrebarngrill.com
