12 Best Restaurants in Central Vermont, Vermont

This sunlit café and bakery overlooking Otter Creek houses some of the best coffee and pastries in the state thanks to chef-owner Caroline Corrente, who honed her skills at pastry school in France before zeroing in on a love for brioche dough. Corrente's specialty sweet and savory buns change daily based on what is available locally—many ingredients are found within a few miles of Haymaker's doors. The OG Bun, always on the menu, is a cinnamon-spiced ode to the classic sticky bun that draws Vermonters from all corners of the state. 

Sparkling glassware from the studio downstairs, exposed brick, flickering candles, and large windows overlooking the falls of the roaring Ottauquechee River create an ideal setting for contemporary American cuisine—the food alone is worth the pilgrimage. The wine cellar holds several hundred labels.

Robert Barral, the former executive chef of the New England Culinary Institute, graces Brandon with this informal eatery one story above the main street. Flowered seat cushions, dried-flower window valences, and other hints of Barral's Provençal birthplace abound, as do his eclectic, farm-fresh dishes.

This cerulean blue A-frame is a mountainside gem for morning baked goods, award-winning chilli, and specialty drinks like the Mounds latte (espresso, steamed milk, coconut, and chocolate syrup). It also doubles as a local art gallery, so you can peruse the work of Vermont artists over a pick-me-up.

Also the home of award-winning jam company V Smiley Preserves, this all-day café serves house-made pastries, biscuit sandwiches, huge salads, creative vegetable dishes and savory yogurt with crispy lentils and poached eggs. On weekends, oysters and cocktails start in the afternoon; dinner features rich soups and roast chicken with tomato jam. 

This emporium of Vermont edibles has great sandwiches, cheeses, local beers, and delicious baked goods—perfect for a picnic or for lunch on the go.