10 Restaurants to Try This Year
Burlington has so many wonderful restaurants that feature a variety of cuisines, backgrounds, and stories. Because of this, I wanted to highlight 10 restaurants in Burlington you can try and enjoy!
Breakfast/Brunch:
1. The Cafe Hot:
This amazing restaurants just opened up last fall year and has tons of amazing breakfast sandwiches and sweet treats! They are only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so you better try them while you can! Their Shhhhhhh secret biscuit sandwich is hard to beat at their maple salsa macha takes the definition of a breakfast sandwich to another level. Have a sweet tooth, try their Bonuts! A biscuit donut combination that will knock your socks off with its flaky layers. Even better, the donut glazes change everyday and are the perfect mix of sweet and savory combos. You can check out their daily flavors on their instagram story here and some of their past flavors include: Nicolas sage, apple cider, orange jolt, espresso glaze, and more!
The Friendly Toast is your one stop shop for all things creative, fast, and eye closing mmmmmm delicious. They have a insanely large menu, and everything looks so good that it is always hard choose what to get. My go to is their Snap Crackle Cluck sandwich. I know I know, a fried chicken sandwich with hot honey sauce, slaw, and everything but the bagel aioli doesn’t necessarily scream breakfast, but trust me on this… this sandwich is good any time of the day. Additionally, I recommend trying something their specials menu as it is seasonal and are equally delicious!
All the way down in the Art district next to the Burlington Farmers Market is Myer’s Bagels. Their Montreal style bagles are fresh eat day can come in a variety of flavors including garlic, Montreal Spice, Everything and my favorite the rosemary sea salt! The bagels themselves are delicous on their own, but if you want to elevate it, you can get a bagel sandwich. Pictured is the Ivan sandwich: Fried Egg, Brie, Avacado, and Sirracha on a rosemary sea salt bagel. Not only have I eaten this sandwich in 5 minutes, but it was so good that I got a second one to go! There isn’t any seating inside Myer, so be prepared to eat your bagels on a bench outside for the full experince. This is a must try place for any bagel enthusists.
Lunch:
This authentic dim sum restaurant is hard to beat! They opened up this past fall and since gained the love and stomachs of many around Burlington… including me. They have a variety of dim sum such as their stir fry turnip cakes, steamed shrimp rice rolls, tangy crispy spareribs, sesame balls, custard buns, and more. Better yet, they keep on adding more to their menu so their are many dishes to try with friends!
Farmers and Foragers is a food truck that graces campus this semester on University Place. You can spot them in the grey food truck and pick up their amazing truffle fries and their Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich. I am a fried chicken sandwich fiend and when I tell you this is my lunch stop once a week, you know it is good. They even graced the Brennan’s for two days which was a even bigger treat! If fried chicken sandwiches and fries are not your thing, they have a variety of amazing breakfast sandwiches as well!
Red panda has some amazing Indian and Nepali food and can be found a block off of Main and Church Street. They have all the go-to comfort foods such as butter chicken, chicken tikka marsala, sag paneer, momo’s and nan. some of my favorites that aren’t super popular or the standard is the paneer roll and the chicken Tikka roll (both appetizers) each is around 10$ and can easily be a meal by itself! They are similar to stuff pita sandwich but the fillings/sauces/greens are in a paratha (flatbread). Some other things that on the menu that are a must (in my books) are the veggie samosas (they are massive!), and biryani dish, and the coconut chicken curry. There are some many authentic dishes to try and they are open most days of the week, definitely one of my takeout go-tos!
Dinner:
1. Pho Dang Vietnamese Restaurant:
This is my absolute favorite Vietnamese restaurant to go to in the Burlington area! This hot spot is in Winooksi (about 12 minutes from campus), but it is definitely worth the drive. The food is perfectly balances, the portions are large, and it makes my heart and my stomach very very happy. Some things that I have ordered in the past are the Goi Cuon Tom Thit, Bun Bo Xao Xa Ot Cha Gio (beef vermicellei bowl with egg rolls), and their fried mackerel. I highly recommend this restaurant as it is cheap, delicious, and a leaves you with a smile!
Thin crusted Neapolitan pizza coming right up! This wood fire pizzeria is on St. Paul Street downtown and is one of my favorites. Theses pizzas are unlike other spots as have some crazy toppings such as hot honey, cherries, sweet corn, eggplant and more! They have dine in, take out, and delivery options, so if you are on campus and don’t want to leave the comfort of your room… this is the place for you. To sweeten the deal, they have a Buy One Get One Free Margarita Pizza Wednesdays as well!
3. The Gryphon:
The Gryphon is a cozy restaurant that adds a flare to comfort food! They are located on Main St. and have some delicious food that you can share with some friends or some visiting family. Their menu highlights some causal fare, salads, and sandwiches that hit the spot. Pictured is the steamed mussels small plate and the cheese plate. The mussel sauce was so flavorful that I ordered extra bread to soak it all up! This was one of the best meals out that I had in awhile, and will definitely go back in the future!
Dessert:
Ah finally dessert category… and what better was to start off that highlighting Morning Light Bakery in Winooski! This Hong Kong style bakery sells sweet and savory buns, tarts, crepe cakes, mochi, and more. They are baked fresh, so the earlier you go in the day, the more likely you will be able to try out all of their pastries. Pictured is the red bean bun, pork belly bao, and their roasted pork bun. Want a drink to pair along with the treats, you are in luck because they have bubble tea too! You even get a punch card for each bubble tea you get, and after 10 drinks you get the 11th free! Can’t recommend this bakery enough and hope you enjoy it as much as I do (I go here every few weeks when I have a boba and bun craving)!
I hope some of these spots become your favorites and that you give them a try. It is amazing we have so many different types of cuisines here in Burlington, and the food is a great reflection of that! From one food lover to another… have fun 🙂
-Danielle
