The bar that doesn't advertise. The Tuesday-night dinner you'd never find by Googling. The donut shop that sells out by ten.
An award-winning gastropub downtown with a burger that shows up on more than one Vermont best-of list and a beer list that skews deep into the state's breweries. Outdoor seating on the sidewalk in summer. There's a second location in Williston for anyone staying inland, but the downtown room has the better people-watching and the shorter walk back to a Church Street hotel.
Bank Street's classic Chinese kitchen — hand-pulled noodles and a menu built for sharing, not the Americanized version most of Vermont settles for. Lunch runs Wednesday and Thursday only, limited seating; dinner is Wednesday through Saturday starting at 4:30. Reservations are more than a suggestion on weekends. Worth working the short week into your plans.
A coffee shop by day that turns into one of Burlington's real live-music venues by night — poetry readings, puppet shows, and a bar that goes 21-plus after 9 p.m. Order the coffee in the afternoon and come back for the show. Sister venue Light Club Lamp Shop next door picks up Friday and Saturday after Radio Bean's stage wraps.
Saturdays at 345 Pine Street, Mother's Day weekend through the end of October — Vermont produce, cheese, and prepared food in the South End, a short walk from Zero Gravity and Switchback if you want to make a whole morning of it. Runs 9 to 2. Get there before eleven for first pick of the bread stalls.