The plates that define Burlington: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Burlington. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Sharp, firm, often clothbound cheddar made from Vermont cow's milk. The state's defining food export and the centre of every Burlington cheese plate.
Where: The Inn at Shelburne Farms, City Market / Onion River Co-op, Healthy Living Market and Cafe, Hen of the Wood
Price: $8-22 a cheese plate
Soft-serve made with Vermont maple syrup folded into the cream base; deeper and more caramel-forward than vanilla, with a faint smokiness from the sugarhouse boil. The Vermont summer ice-cream.
Where: The Skinny Pancake, Beansie's Bus
Price: $5-9
Hazy, intensely aromatic, 8% double IPA from The Alchemist in Stowe. Drink from the can; do not pour. Considered the beer that started the New England IPA category.
Where: The Alchemist Brewery and Visitor's Center, Mule Bar, Vermont Pub and Brewery
Price: $15-22 a four-pack
Hot maple syrup boiled to 234F and poured over packed clean snow; it sets to a chewy taffy you twirl on a fork. Traditionally served with a sour dill pickle and a plain doughnut to cut the sweet.
Price: Free at sugarhouse tours
Apple pie served with a thick slice of sharp Vermont cheddar laid over the warm crust. A Vermont winter classic; the proverb runs 'an apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze.'
Where: Frankie's, Hen of the Wood, August First Bakery
Price: $9-14 a slice
Cornmeal griddle cakes; thicker than a pancake, crisp at the edge, served with butter and Vermont maple syrup. Native American in origin (Narragansett) and present in New England since pre-colonial times.
Where: August First Bakery, Sneakers Bistro and Cafe
Price: $10-15 a plate
Bourbon or rye old fashioned sweetened with Vermont maple syrup in place of simple syrup; finished with an orange peel and a maple-soaked bing cherry.
Where: Juniper at Hotel Vermont, The Whiskey Room, Drink
Price: $14-18
Split hot dog grilled with mustard, chopped raw onion and a meaty house chili sauce; not a Detroit-style coney but a northern New England regional variant.
Where: Handy's Lunch, Beansie's Bus
Price: $4-7
Sharp, firm, often clothbound cheddar made from Vermont cow's milk. The state's defining food export and the centre of every Burlington cheese plate.
History: Vermont cheddar dates to 18th-century English settlers in the Green Mountains. Cabot Creamery formed as a farmer-owned co-op in Cabot, Vermont in 1919 and built the export reputation; Shelburne Farms began producing farmstead cheddar at the 1899 Webb-Vanderbilt estate in 1980; Jasper Hill in Greensboro now cellars cheese for cheesemakers across the state. Clothbound, raw-milk and aged styles range from Bayley Hazen Blue to Cabot Clothbound to Shelburne Farms' two-year aged.
Where to try it: The Inn at Shelburne Farms, City Market / Onion River Co-op, Healthy Living Market and Cafe, Hen of the Wood
Watch out for: Dairy
Soft-serve made with Vermont maple syrup folded into the cream base; deeper and more caramel-forward than vanilla, with a faint smokiness from the sugarhouse boil. The Vermont summer ice-cream.
History: The term 'creemee' is Vermont vernacular for soft-serve; maple creemees rose to prominence in the 1960s as sugarhouses began folding maple syrup into commercial soft-serve mix to differentiate from out-of-state ice cream. Palmer Lane Maple, Morse Farm and dozens of sugarhouses serve the canonical version; in Burlington proper, the Skinny Pancake and seasonal lakefront vendors run them through summer.
Where to try it: The Skinny Pancake, Beansie's Bus
Watch out for: Dairy
Hazy, intensely aromatic, 8% double IPA from The Alchemist in Stowe. Drink from the can; do not pour. Considered the beer that started the New England IPA category.
History: John and Jen Kimmich founded The Alchemist as a Waterbury brewpub in 2003 and began canning Heady Topper from a new Waterbury cannery in 2011; production expanded to the Stowe brewery and visitor's center in 2016. The unfiltered haze, the floral citrus aromatics from late hop additions, and the 'drink from the can' instruction on the label became blueprints for an entire category of US craft beer. Sister IPA Focal Banger followed in 2014.
Where to try it: The Alchemist Brewery and Visitor's Center, Mule Bar, Vermont Pub and Brewery
Watch out for: Gluten (barley malt)
Hot maple syrup boiled to 234F and poured over packed clean snow; it sets to a chewy taffy you twirl on a fork. Traditionally served with a sour dill pickle and a plain doughnut to cut the sweet.
History: A 19th-century sugaring-season tradition across northern New England and Quebec; sugarmakers would pour the partly reduced syrup over snow as a treat for visiting farmers. Now the showpiece of Vermont's Maple Open House Weekend (next edition March 20-21, 2027), when 80-plus sugarhouses open for free tours and tastings.
Apple pie served with a thick slice of sharp Vermont cheddar laid over the warm crust. A Vermont winter classic; the proverb runs 'an apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze.'
History: English settlers brought the cheese-and-apple-pie tradition over in the 17th and 18th centuries; the practice caught on across northern New England because both the apples (Champlain Valley McIntosh, Cortland, Empire) and the cheddar were Vermont-made and turned up on the same farmhouse table. The pie shows up on autumn menus across Burlington-area farm-to-table rooms September through November; Frankie's and Hen of the Wood have both run versions, and the canonical home pairing is Cabot Clothbound or a sharp Shelburne Farms two-year aged cheddar laid over a still-warm slice.
Where to try it: Frankie's, Hen of the Wood, August First Bakery
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
Cornmeal griddle cakes; thicker than a pancake, crisp at the edge, served with butter and Vermont maple syrup. Native American in origin (Narragansett) and present in New England since pre-colonial times.
History: Johnnycakes are corn-griddle cakes made from stone-ground white or yellow cornmeal; the Narragansett word 'johanikin' or 'journey-cake' is the etymology debate. They predate wheat flour in New England and remained breakfast staples through the 19th century. Vermont versions usually use yellow corn and Vermont butter, and finish with maple. Found on a handful of farm-to-table brunch menus; not on every Burlington breakfast plate but a deep-rooted regional dish.
Where to try it: August First Bakery, Sneakers Bistro and Cafe
Watch out for: Dairy
Bourbon or rye old fashioned sweetened with Vermont maple syrup in place of simple syrup; finished with an orange peel and a maple-soaked bing cherry.
History: Local distilleries (Mad River, Smugglers' Notch, Whistlepig in Shoreham) and bartenders folded maple into the canonical American cocktail through the 2000s; the Vermont Maple Old Fashioned is now the default cocktail on Burlington bar menus that lean into local product. The Whiskey Room and Juniper at Hotel Vermont both run versions.
Where to try it: Juniper at Hotel Vermont, The Whiskey Room, Drink
Split hot dog grilled with mustard, chopped raw onion and a meaty house chili sauce; not a Detroit-style coney but a northern New England regional variant.
History: The Michigan dog made its way to Burlington in the 1940s via Plattsburgh, NY, where Greek-American hot-dog stand owners adapted the Greek-influenced coney sauce to a northern audience. Beansie's Bus has served Michigan dogs at Battery Park since 1944 and Handy's Lunch on Maple Street since 1945; both are still doing it.
Where to try it: Handy's Lunch, Beansie's Bus
Watch out for: Gluten
Burlington's signature dishes include Vermont cheddar, Maple creemee, Heady Topper double IPA, Sugar on snow, Vermont cheddar apple pie. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.