Boyfriend and I stopped in here for a quiet drink on a Saturday night while visiting Burlington from Philly. Â Walked in, weren't greeted by anyone, sat ourselves at the left side of the bar, ordered a round of drinks.
From where I was sitting at the bar (the far left seat), I had a lovely view of the underside of the bar across from me, which was stuffed with tons of papers and clutter. Â Also, there were a bunch of dishes stacked up where my left arm would have liked to rest on the bar - Good thing I was with my boyfriend, so I could cozy over next to him instead of hanging out with the dishes.
The (manager? owner?) was having a conversation with some patrons seated at the bar - I'm not sure what he was talking about, but "what if you found out you're actually retarded?!" came out of his mouth more than once. Â I'm assuming he knew these patrons. Â They didn't seem offended, but weren't really laughing. Â It seemed inappropriate, given the size of the restaurant vs. the volume of his voice. Â
Nobody really bothered to be friendly with us or check on us until my boyfriend caught the attention of one of the bartenders to get our tab.
Meh. Â I've definitely experienced better.
Ok, settle down.
Yes there is tasty, full body beef in Vermont. It does matter if the Angus beef served here is grass fed; the meet is totally different from the standard fare throughout the Northeast. For starters, ask for the local Rye Whiskey from WhistlePig Distillery. That will set the mood as it has a slight oily finish but very very clean tasting.
The flat steak was the special, even if not, ask for it as you can hear the chef pounding it prior to serving, thus heightening the dining experience. The veggies were all local as was the Angus. Chunky and fresh carrots, and broccoli.
The garllic mashed potatoes were OK, but they needed a bit of a bite, where's the garlic. Just my preference, not a critique.
Warning: its small, and if there if there are loud patrons at the bar, forget about having a quiet dinner. I was on my own, and I was quiet annoyed by the loud bar patrons. But that is just me. I still love the food and service.
NTL: the meals are fantastic. Get a bigger place, soon.
Wonderful dinner with my boyfriend, friends of ours, and his parents, the Blue Cat is certainly a very intimate restaurant. Â It was an incredibly busy weekend in Burlington with the Mardi Gras going on, but it was not at all busy for our 8pm reservation. Â It is VERY dimly lit (a flashlight was needed for the wine menu), but that's just fine with me. Â The wine was spectacular and everyone loved their dishes, which ranged from the Filet Mignon to sea food.
Review Source:Nice intimate place for a quiet dinner. Â Menu was good and the food was mostly tasty. Ordered jumbo shrimp cocktail as app. Great sauce but the shrimp were smallish - tasted good. Steaks was ok but not as flavorful as I hoped. Three carrot slivers and two pieces of broccoli as veggie on plate. ?? I asked for ketchup (I love it with steak - sorry) and was told they had none in the restaurant. ???? I asked if we could have table in he corner and was told no because it was being saved. Nobody sat there the entire night. Â Dessert and salad were good.
Confusing review -- kind of like the entire dining experience. Â Not sure if I'll go back, but then agan maybe I will.
I was very disappointed with my recent Blue Cat experience on 12/22/2012. Â My fiancee and I have always had a good experience and thoroughly enjoyed our dinners in the past. Â We both ordered the filet mignon I ordered rare and he ordered medium rare. Â They both came out beyond raw. Â When we went to nicely send them back to be cooked more the waitress was the furthest from pleasant about it. Â When the steaks came back they were cooked perfectly however they had absolutely no taste whatsoever. Â Needless to say we were not happy and won't be going back.
Review Source:A great place for a romantic dinner or business meeting. Â The cheese plate (all local) is fantastic, and the meats are terrific. Â The wine list is extensive and priced right, but don't expect more than 2 bottles of anything in stock. Â Don't be put off that its in an office building, you will forget by the time your first drink is served.
Review Source:I have been to the Blue Cat Cafe four times now. Verdict is in! All four times, our expectations were exceeded. Ozzy the owner and Chef, has perfected each dish which includes a healthy selection of local grown or raised foods from Vermont. He has obviously listened to the heartbeat of Burlington and Vermont and is in-tune with what people really want to eat, and that is locally grown organic and natural foods. Bravo! Last night we eat Local Grass-fed Steak  $30 and my girlfriend had Wild Alaskan SalmonTopped with tomato, artichoke, roasted red pepper, and baby spinach with lobster polenta, cooked to medium temp...$27 beautifully orchestrated . OMG it was awesome! Great place if you want a cozy dinner. The restaurant also validated our parking. We love the Blue Cat! I'd give the Cat a 4.5 but no restaurant is perfect. The service was actually disappointingly slow.
