Northern Vermont Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Northern Vermont - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Northern Vermont - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
The Burlington branch of Hen of the Wood offers a slicker, more urban vibe than its original Waterbury location but serves the same inventive yet down-to-earth cuisine that sets diners' hearts aflutter and tongues wagging. Indeed, many consider this the best restaurant in Vermont, so drop your finger anywhere on the menu and you won't go wrong.
This Church Street restaurant has garnered multiple James Beard Foundation nominations, launching it into a golden age under the helm of co-owners Allison Gibson and chef Cara Chigazola Tobin. Serving arguably the best dinner in Burlington, high expectations are satisfied thanks to creative takes on eastern Mediterranean cuisine, including a selection of sensational mezes. Desserts from notable pastry chef Amanda Wildermuth are worth saving room for, particularly the popular tahini ice-cream sundae.
"Gather, discover, and connect” is the slogan and theme at this intimate Chinese restaurant on the first floor of a residential row house. Traditional Cantonese- and Sichuan-style dishes are served family style, and the "mock eel" was given two chopsticks up on the Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
Seating is first-come, first-served at this popular pizza spot, and the wood-fired clay dome ovens pump out delicious and amusingly named pies like "Dancing Heart" (garlic oil, Italian grana padano cheese, toasted sesame seeds) and "Power to the People" (chicken, buffalo sauce, carrots, mozzarella, and blue cheese dressing) in full view of the tables. Fresh salads topped with locally made cheese are also popular.
This may be a local hub for grabbing a quick sandwich or a case of beer, but its true fame stands with its seasonal creemee window. During the warmer months, lines snake around the corner for the café's beloved soft serve, particularly the house specialty: twisted black raspberry and maple ice cream in a cone, extra sprinkles. A large back patio has sweeping waterfront views, making it one of the nicest spots in town to watch the sunset.
For craft beer and inventive pub food, head to this spacious taproom in a historic factory building where the world-renowned Lumière brothers produced films in the early 1900s. Pair your pint of Strawberry Whale Cake (strawberry cream ale) or Vaulted Blue (IPA with notes of candied citrus peel and ripe peaches) with smoked trout dip and loaded birria fries, or opt for hearty sandwiches such as shaved steak or the mushroom Philly.
The upscale wine shop stocks expertly selected sustainable wines from small producers around the world alongside cheeses and other picnic and pantry provisions. In the wine bar, shared plates are seasonal and inspired by wine bar menus in Spain and France, from jamón serrano and boquerones to endive with cultured cream, goat cheese and spiced walnuts.
The line out the door on a typical weekend night should tell you a lot about the local esteem for this farm-to-table restaurant. Serving only local beef, cheese, and produce in a classy but laid-back style, Farmhouse Tap and Grill provides one of the finest meals in the area.
Some of Vermont's best steak—all meat is sourced from local farms, dry-aged a minimum of 21 days, and cooked to absolute perfection—can be found roasting over hardwood coals in this tavern's open kitchens. The space itself is also a treat, with antique chicken feeders serving as light fixtures and a soapstone-topped bar in the center.
The classics of Turkish cuisine are served with surprising authenticity and maximum deliciousness thanks to the culinary talents of its Istanbul-raised owners, plus locally sourced produce and meats. The open terrace upstairs offers the only rooftop dining in Burlington.
Two alumni of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, one of the country's most lauded restaurants, moved to Burlington in 2017 to realize their dreams of opening a coffee shop together. The duo focus on meticulously sourced beans roasted fresh in-house, scratch-made baked goods, and a frequently changing menu of farm-sourced sandwiches. The maple latte is just sweet enough, and one of the best around.
This popular café delivers alfresco bistro cuisine with a distinct French flavor, plus a friendly European-style bar and live jazz. Favorite entrées include salade niçoise, soupe au pistou (vegetable and white bean soup with Asiago and pesto), and beef bourguignon.
Local industry pros Mojo Hancy-Davis and Matthew Peterson launched this cozy neighborhood spot with a menu that ranges from nostalgic favorites—like a beef patty melt on rye—to delicately plated vegetable dishes, such as delicata squash with Bayley Hazen blue cheese custard and whey-braised tomatoes. Go lowbrow for drinks with a Narragansett lager, or highbrow with a bottle of grower Champagne.
Laura Wade and Aaron Josinsky's new casual spot serves up fried chicken in various forms — from honey-butter wings to whole birds. Comfort-food sides include collard greens that you can add housemade bacon to, a whole grilled onion, fluffy beignets filled with cheddar, and yes, there are oysters (options change daily).
This coffee-tasting bar would satisfy the staunchest coffee aficionado, with its rotating menu of specialty drinks designed to highlight the texture and flavor profile of distinct beans and roasters; so it's not surprising that co-founder Jason Gonzales won a top 10 spot in the 2013 World Cup Tasting Championship (the coffee Olympics). If a coffee education is what you want with your morning cup, Onyx Tonics offers it—thankfully with a friendly and inviting atmosphere—as baristas have been known to warn against adding milk to a certain drip coffee, because it would raise the acidity of the brew and alter its delicate flavor.
"The truth is in the dough" is the long-standing motto of Burlington's destination for expert Neopolitan pies. The bubbled, chewy crusts are flame-kissed by live fire, and Italian-inspired ingredients are sourced mostly from local farmers like the house-made mozzarella that graces classic pies like the beautifully simple Margherita. But don't overlook inventive pizzas like the popular Mais, which is an enticing combination of fire-roasted sweet corn, crème fraîche, fior di latte (fresh mozzarella), and crackly edged slices of speck.
Owners Stefano Cicirello and Susie Ely parked what was originally Dolce VT food truck in a hip space that looks straight out of Brooklyn. The menu of shared plates changes regularly but leans global, with dishes such as Kung Pao cauliflower served alongside pork Milanese and a very good burger.
Some of the best gelato outside of Italy is found on St. Paul Street. Co-owner Paul Sansone was inspired by his Italian heritage to work abroad as an apprentice to some of Southern Italy's most notable gelato masters; he returned to Vermont years later to open his own scoop shop alongside one of Burlington's longtime farm-to-table restaurant owners, Tim Elliot. Daily-changing flavors distill peak season fruits and lush Vermont dairy into peerless small-batch gelato and sorbet that draw visitors state-wide. The fior di latte (fresh mozzarella) gelato is remarkable, and one of the few flavors that rarely leaves the menu.
This family-owned coffee roaster has been turning out small-batch beans and blends since 1993, making it a well-loved local watering-hole for almost three decades. This quirky, funky café is a prime old-school spot to pick up a bag of beans or mull over the morning paper with a cup of Maple French Roast.
If you didn't make that trip to Umbria this year, the next best thing is this Italian country eatery around the corner from City Hall Park. The secret to the ambience goes well beyond the high-quality, handmade pasta dishes to the supercozy woody interior, a transplanted sugarhouse from New Hampshire.
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