550 #20/2022 CASH ONLY This Middlebury location is the last A&W in VT and one of three left in the NE. +. Ambiance is throw back roadside drive-in. The carhops used to wear roller skates but they no longer do...not sure if it's a Covid casualty. Customers are to stay in the car and wait for service. +. Food-wise, we occasionally come here for their root beer and RB float, onion rings and sundaes. Their RB no longer has HFCS :-). But they didn't offer creamies on this visit. Their onion rings and RB and floats were delicious! But their sundae was too hard and was just okay. They so offer burgers and fries. =. Price is more than what you expect at a fast food resto. We tipped $5 to our carhop which typically one doesn't at a fast food stops. CASH ONLY! + Service is prompt but not consistent. They are pretty quick to come by to to greet you but our carhop didn't check back on us after delivering the food until one of us got out of the car. This is a nostalgic stop and a disappearing Americana. read more

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The only A&W in Vermont. You can park, then order and eat in your car or they have picnic tables where a sever can take your order and then bring it to you. People might think the service is a little slow, but that's because they're usually really busy. The building and decor probably hasn't changed much in the last 40 years. They have a variety of hotdog or hamburger baskets. They also have some delicious choices from the fryer like shrimp or chicken baskets. I enjoyed a double bacon cheeseburger. They only take cash or check. They do have a ATM on site. It definitely takes you back to another time in the fast food industry. Highly recommended as a great stop during the leaf peeping season. read more

A&W Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Middlebury, Vermont

Curb service is alive and well at this A&W. Naturally the floats are iconic. Burger baskets are delicious. Fries are close to McDonalds addictive. My wife loves the cheese curd sides. Lately we have been getting the Fried Chicken basket. A half fried chicken with fries is almost more than one person can eat. KFC needs to worry about this fried chicken--it is truly finger-licking good. The wait staff is friendly and courteous. Easy to overtip. read more

Have been going for years while on the motorcycle and passing by, but won't be going back. Wait staff walked by me 6 times in 20 mins today while I patiently waited for someone to take my order. I am more than understanding with wait staff everywhere these days as I understand they can be short staffed. However when you walk past me and take orders from others that arrive after me while I had been sitting waiting for service I'm done. Two wait staff for a beautiful spring weekend day is not enough either, I'll take my business elsewhere, the food is lousy anyway. read more

Going to take my grandsons there this weekend. I grew up in another part of the country so we had Stewart Frosty root beer, trays on car windows. It was always a special place to go. Been to A-W myself and it was a sweet reminder of childhood read more

Went once last year (2023) and food was not good, but thought we would give it another try this year. Server asked if we wanted food for there or take out, we told her we would eat there. She brings out food and drinks all packed for take out. Drinks (root beer) were slightly colder than room temperature. Burgers were absolutely smothered in mustard, so that is all you could taste! Fries were the best thing they had and the onion rings were all broken up into smaller pieces (not sure how this happened). The cole slaw was warm and runny. We won't be back and my advice is to not waste your time or money at this place! read more

We got exactly what we expected: mediocre burgers (the black bean burger was reasonably good), good fries, and GREAT cheese curds. We come here about once to twice a summer. The root beer floats are fantastic and the main draw. I usually stick to a root beer float and cheese curds; I probably won't branch out from that again because those are the best things here. read more

Stopped by for a treat, in particular, a root beer float. C'mon, how can you not like this?! Distinctive root beer and a generous portion of vanilla ice cream. An American Classic. You still get to drive in and get served at your car. Very good service when we visited, by the way. Worth a trip to this corner of New England. read more

A&W Restaurant - Just what the doctor ordered! - Burgers Near Me - Middlebury, Vermont

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4 stars for the floats and super sweet service. It's heavy, road trip food, but our kids begged, so we went. Everyone liked their food and the portions are huge. It's a little bit of Americana that we enjoyed on our vacation. read more

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I am afraid that this restaurant does not respect its customers. I called in an order, drove up, and checked in. Half an hour later, I hunted down wait staff and asked for a status - basically, they were speechless, as my food had been waiting half an hour. read more

They don't take credit/debit. They don't tell you that until they bring your food and want you to pay. There's an ATM so you have to pay extra charges if you don't come prepared with cash. Everything is frozen and just heated up. Served moderately warm or cold. Not classic A&W like it used to be. Very disappointing. read more

Good food, throwback to a time past. Had burger, sweet potato fries and soda. Food was better than a fast food restaurant.