Review Source:At the last minute we decided to have a second anniversary dinner (on the actual night) on our way home from Montreal. Â I love Burlington and it's been awhile since we've been back. Â There a lot of restaurants I love in Burlington, and wanted to try something new, and frankly one that was on Open Table since we were making reservations from the road. Â We were not disappointed. Â Service was wonderful, super friendly and made us feel very welcome. Â We loved our food- Salmon and lobster polenta, and homemade whole wheat ravioli. Â Everything was perfect and such a great, cute, warm place. Â We loved it all. Â HIghly recommend, whether you live in Burlington or just passing through.
Review Source:Went here on business and was enthusiastic after checking it out on Yelp. The food & decor was every bit as good as suggested but the service was beyond slow. Over 20 minutes to get the first round of drinks!!! And it got no better from there...
I am not hard to get along with but there were no more than 10 people dining while I was there and everybody was nice enough but obviously not in a rush. Our having to repeatedly ask for every drink, app. & entree is a deal breaker for me. Dessert may have been good but was afraid to order it....
Too bad.
When the Hilton gave us a list of places to eat  downtown we were mildly disappointed as it looked like we were going to have to eat pub grub.
But we yelped and found the Blue Cat and we were pleasantly surprised. Atmosphere and decor was upscale. Wine list by the glass was decent. Food was very good. This is a small steakhouse that serves a lot of local grass fed beef. Good local cheese plate and fresh local salads.
Had a good selection on beef alternatives on the menu but our party focused on the beef - so the jury is out on their fish and pasta selections.
Only issue we had was that their web site relies on Flash so we could not review the menu on our iPhone. They need to fix this!
If you are in Burlington and want a good upscale place to eat - go to the Cat!
The wine and appetizers were delicious. I had the beet salad and my boyfriend had the shrimp cocktail. The steaks were cooked perfectly, as they should be for the price. The sides were blah... The wilted spinach was not wilted, smashed sweet potatoes were just a sweet potato baked, broccoli and carrots just plain and dirty mashed were cold. I could make this meal at home and was not wowed. Was anyone disturbed by the constant use of a microwave???
Review Source:My boyfriend and I spent a night in Burlington over Easter weekend. We were excited to try the food as Burlington has a reputation for excellent local produce, cheese, and grass fed beef. After being told there was a 1.5hr wait at American Flatbread, we stumbled upon the Blue Cat. While at first we were hesitant about eating in a restaurant located in the lobby of an office building, hunger and aversion to wandering around in the cold convinced us to give it a shot in the end.
We were readily seated at the bar. I soon realized the heavy curtains covering the windows make you forget there are offices just outside. The few tables and soft candlelight create a cozy atmosphere. Our waiter and bartender were both very friendly. To start, we were given hummus and pita. We then ordered hudson valley foie gras, mussels in a curry broth, local grass fed hanger steak, and a Vermont cheese plate.
The foie gras was orgasmic. I seldom use that word, but I can't think of any more appropriate word here. The foie was perfectly seared and paired with slices of poached pear, which was a nice contrast to the richness of the foie. But I wish this came with toast points as opposed to pita. The mussels tasted fresh, but were otherwise unremarkable - the broth could have been a little thicker. The steak was delicious. There's a lovely flavor that's distinctive of beef that's grass fed. With the cheese plate ($12), we got four cheeses - a gouda, a cheddar, a blue, and a chevre. The portions were very small and we received yet more pita with the plate! Â Of the cheese we had, the only one that stood out was the cheddar. But the cheddar was so good that we asked what it was (Cabot 3-yr) and promptly went to the Cabot creamery the next day to buy it.
Despite being overwhelmed with pita, I'd recommend this restaurant for anyone who wants to try some of Vermont's best local fare, especially if you don't want to wait 1.5 hours for it.
I like the location and I liked the food. Â But....a couple of things really threw me.
We had mussels and a beet salad to start. Â The salad was great but my wife found 4 uncooked mussells in the dish while the remaining batch seemed a little over cooked. Â The broth was good and the presentation was nice.
