Barre Street Neighborhood Eateries
By: Carolyn Grodinsky, Montpelier Alive Marketing and Events Coordinator
Downtown Montpelier is renowned for its wide variety of dining options, but step just outside of the mainstreet area, and find plenty of other amazing eating places. One neighborhood, along Barre Street and Stonecutters Way, offers fare that highlights farm to table, senior focused fare, or meals to help those in need.
Go just past downtown Sarduccis and Buddy’s Famous and travel east on Barre Street, and you can get a free meal on Fridays at St Augustine Church from 11:30 to 1:00 pm. It’s one of many church meal sites, serving a weekly meal, as part of the Central Vermont Community Meals program.
Just past the church, find the Montpelier Senior Center at 58 Barre Street, which provides lunches through its FEAST Senior Meals Program. Chef Shalonda focuses on using fresh produce and whole foods nutrition in designing the menu for older adults and using produce grown on the FEAST farm. Seniors can pick up meals curbside or arrange a drop off through the Meals on Wheels program. Note: anyone can pick up lunch - free or by donation to folks over age 60, and $7-10 for folks under age 60. The Senior Center plans to meet in person for its community meals in the future on Tuesdays and Fridays from noon to 1 p.m when it’s safe to do so.
Woodbelly Pizza at 87 Barre Street cooks up wood fired pizza and caters for events with its mobile wood fired ovens. Woodbelly’s farm to table restaurant grows, harvests, and produces ingredients for its worker owned restaurant. Eat in or take out.
Another Way, a drop-in center for folks with psychiatric disabilities at 125 Barre Street provides free dinners every Friday night from 5pm -7pm, and breakfasts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9 am - 10am. Meals are open to everyone, donations appreciated.
Cafe Noa opens in January 2023, at 8 Putnam Street, #1, along the bike path on Stonecutters Way. Joe Buley renovated the building next to his summer Backyard BBQ location. The south facing cafe features a large sunny space that will be open from early morning until later in the afternoon. The menu highlights Joe’s soups (made next door), sandwiches, and local pastries and coffee. The salads and sandwiches will feature Joe’s winter spinach and the mesclun greens he grows at his Screamin’ Ridge Farm in East Montpelier.
Kismet at 207 Barre Street is back in its original cozy location. The farm to table restaurant first opened in 2006. As Kismet grew and expanded, then it moved into downtown but returned to its original home on Barre Street this past August where it serves a Sunday Brunch from 10am - 2 pm and seasonal dinners from Wednesday - Saturday 5 pm - 9 pm, along with its craft cocktails.
Up until Covid, Hunger Mountain Coop at 623 Stonecutters Way operated a cafe where shoppers could enjoy all the deli foods in its Cafe. The Coop plans to reopen the Cafe in Spring if it’s safe and with sufficient staffing. The deli offers a wide variety of take out food and during the warmer months, shoppers can eat on the picnic tables, located outside, in the covered space.
Starting December 3rd, Barr Hill is the home of the Capital City Farmers Market winter location. The Market will be held on the first and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10am-1pm, December through April, with vendors located inside and outside.
Barr Hill features a variety of local foods to go along with its signature cocktails including:
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Local Donut Saturday and Sunday
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Small plates made on site using local ingredients
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Starting December 23rd, Fridays will feature the pop-up caterer Paprika and Empanadas, featuring Argentinian cuisine.
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Barr Hill also hosts an event space people can book for parties, with food and drink offerings
At the Eastern end of Barre street, actually 186 River street, Bear Naked Growler has a full menu of beer and ciders and accompanying beer food menu to pair with its beverages. Indoor and outdoor dining.
Bon Appetit!