A throwback to the past, carhops serving you in your car. The hamburger is adequate,the fries are good, but the root beer floats are worth the stop. read more

The server we had was phenomenal! Super friendly and quick! The food was meh. And I felt bad to see that the server was on her own, no other servers around and she was taking care of 5+ vehicles. If you haven't been, it's an experience but food is alright. read more

Rudest, most obnoxious employee I've ever encountered, anywhere. We'd been there 15 minutes, there were 4 wait staff doing nothing so I gestured with my arms to as if to ask "is someone going to wait on us". There she came, guns a blazin'. Telling me how rude I was and that her manager said she doesn't have to take abuse. Then she involves another customer in our disaagreement. Then she said to me, and I quote, "I feel sorry for your wife". And I'm rude? I can't comment on the food because we left there and will not be back until she's gone. We were going to order food and root beers so she cost the business money and future business. I hope the "manager" reads this because this person needs to go. She did nothing but escalate the situation with her hateful attitude and is obviously lacking in any kind of customer skills. read more

It is traditional when we are in the Middlebury area to stop at this classic drive-in. I appreciate that there is a vegetarian black bean burger on the menu but of course the reason to stop is the fresh A&W root beer. Grab a gallon jug of the good stuff. It is the best value and you will want more when you get back home. The prices seem a little higher than you want. But I keep going back so that tells how good it is. read more

A&W Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Middlebury, Vermont

Love this place hands down the best ever I highly recommend the cheese curds and burgers

If 1,000 years from now, you were asked create a 20th century experience that explained Americana, you would be hard pressed to beat the drive in at A&W. Burgers, fries, floats, and car hops. If you've never been, go. If you have been, go again. If you have a regret in life, not going to A&W enough should not be your regret. Going too much? OK! read more

I expect it to take at least an hour when I go to this A & W. Tonight I waited for 45 minutes before somebody even came to the car. Hey it was a nice night and we were all visiting, so we tried to take it in stride. At that point, we were told that they were out of burgers and (even though the menu shows softserve) they only have hard ice cream. We waited almost half an hour after we ordered and I finally walked up to ask for our order to go. Another 10 minutes later, she brought us a bag of food--none of which was ours. I had asked if the chicken fingers are chicken breast/"real" or not. The server told me they were good quality, real chicken. They're actually poor quality, NOT chicken breast but the puréed/pressed kind (larger but lesser quality than McDonalds). I never did get my sandwich and fries. They gave me pulled pork and onion rings instead. No dressing with the side salad-sized dinner salad. Cole slaw was some of the worst we'd ever tried (it was pretty good in previous years). They did get the drinks right. We saw dozens of cars drive away, some of which had ordered before we arrived and were still waiting for their food after we'd been there an hour. The server was kind and very apologetic. I feel bad for the young people working here. It's horribly understaffed and poorly managed. I like the idea of a drive in, but my experience tonight left me hungry/hangry and frustrated. I've had good experiences here in past years. But don't come here if you're in a hurry or the quality of the food matters to you. read more

Great, expectations exceeded. Cheeseburgers were a little on the small side. Fast, friendly drive-in car hop service. Had driven past before but never stopped, was in the area when our plans fell through and decided root beer floats were just the thing we needed. Surprisingly good food, great root beer floats! read more

There are not a whole lot of people that can say they have been to an A&W drive in. I count myself as blessed that I have been to two. One in Amarillo Texas and this one in Middlebury Vermont. The burgers were good, the onion rings were excellent and the carhop service was exactly what I expected. This is one seasonal staple that everyone should visit. read more

This is the second year in a row that we've been completely disappointed in A&W. It is absolutely missed the boat in quality control. Let's start with the root beer. It was completely flat. Let's move on to the fries. They were so soggy and even cold horrible! The burgers were OK but nothing to rave about nothing like they used to be. Service not so great I miss the girl in the rollerskates. She was fast and efficient. We waited for over a half an hour to get our order taken and it wasn't that busy. Not a single person had a smile on their face in the kitchen or serving. I guess I have one thing to complement. They had the coleslaw back even that was just marginal room temperature. Hope I don't get sick. We miss the old A&W. What happened guys? We won't be going back not until we hear things have gone the other way and quality has come back. We're really gonna miss you. It was our summer time nostalgic fun place to go. read more