Ordered the 8oz local grass fed hangar steak and the wife got the foie gras and steak. Â Both were really good and cooked to our specifications.
Dessert was a cheese plate and chocolate cake. Â No complaints.
The bill was a little more than I had expected. Â I don't mind paying for what I get, but the bill out weighed the food itself. Â Finally, the waitress was very attentive and extremely knowledgeable about the menu. Â
I would give it a 4 but the mussells kind of threw me off a bit.  My  wife was kind and not to detract from out meal.  Bless you dear.
I entirely recommend this place. It's quaint, charming, romantic, and had a wonderful atmosphere. The service was a bit slow, but not terribly slow. The waitress was very accommodating in the sense that my dinner guest and I wanted to try wine, but knew little about wine. The food was delicious. The menu was small and limited, but I feel as though it added to the charm of the restaurant. It was a tad pricey, but it was worth it, in my opinion; especially since we went there for a special occasion.
If you do plan on going here, I do recommend making reservations. We were seated near the door. They never turned anyone away outright, but all the tables in the restaurant were reserved. So, people who walked in were either offered bar space, or a large wait time.
My wife and I celebrate monthiversaries. Once a month since our wedding day, we venture out to a nice restaurant to splurge on a great meal. In our first 16 months, the Blue Cat was the one and only restaurant we visited twice. It's that good.
This restaurant feels like a secret to which only the privileged or lucky are privy. You have to walk down a small alley to find it and through the front doors of a brick building that looks like it would house nothing but law firms and marketing agencies. Once inside, you walk down a hallway and then through doors into what feels like a lost scene from a Cary Grant movie. The Blue Cat is dark inside and has a train car feel to it. It's cozy but not crowded and the noise level has always hovered around the romantic setting. This is a place for dates. Anniversaries. Proposals. Love.
The menu is small and, as another reviewer noted, it emphasizes the steak. And, truthfully, that's all my wife and I have had thus far. And, to be blunt, it's all you need to concern yourself with as well. The steak is cooked with the kind of care and flavor that eliminates the need for a steak sauce. (If you want A1 Sauce, go to Applebee's). The steak is accompanied with seasonal veggies and a starch (mashed potatoes or baked potato). And the sides are tasty, but again, it's the steak you need  to try.
We began our most-recent meal with the tastiest pita bread I've ever known, and hummus on the house. Nice. This was followed by a cheese plate, which is really well done. An assortment of  cheeses (a blue, a brie, a gouda, and a fourth I can't remember) were accompanied with a fruit spread, apple slices, and the pita bread. And then the steak (see above). We enjoyed our food with wine (malbec) and beer (Switchback), and we left knowing we'll come again.
NITE-CAP REVIEW ONLY: Â Popped in to grab a glass of wine to end the evening. Â Wife and I were the only people in there around 10pm on a Saturday. Â The bar staff was mixing and drinking margarita's. Â Not quite what we expected.
The wine list is pretty robust, particularly in North American offerings. Â By the glass is small but a couple nice gems including a Graham Beck Syrah/Cab blend.
Have no idea if the food is worth a visit - but the atmosphere is not that great. Â Dim, in the corridor of a mixed-used building.
I'm always surprised about how few people know about Blue Cat! But I supposed that's part of its charm.
Awesome steak and a perfect location downtown that eliminates the chances of being overrun by tourists. Quiet and dim yet totally low-key.
Vegetarians beware, you'll have few options!
Blue Cat Cafe is a really cute restaurant tucked away from the noise of downtown Burlington. It's a small restaurant and has a quiet atmosphere that feels really intimate. The menu is quite small and emphasizes that their primary dish is steak. They offer 5 - 6 different steak selections on their menu as well as a duck dish, veggie dish, and fish of the day. They have a small selection of salads and appetizers as well.
I started with a caesar salad that was simple greens with shaved parmesan - nothing special, but not bad. For the entree I ordered the filet mignon which came with dirty garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables - broccoli and carrots. The steak was cooked perfectly as it should be at a good steak place. The broccoli and carrots were a bit garlicky for my taste and the garlic mashed potatoes were not garlicky enough. Another guest in my party ordered a special of the evening - a steak au poivre which was delicious. For dessert, I ordered the three layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. It was a simple and delicious chocolate cake that was not over done and I was quite happy.
