Best Cocktail Bars in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont — updated August 22, 2026
Four Burlington rooms where the drinks list gets as much attention as the kitchen, from a dedicated St. Paul Street lounge to a restaurant bar that opens an hour before dinner service.
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Burlington is a beer town first, which means the places pouring serious cocktails tend to be restaurants with a bar worth sitting at rather than standalone lounges. The exception below opens at 2pm on Sundays and runs to 1am on weekends, later than most of downtown. The rest reward showing up early, before the dining rooms turn over.
1. Devil Takes A Holiday
The only place on this list built as a cocktail lounge rather than a restaurant that happens to mix drinks, at 111 St Paul St. It describes itself as an upscale lounge with handcrafted cocktails and food alongside. Hours are the most bar-like in the group: Monday through Thursday 5pm to midnight, Friday and Saturday 4pm to 1am, and Sunday 2pm to 10pm, which makes it one of the few downtown options for an afternoon Sunday drink. The rating is 4.8 from 153 reviews, a strong showing but a smaller sample than the older restaurants nearby, so treat it as promising rather than long-settled.
2. May Day
A 4.9 average across 229 reviews, the highest score here, at a small Old North End restaurant on N Winooski Ave that pairs craft cocktails with a natural wine list. Seasonal food comes out of the same kitchen, and the room is open seven nights a week. Part of the dining room is held for reservations through Resy and part is kept for walk-ins, so a seat is possible without planning. Kitchen hours run to 9pm early in the week. Sunday nights bring a $10 patty melt, listed as available that night only.
3. Hen of the Wood - Burlington
The most thoroughly reviewed room on this list, 4.7 from more than 1,300 reviews at 55 Cherry St, and the bar keeps its own schedule: open at 4pm daily and running to 11pm, an hour ahead of the 5pm dining service and an hour past its 10pm close. That gap is the useful part. Arrive at 4 and the bar is the calmest it gets; stay past 10 and it becomes a place to drink rather than a place waiting on tables. Menus change daily, so ask what the kitchen is sending out.
4. The Daily Planet
A downtown standby at 15 Center St, rated 4.7 from more than 1,300 reviews, with the latest weekend kitchen and bar hours of the restaurants here: Friday 5pm to midnight and Saturday from noon to midnight. Sunday opens midday, and Monday through Thursday it runs 5pm to 9pm. The cooking is locally sourced American with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options flagged. Wednesday nights from 5 to 9 are the value play, with $5 margaritas and $10 taco trio plates. Good for a late drink when the St. Paul Street rooms have filled.