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Killington Area Dining


dyndragon

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Hey everybody,

I'm going to be heading out to the Killington ski resort in about 2 weeks for 2 days of skiing, while visiting some friends. Any good/unique places to go eat while I'm around there, or maybe places to get local specialties? I was reading the other thread about places to go eat in Vermont, but I didn't find anything specific to the Killington area that was especially mentioned.

Thanks!

--Hans

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  • 1 month later...

I am hoping to revive this topic and get more, fresh suggestions about fine dining in the Killington area. This would include Rutland, Bridgewater or about anything within (roughly) a 30 minutes drive of Killington. I know Hemingway's, but I need more....

The smaller or more intimate, the better. Type of cuisine is relatively unimportant to us.

Last season, for a change of pace, we tried the ("new") Santa Fe Steakhouse in the Mountain Inn at Killington. While the food was decent, we were horrified by the atmosphere. Why pay big bucks for a meal (which we did) and have a band of wild indians running about with no control from their parents and no intervention, or even request for control, by management? I felt like I was in a McDonald's!

We ate several times at the restaurant that was at "The Woods of Killington" but unhappily, it did not open this year. That is disappointing because it was quite good and upscale. They are trying to get another restaurant in there.

I have eaten at Garlic and Choices a few times and they are OK if you don't want to leave town.

Banished from Chowhound; I like it just fine on eGullet!

If you`re not big enough to lose, you`re not big enough to win! Try this jalapeno, son. It ain't hot...

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Starting from the humble and working our way up:

If you want pub food, Ppeppers is probably the best choice on the mountain for burgers and wings. Outback Pizza is damn good and I have risked my life to eat their barbecue chicken pizza.

The Inn at Long Trail has the only properly served pint of Guinness in the whole county and an incredible beef stew that has been written up in Gourmet magazine. Their dining room has some nice choices, including an oatmeal-crusted chicken with a maple cream sauce that you should really try at least once.

A little further down the mountain is Heli's Restaurant at the Mendon Mountain View, which does a very nice sampling of central-European cuisine at really good prices. Wienerschnitzle is the house specialty, but they do a veal chop in a port wine reduction that is just fabulous.

If you're in the mood for Chinese, you want to keep driving until you get to Rutland. The Panda Pavillion has Peking duck as good as I've had anywhere, and I love Peking duck.

For the higher-end, I'd make two recommendations. The first is Little Harry's in Rutland, which has a lot of really good Thai-influenced fusion cuisine. The second is the Red Clover Inn in Mendon, whose chef is an absolute genius who does things with lamb that will bring you to your knees.

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Just returned from a tuesday through Friday ski trip to Killington. We tried three new (for us) restaurants while there.

First night: Grist Mill on Killington Road. This was not what we expected. There were several families with kids. The food was mediocre and the place was noisy. I had grilled swordfish which was overcooked and at the point of being dry. Typical undercooked squash. The waitress swooned "wild rice!" when I ordered the side dish! NOT! It was ordinary white rice with a 10 grains of wild rice mixed in. Ordinary, iceburg salad, though it was fresh. Don't look up at the ceiling or you might get sick; it is filthy! Skip this place!

Second night: Hemingway's on Route 4. Now this is a restaurant of the first class! We sat at a two-top next to the fireplace. I thought that it being near the front, it would be noisy and see a lot of traffic. It was a great private little spot. The other two-top remained empty, so we had the area to ourselves. They said it was popular. I would ask for it if you want a romantic, quiet spot. The menu is pre-fix three course or four course that includes a wine pairing with each course. We had the three course dinner and opted for a bottle of Wild Horse Pinot Noir to go with the her Vermont Pheasant with Cheddar Johnny Cake and Chanterelles and my Risotto of Maine Lobster and Exotic Mushrooms. There were complimentary hors d' oeuvres and nut roll candy. We had port and Hungarian Tokaji Aszu (which is similar to Dolce-Far Neinte) with dessert. The meal was $200, before gratuity, and well worth it! You are pretty much stuck with $65 each, minimum. Service was excellent, too!

Third night: Casey's Caboose on Killington Road. This is owned by the same people who have the Santa Fe restaurant that I maligned in another entry. This is sort of an adult theme restaurant. Much of it looks like you are in a train caboose. There is one nook where there are four two-tops. Two are above so you have to go up a ladder. The view from up there is very cool-with windows all around you. It is very cozy, so don't sit there if you are claustrophobic. The restaurant is fairly small. When we arrived there was still "Happy Hour" going on, with free food.... It was very lively, and crowded at the bar and noisy. I asked if there was a special event going on and she said "no, that it was just the happy hour crowd and it would thin out and get quiet when all the food ran out". She was correct. If you want a quiet meal, go after happy hour! We sat in the lower part of the Caboose nook to get away from the noise at the bar. Kids roamed up and down the ladder to play in the upper area, from time to time. It was a slight annoyance. Again, I felt like I was in a McDonald's but paying a premium dining price, just like the Santa Fe! The food was good, not great. There was the standard, boring, plain yellow squash and zuchinni again.... I love squash, but plain, undercooked fare is too stupidly easy and boring!! They were out of the wine we requested and the selection was very limited. I would give this three of five forks and might go back again, just to sit up top!

Lastly, breakfast: Where, oh where, can you get a good breakfast at Killington? We ate at the Killington Snowshed restaurant two mornings and at the Santa Fe on another, in hopes of getting a decent breakfast made with real, whole eggs. This was not to be the case. All I could get, once again was overcooked scrambled eggs! Mother Shapiro’s Restaurant was nowhere to be found. Did it go out of business? I wanted to stay close to the ski area for breakfast and was disappointed. Does Eggs Benedict or some good blueberry pancakes exist in Killington?

To summarize, I would go to Hemingway's in a heartbeat if my wallet is fat and I would go to Choices or The Garlic before I would go to the other aforementioned restaurants. I am still experimenting and looking around....

Bon appetit!

Banished from Chowhound; I like it just fine on eGullet!

If you`re not big enough to lose, you`re not big enough to win! Try this jalapeno, son. It ain't hot...

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  • 3 weeks later...
Where, oh where, can you get a good breakfast at Killington?

Sugar and Spice, a little ways down Route 4.

For breakfast with less of a Stew Leonards atmosphere go to Blanche & Bills east of the gondola on route 4. For dinner we prefer Pasta Pot on route 4 west of the gondola for the hunter lasagna and the mussels. Simple consistent food, quiet place run by very nice people (Pete & Norma). They've been there for 16 years that we've been going there.

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  • 2 years later...

We went to Hemingway’s restaurant this weekend. It was a great experience at a reasonable rate. Most of the stuff on their tasting menu was on the regular "to-order" menu. All in all, our meal was exceptional. If this restaurant were in NJ or NY it’d be a hit; and more expensive… Sorry for the short review but, in short, the place is extraordinary.

:D

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