Antidote

Our pourer at a winery recommended Antidote. It was a funny location (basement) but the food was great. Service really tired to be attentive even though it was a busy night. Truffle fries were awesome. Only strike was that my BF's beer was warm. Little pricey, but worth the trip to Vergennes.

Keep your eyes peeled or you'll miss this gem in the quaint little town of Vergennes. The farm-to-table concept is nothing new in Vermont, especially when the area is brimming with great farms. But Antidote has über creative takes on pub standards, like the chicken cheesesteak, with house smoked maple-brined free range chicken, or the surf n' turf burger, which is topped with grilled scallops. I was blown away by the Tree Huggin' Dirt Worshipper veggie burger, easily the best veggie burger I've ever had (and a favorite amongst the staff) thanks in large part to the super addictive ramp pesto they slather on it. The cocktails are inventive and cheap ($6-8 for most) as are the desserts (banana pudding with white chocolate custard and the tres leches cake with goat cheese icing stood out for me). It certainly helps when the staff is friendly and accommodating, too. Looking forward to going back soon.

This restaurant is the perfect when driving from Manchester to Burlington. It's closer to Burlington than to Manchester, so it's more like a 2/3rds of a stop than half. But that's ok. Do it.

Half of their menu is locally (within 13 minutes) sourced. AWESOME.

I had a Moscow Mule with candied ginger. It was decent. My boyfriend selected two beers from the beer menu, and very much enjoyed.

He went for the Pig Mac. Bacon, pork belly, porker burger, fried onions, arugula and bbq sauce. Super smokey and delicious. I had the corn dog and I'm SO glad I did! Corn dog was fantastic: great batter and great dog. The fries on the side were well salted. It came with 3 sauces...salsa verde, some mustard relish thingy, and a smokey tomato sauce. I asked for the horseradish mayo that comes with their fries normally, and that was my fav (with a close second from the mustard relish sauce).

It was dead on a Saturday at 4, but we ate in the back patio. Their servers don't come on until 5, so that was a bit annoying (we were served by the very nice bartender, but he had a lot on his plate aside from serving us).

Get dessert. I had the maple creme brûlée. DELISH.