Best Restaurants in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont — updated August 21, 2026
Six Burlington restaurants worth planning around, from a Vietnamese kitchen on North Winooski with more than 1,400 reviews to a daily-changing menu on Cherry Street.
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Burlington's better restaurants cluster in two places: the Church Street and Cherry Street blocks downtown, and the stretch of North Winooski Avenue running up through the Old North End. Most open at 4 or 5pm and close by 9 or 10, so a late dinner here means 8pm, not 10. Several change their menus daily, which is a reason to check what is posted before you go rather than arriving with a dish in mind.
1. Pho Hong
The most thoroughly proven rating on this list: 4.8 across 1,456 reviews, which is a lot of Vietnamese dinners to agree on. The kitchen at 325 N Winooski Ave describes its food as fresh, homemade and authentic, and the drinks list runs to black Vietnamese espresso, iced coffee with condensed milk and Thai iced tea. Plan the timing carefully. It is closed Sunday and Monday, opens at 3pm Tuesday through Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday splits the day into 11am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm with a closed gap between. Five and six in the evening are the busiest hours, with waits of up to 15 minutes.
2. Hen of the Wood - Burlington
A 4.7 held up by more than 1,300 reviews, which puts it among the most settled reputations in the city. The Cherry Street dining room serves 5 to 10pm every day, and the bar runs longer, 4 to 11pm, which makes it one of the few reliable options for an early drink or a later one. Menus change daily, so the version posted online is a sample rather than a promise. The kitchen has also run five-course menus for special dinners, booked by phone.
3. Honey Road
Church Street's eastern Mediterranean small-plates restaurant, at 4.7 from 924 reviews, is the downtown table most likely to be full on a weeknight. Service runs 4pm to 9pm every day of the week, with the full menu and reservations available from the moment the doors open, and walk-ins taken at the bar. The restaurant's own line on the early hours is that 4pm is the new 8pm, which is a fair description of how the room fills. If you want a table without a booking, come in the first hour.
4. May Day
The highest rating in Burlington on this list, 4.9, though from 229 reviews rather than a thousand, so treat it as strongly promising rather than long-settled. The Old North End restaurant at 258 N Winooski Ave cooks seasonally and keeps a deep list of natural wines alongside craft cocktails. It opens seven nights a week, holds part of the dining room for reservations through Resy and keeps the rest for walk-ins. Sunday is the night to know about: patty melts at ten dollars, that night only.
5. Frankie's
A 4.8 from 210 reviews, a smaller sample than the downtown veterans but consistent so far. Frankie's opens at 5pm seven days a week at 169 Cherry Street, with the last seating always at 10pm. The menu changes daily and gets posted to the restaurant's Instagram stories, so check there before deciding what you are in the mood for. Walk-in seats are available, which makes it a useful fallback when Honey Road and Hen of the Wood, both within a short walk, are booked out.
6. Bourbon Street LLC
The Cajun and Creole option, at 4.7 from 250 reviews, tucked into 11 Center Street just off the Church Street marketplace. The menu covers grilled oysters at $24, a muffaletta at $22, catfish at $18 and a flank steak appetizer at $12. Hours are 4pm to 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 4pm to 11pm Friday and Saturday, giving it one of the later kitchens downtown. The review count is modest next to Pho Hong or Hen of the Wood, but the rating has held steady across a reasonable sample.