The root beer was not as flavorful as it has been in the past. We were told there was trouble with the tap. We will try again. It has been a twice a year event. Great nostalgia, and will return. read more

All I can say is that I love A & W! The food is great. Normally we order a basket of onion rings to share and then we each order what we would like to go with it. Their hotdogs, fried chicken, grilled chicken sandwich and burgers are all great! We have never gotten anything from here that taste bad or came out wrong. While your here be sure to check out their root beer and root beer float! But don't worry if your not a root beer fan they do offer other sodas as well! The wait staff has always been friendly. However in the early season they are always short staffed. I think its because the college kids are not out of school yet. Shortly after May though they have a lot more staff on call! So if you come during a dinner time before hand expect it to be a little bit slower. But its well worth the wait. Prices here are very fair. With 2 large root beers, 2 sandwiches of some sort and a basket of onion rings sets us back around $19.00 before tip. So its pretty cheap over all. This place is for sure a step up from your average fast food joint! The service is great and the prices are fair. Just make sure you go in the sunny weather and you have a winner on your hands all day long. We will be here again later in the season like every year. read more

My husband and I have waited all winter for "The A-dub" as we call it to reopen. He's more of an occasional fast-food eater than I am -- I'm a slight food snob (although I appreciate a good dive, always) who was raised to never eat fast food of any kind, any where. What a surprise when we moved to Vermont and I agreed to go the Middlebury A & W for lunch. Everything is off-the-hook good. The coleslaw and french fries are homemade/handmade with fresh local produce. It's like a dream come true -- a farm-to-table fast food franchise. The burgers are quite good if not exactly mind-altering. And the root beer floats? They've always been fabulous and still are. read more

What would you expect from fast food? It is what it is, overpriced grease! The server was great but the rest was a flop! The best part was the ride home and the stop at Cookie Love for ice cream read more

Its fine. It seems to be more expensive each year, but still a fun outing. The plain cheeseburger is quite small for $3.50+, but the meals are a decent value. The root beer is awesome, and the fried cheese curds are pretty good, too. read more

A&W Restaurant - Single patty burger, not squished by me. Tasty but small and pricey. - Burgers Near Me - Middlebury, Vermont

Great nostalgic drive in place for lunch. Servers are always friendly and the food is sourced locally. Plus it's fun to people watch the other customers in their cars! read more

A&W Restaurant - Simple drive in window and great menu. - Burgers Near Me - Middlebury, Vermont

I wrote all about the quintessential fast food, the nostalgia of the 50s, the FABULOUS root beer floats... and I lost it in cyberspace. Go here; eat here; enjoy here. We have been for 29 years! Would I lie to you? read more

We were so excited when we discovered that there was an A&W restaurant here in Vermont. We drove an hour to bring our dad here for Father's Day lunch. ......what a mistake!! Vermont is well known for its lack of health department supervision. It was quite obvious that this restaurant could have benefited greatly from some outside inspection! Grease was black, so all fried food was horribly flavored and of course overly burned tasting. Root beer came out cool but not cold. Wrong food was delivered cold and over cooked. Many of the choices clearly had been cooked then left to sit and chill...i.e. The Cheese Curds were cold and congealed ...ick!! The fish was advertised as "Cod" but was actually Pollock. The lettuce on all burgers was "steamed" slimey since it sat around forever prior to table delivery. If they could have even gotten the French fries right it would have gone a long way towards customer satisfaction...(who doesn't love hot fresh fries???) But of course no...they were awful to the point of disgusting! The best thing served turned out to be the chili cheese dog! It was probably the last thing they made so it was actually hot fresh and tasty! The slaw served with all baskets was truly nasty!! Mayo based...lacking vinegar and sugar...are there no talented cooks in Middlebury Vermont??Hello???? read more

Love the burgers and the root beer...the car side service from the exceptional staff doesn't hurt either. One downside is that they DO NOT accept credit cards...but no big deal they do accept cash or check and they have an ATM on site. read more

We received awesome service from Lori and her co-workers at the Middlebury location. They were working so hard doing lots of walking outside during a heat wave AND wearing masks on top of it! Nothing but praise for these hard workers. read more

When this drive-in restaurant opens up in May each year, cars come from miles around to park at the A&W lot, put a tray full of burgers on their window, slurp down a rootbeer float, and get waited on by girls on rollerskates. A&W is the ultimate throw-back restaurant. It makes me wish I had a '67 Chevy in robin's egg blue and knew how to do The Twist. read more