Hi friends, happy Monday! Jon and I are back from a relaxing weekend in Manchester, Vermont. I’m so excited to share our trip! Manchester is the perfect fall road trip since it is only a 4-hour drive from NYC, it has plenty of hiking, and it has so much beautiful fall foliage. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the gorgeous mountains, which we could see from everywhere in Manchester! I would highly recommend visiting Manchester and seeing the quaint little town and breathtaking scenery for yourself.
Welcome to part one of my three-part Manchester series! In this entry, I will be focusing on everything that we ate during our trip. Stay tuned for parts two and three, which will cover our hikes as well as other fun fall activities.
Jon and I love trying new restaurants and coffee shops and we try to find places that may be a bit off the beaten path. Trip Advisor has some great recommendations for Manchester, including classics such as The Silver Fork (on the top of our list for next time we visit), Ye Olde Tavern and Up For Breakfast. For this trip, we checked out a few Manchester staples, as well as some places that get great reviews but don’t have a touristy vibe. Check out the food highlights from our trip below!
BREAKFAST
UP FOR BREAKFAST (Cash Only)
Our favorite restaurant from the trip was Up For Breakfast. This is a small, cozy restaurant with friendly staff and amazing reviews. The restaurant is small with roughly 12 tables and a handful of counter seats, so our big recommendation is to get there early! Jon and I were seated right away at 8:45, but there was a long line by 9:15. “As the name implies, we loaded up on breakfast” – Jon. We started with coffee and zucchini bread French Toast. For our mains, I got a western omelet and Jon got the turkey hash with poached eggs and hollandaise. We were stuffed afterwards!!!
COFFEE
CHARLIE’S COFFEE HOUSE
Before our 8-mile hike on Saturday Jon and I checked out Charlie’s Coffee House for some seriously strong cold brew. Charlie’s is the highest rated coffee shop in Manchester, and it did not disappoint. Coffee is one of my extra love languages, so I loved going out to new coffee shops with Jon on this trip. A nice added bonus was a dog picture on the side of the cup!
BONNET AND MAIN
We stumbled upon Bonnet and Main when we were leaving the North Shire Book Store, and it was a nice little surprise! The cold brew here was so good that we got it twice. On our last day in Manchester we had a seat in the window and overlooked the town while we drank our coffee. It was the best place to end our trip. I would highly recommend going to both Charlie’s Coffee House and Bonnet and Main!
LUNCH/DINNER
CILANTRO
After our first hike we were ravenous and went right to Cilantro. This is a healthy Mexican taco shop with locally sourced ingredients. I would compare it to a Chipotle, but with a small town feel and super fun vibes. We ordered at the counter and watched the staff make our food right in front of us. After we got our food, we went to sit down before noticing that the restaurant was so packed that it was standing room only! I got one beef taco and one chicken taco and they were delicious! Jon got a chicken burrito which he highly recommends. Cilantro was a great meal, and our meal cost less than $20!
DEPOT STREET BURGER
On our last night we were so exhausted from our big hike that we wanted a casual, hearty meal. We found Depot Street Burger because of the great reviews on Yelp! and it lived up to the hype! I got the Depot Street Burger which is a plain hamburger with Vermont cheese and a secret special sauce. Jon’s burger brought the aesthetics with piles of bacon and ham atop a fresh ground beef burger. No wonder it was called the Miss Piggy! Jam and bacon aioli rounded out the massive burger. We also split an order of parmesan truffle fries, which were a nice reward after our long hike. This meal was super satisfying and this place brought more of the cool small-town vibes that we felt at Cilantro.
Places we want to try next time:
- The Silver Fork: This is the highest rated restaurant in Manchester, which means it is very difficult to get a reservation. We will call earlier next time!
- Zoey’s Deli: This deli claims to have some of the best sandwiches in town
- Little Rooster Café: If you couldn’t guess by the name, this is another breakfast spot
- The Crooked Ram: This is a small brewery that always looked busy. Lots of beers and flannel here… and dogs 🙂
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