Overall I would say Blue Cat is a nice steak restaurant. If you're looking to go out for a nice steak to a restaurant that has a quiet and intimate environment then this is a place to go. If the ambiance doesn't matter to you, then you can get steaks that are just as good elsewhere without paying as much.
Burlington is a very cool town, with the great music, public art, high fashion, well two out of three. And there's a boatload of places to stop in and have a drink, not bad if you ask me. Â
The Blue Cat ranks as one of the very best.  The staff, including the owners, Ozzy and Mariasha are wonderfully cordial and generous.  There  is a simultaneously cozy and romantic vibe to the place, it's really something else.
Its not a wine bar without the vino. The wine list is chosen with care and attention, the selection by the glass could be better, but still quite good overall. Priced quite well to boot.
I'll be back.
Blue Cat Café: best kept secret in Burlington. I went in there on a Thursday night before a performance at the Flynn and had the place completely to myself (and my dinner companions). The waitstaff is very friendly and knowledgeable, not just on the food, but on the wines as well.
They have a few specialty cocktails, one if which I tried on my most recent visit. La Vie en Rose is as wonderful as listening to Edith Piaf sing the song. It was a refreshing drink of Hendricks gin infused with rose, a touch of sugar and a lime twist. It made me long for summer even more.
I have been in there a few times and I always get the cheese plate. The most recent selection was chèvre, 2-year cheddar, Jasper Hill Blue, and manchego. Served with lightly toasted ciabatta and strawberry jam. The hummus and pita they offer instead of a bread basket is a refreshing change.
I split the Veggie Dish of the night, which was a linguini with mushrooms in a cream sauce. It was fantastic. Just enough mushrooms, and not too heavy on the cream sauce. I was slightly disappointed with the dish, which is why I am only giving them 4 stars, because my pasta was not fully cooked. It was not even al dente. We were the only people in the restaurant, so it being busy cannot be an excuse.
I have never had a bad experience, and I would recommend it any day. It is a wonderful place for a romantic evening.
This was our first visit and definately not our last! This place is super cozy and romantic. The menu is focused on beef and there were a few specials. The shrimp caeser was perfect to split and the cheese plate had great variety. I had the duck and it was a little overcooked but delicious. My husband had the ny strip with mushroom sauce and bleu cheese. The owner was very nice and knew alot about wine and food pairings. This restaurant is a hidden gem and we are looking forward to hanging at the bar next time.
Review Source:This place is gem!!! Â It's a cool wine bar and It's totally hidden and where local cool cats hang. Â Great Jazz background music and selection of wine. Â I have to try their steak foie GRAS next time for dinner!
The wait staff and owner are awesome, great conversation and cant' wait to go back again!
On a recent trip to Burlington, we happened upon the Blue Cat Cafe in our search for an open table without a reservation during a holiday weekend. Â So let's break it down:
Location - The Blue Cat Cafe is situated inside what seemed to be a large brick building that houses offices and other stores. Â The building is set back down an alley and away from the street. Â We decided to check it out after noticing the big shared sign near the street that said "Blue Cat Cafe" and "Magnolia Bistro." Â
Inside - The restaurant itself is very cozy. Â I think there are about ten tables total; Â without a reservation, we were sat at the bar for our meal. Â There isn't anything terrible special or unique about the decor - wood paneling with dim lighting. Â
Drinks - Extensive wine list by the bottle. Â There are a handful of wines by the glass as well. Â I had a nice Cotes du Rhone and my gf had a Sauv Blanc. Â No complaints.
Food - The menu is compact. Â They focus on CAB steaks. Â I had a 10 oz rib-eye from a local farm. Â It was cooked to a near perfect medium rare and served with a good portion of garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. Â Simple but well executed. Â They also offer sauces for your steak for $3. Â My pescetarian gf opted for the cod special. Â Cod's not an exciting fish and neither was the dish. Â For dessert, we split a flourless chocolate cake with a raspberry sorbet. Â The cake was rich but a little dense. Â The sorbet helped ease the weight of the cake.
Service - The food came out a bit slowly, but the service was very friendly. Â Sitting at the bar, there was always someone asking how we were doing with a smile. Â
Overall - I think 4 stars is appropriate. Â Pretty good food featuring local products. Â I'd probably stick with meat/steaks though. Â The wine list offered plenty of options. Â The service was nice and friendly.
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