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Belle's Café
Start your day with a breakfast wrap or slice of quiche. For lunch, enjoy some "food for the soul" — perhaps a Craisin-chicken-salad sandwich on homemade bread with an M&M cookie for dessert.
Williston
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Rainbow Sweets
Now in its fourth decade, the popular rural café is still serving handmade pastries along with empanadas, spanakopita and Greek salads. Open May through November.
Marshfield
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Positive Pie Tap & Grill
Diners step into a hip bar-trattoria for hand-tossed pizzas, Italian entrées, local beers and creative martinis. Live music some weekends.
Plainfield
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Asiana Noodle Shop
The subterranean spot serves noodles, dumplings and sushi from across Asia. The fusion maki and miso soup will keep you coming back for more.
Burlington
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The Matterhorn
"Infamous since 1950," the après-ski landmark caters to locals and tourists with jumbo wings, brick-oven pizzas, live music and sushi rolls. The full bar includes sake.
Stowe
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Leunig's Bistro & Café
French-inflected fare, fine cocktails and Church Street views make for a memorable meal — perhaps filet mignon with a pink-peppercorn-and-pinot-noir demi-glace? Local farms are featured on the cheese plates. Weekday lunch.
Burlington
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Al's French Frys
Locals head to South Burlington's beloved French fry stand day and night for hand-cut spuds, fast burgers and summer creemees. Open 'til midnight on Friday and Saturday.
South Burlington
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Cucina Antica Bistro
Chef Michael Ralston turns Vermont-grown ingredients into Mediterranean classics such as spaghetti with meatballs, Greek gyros and hand-tossed pizzas.
Shelburne
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Ladder 1 Grill
"Firestarters" — that is, appetizers — at the historic firehouse restaurant include pizza-dough garlic bombs stuffed with ricotta. Lasagna, specialty burgers and prime rib are among the larger plates.
Barre
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Twiggs — An American Gastropub
Pub food goes gourmet: This British-style public house takes an elevated approach to burgers, flatbreads and martinis. Look for nightly drink deals, murder mystery evenings and live music.
St. Albans
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Waybury Inn
Once the setting for "The Bob Newhart Show," this charming old home claims to be Vermont's oldest operating inn. Order French onion soup in the laid-back pub or rack of lamb in the dining room. Sunday brunch.
East Middlebury
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Archie's Grill
Customers queue up for big beef, turkey and veggie burgers — plus fries and jumbo hot dogs — all with a fresh and local focus. For dessert, head to the adjacent scoop shop.
Shelburne
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Dragon House
Hinesburg locals and campers from nearby Lake Iroquois frequent the village's Chinese joint for wonton soup, beef teriyaki and pork fried rice.
Hinesburg
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Harper's Restaurant
During the week, find grilled salmon BLTs and Monterey chicken in the family-friendly hotel restaurant. The Sunday brunch buffet, with omelette and carving stations, draws a crowd.
South Burlington
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Hunger Mountain Co-op
Co-op shoppers fuel up with natural, healthy dishes fresh from the deli, hot bar or salad bar. Take your ginger-garlic tofu outside, or enjoy river views from the café.
Montpelier
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Klinger's Bread Company
The aroma of fresh breads lures patrons into the production bakery. For breakfast, there's coffee and chocolate-filled croissants; for lunch, soups, salads and sandwiches.
South Burlington
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McKee's Original
An Onion City staple since 1987, this hopping hangout will return to its roots when it reopens in late October as a bar and game room.
Winooski
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Mister Z's
Since 1988, this edge-of-town Italian restaurant has crafted home-style plates with personality. Check out the Mediterranean Medley pie.
Barre
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Oriental Wok
Stop in for a meal of lemon chicken or veggie lo mein before catching a movie at the Essex Cinemas. Specials come with pork fried rice.
Essex Junction
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Sugarsnap Catering
The award-winning catering company offers delivery of healthy soups, entrées and more on weekdays. Order online.
Burlington
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El Gato Cantina (Burlington)
Diners head to Church Street's casual cantina for tamales, fajitas and tacos. Quench your thirst with a mango margarita spiked with one of 100 tequilas.
Burlington
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Good Times Café
Handcrafted pizzas, Cajun cuisine and occasional live acoustic music yield good times at this village restaurant. Sunday brings brunch pizzas with bacon, sausage and ham — or an all-veggie option.
Hinesburg
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New World Tortilla
A weekday lunch crowd gathers for salads, soups and big wraps on fresh flour tortillas; fillings include Thai-style chicken, classic Mexican beef and veggie sauté. After, head next door to sister biz Sweet Hazel Fresh & Frozen.
Burlington
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Tiny Thai Restaurant
Tom kha, satay, stir-fries and curries take their cues from food carts and family tables across Thailand. Vermonters have voted this the best Thai restaurant in the state for seven years straight. View the menu...
Winooski
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Wayside Restaurant, Bakery & Creamery
Since 1918, the family-friendly restaurant just over the Montpelier city border in Berlin has delivered homestyle favorites such as fish and chips, country-fried steak, beef burgers with all the fixings, and maple cream pie.
Berlin
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Zabby & Elf's Stone Soup
Local ingredients make their way into from-scratch soups, sandwiches and daily specials at this vegetable-forward café. There's a new system in place of the serve-yourself buffet: Staffers fill plates for customers.
Burlington
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Three Penny Taproom
Promising "craft beer, craft food and well-crafted good times," Montpelier's gastropub offers 23 taps to please every palate. Dinner features burgers, falafel wraps and soba noodle bowls; breakfast is served Thursday through Sunday.
Montpelier
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Bleu Northeast Kitchen
Chef Doug Paine accents his menu of local small-farm meats and produce with sustainable seafood for dishes such as Lake Champlain perch poppers, veal sliders and lamb Bolognese. Pair inspired cocktails with classic brunch dishes on the weekend.
Burlington
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New York Pizza Oven
Specialty pies change often at the lakefront Italian joint — try the new gluten-free cauliflower crust. The menu always offers tantalizing calzones, subs, pastas and cannoli.
Colchester
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P&H Truck Stop
Feeling friendly? Perch on a counter stool and chat up a grill cook over a Trucker's Breakfast, fried chicken or slice of homemade maple cream pie. Sticky buns are ready to take and bake at home.
Wells River
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Barkeaters
Hunker down amid Adirondack décor for steak frites, chicken shawarma bowls or a cocktail made with local spirits. Chocolate bark ends every meal. A smash burger and a beer are $12 on Wednesday.
Shelburne
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City Market, Onion River Co-op (Downtown Burlington)
People of all stripes converge at Burlington's downtown grocery cooperative. Buy some kale, snag a fresh-made breakfast sandwich at the deli, or peruse the hot bar for vegan and gluten-free options.
Burlington
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The Lighthouse Restaurant and Lounge
A trip to the 60-item salad bar comes with every order of grilled steak tips — and all other meat and fish dinner entrées. Sunday brunch features eggs Benedict, frittatas and omelettes.
Colchester
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Jeff's Maine Seafood
What started in 1979 as a fish stand is now an upscale village restaurant and lounge serving pasta and surf and turf. Try the crab cakes with jalapeño-mango tartar sauce.
St. Albans
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Joe's Snack Bar
Open since 1950, the village snack bar serves sought-after fries, burgers and creemees from April through October.
Jericho
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Shore Acres Inn and Restaurant
Farm-fresh produce, waterfront vistas, and plates such as truffled panzanella salad and coconut shrimp make for a memorable meal. Open April through November.
North Hero
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Bluebird Barbecue
The wood-fired smokers run 24-7 outside Burlington's beloved barbecue joint. Diners mix and match two dozen draft beers with brisket, ribs, beans and mac.
Burlington
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Angelina's Restaurant
You can't miss this roadside pizzeria seven miles southwest of Smugglers' Notch. Outside, it's painted green, white and red for the Italian flag; inside, all the dough and sauces are homemade.
Cambridge
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Bangkok Minute Thai Café
Alongside traditional pad Thai, the kitchen turns out panang curry and Ga Pow "crazy bowl," a spicy treat for the bold and brave.
Shelburne
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The Derby Cow Palace
A taxidermied polar bear greets visitors at the door. Inside, diners dig into a bottomless salad bar and plates of New England seafood, aged beef and elk. No lunch on Monday.
Derby
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