This review is based on my first visit for their arancini. On our way back from Burlington, we stopped for dinner in Vergennes. We felt lucky to get a table in this summer of 21 with limited open restaurants, limited staff and gazillions of people visiting the most vaccinated state. Reservation is recommended. ++. Ambiance is chill indoor / outdoor bar resto away from Main Street. Visually it's an updated house with modern lines and industrial garage doors as their windows / doors. They have additional tables on the side street, small porch, hi-tops and bar seating and the garage doors and the front door were open so we felt more comfortable for safety inside DR. +. Food wise, it's updated pub fare. Bar Antidote is a part of Hired Hand Brewing but it's a real resto rather than an afterthought food for people on a brew tour. That said, Antidote has a good size offering for brews and cocktails. All their martinis you can opt for a sidecar. We came for food and these are what we tried. - Grilled Corn Appetizer - underwhelming + Arancini - very good! = Single Burger - pretty good...both burgers were well done but we ordered medium rare ++ Salad - very good! We had a meal size as well as sides for burgers. ++. Service was pretty good and friendly. Our server was more like a neighborhood mom than a typical waitress. Our glasses were always filled and she checked on us several times! +. Price was reasonable. When our waitress asked how everything was we indicated that the corn wasn't fresh and flavorless. After, she told us she shared it with the chef... it was still too early for local corn apparently and she took it off our bill. +. Parking is street Antidote has good atmosphere and our meal was alright. They seem to do somethings well and missed on others. It's worth revisiting to figure out more dishes they do well. MY RATINGS - - - Inhumane - - Disgusted - Don't bother = Missed the Mark + Good ++ Better +++ EDIBLE...WHERE have you been all my LiFe! read more

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We had a reservation for Thursday night because my husband was interested in the Thursday night special of fried chicken. At first we were seated in the back room which was super quiet. Thankfully, a table soon opened up in the main room and we moved to have more ambiance. The cocktails were delicious. Great draft beer selection. The fried chicken dinner was great but the Waygu burger was disappointing. Hard as a hockey puck, overcooked (ordered medium rare) and quite shriveled and small. Although its toppings were good. Server was friendly although a bit harried. Seemed to be the only one on the floor. read more

Antidote - Fried chicken dinner, Thursday night special - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

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The food was a disappointment to say the least. These "tacos" are listed on the menu as "Birria Tacos". The chef here has no clue what Birria is. This was a small entree of fried pork belly with a fried tortilla. Please see the images. This is unacceptable. If you're going to serve and promote cuisine from another culture you must respect the culture and the cuisine. This is a joke. And to pay $16.00!?!?! And not to mention it was missing ingredients it stated it would have... I am thoroughly upset and disappointed! People of Vermont: please know, these are not birria tacos. Don't order. read more

Antidote - Birria Tacos - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

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Fabulous option in Addison County and beyond. Food is great and innovative. Warm and friendly service and atmosphere. Small but usually great selection of beers on tap. Don't miss it if you are in or near Vergennes! read more

We had just rolled into town and had a hungry crowd. Knowing they closed at 8:00, we called at 7:40 and they said "C'mon in". We spread out around the bar and got our orders in quickly. The drinks came in minutes and the food was not far behind. Everyone in our group - 7 of us - left happy and thankful for the Antidote staff. read more

Although the staff is lovely, the food is not. We ordered a basket of fries, seafood paella, and a veggie flatbread pizza. The fries were innocuous enough - it came with all the fixings - ketchup, vinegar, mayo, etc. And it was a huge portion. The seafood paella was a disaster. Although there was some fresh pieces of seafood in the paella, the dish was covered in a mysterious white sauce (which also covered the pizza). The dish did not taste authentic. There were also scallions in the dish. It also ended up costing M/P - $25. The veggie flatbread was edible, but did not look appetizing. White sauce drizzled over burnt asparagus that covered the entire pie. The bread tasted very soft and fresh, but the overall dish was not great. Overall, nice people, but the food was not what I was looking for. read more

Still a great place. We stopped on a Tuesday night in June and it was crowded. Nice. I had the special shrimp & scallop salad sandwich. Others had the flatbread and nachos. Everything was excellent, as was the wine & service. A fun and happening place. read more

We feel a great, deep attachment to Bar Antidote. Harper opened the original upstairs on the village green, and it was cool. It was the center of artistic life in Vergennes. THE place to go après theatre. Then they moved down the street and downstairs. More seats, a real food menu, and much more noise. Tile floor and concrete ceiling, add music and conversations and eventually half of what is said is, "WHAT?" The menu is moderately pretentious and mostly delivers (though the kitchen closes when things slow, so too bad if you come in after that--even if all you want is a basket of fries), as with so many of this sort of kinda upscale bars. Harper still rules the bar with a masterful hand. (Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to all the bartenders. When Harper was busy one night recently my Martini was assembled by his backup, and it may have been the worst of my life.) It really is the ONLY place of its kind in the area. A gem, with flaws. (And yes, they lose a star because of the television.) read more

Antidote - Harper at work. - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

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While on this trip to visit Sue's family I knew that I wanted to take her parents out for a meal as they were going to be putting us up for the whole week and I thought that would be a nice thing to do for them. Sue's mom had been to Antidote once before so she suggested it as a place for us all to go. A reservation was made for a Monday night and we headed to Vergennes. We were seated in a booth in the front part of the establishment. The front part is the restaurant and the back part is a bar which also has tables as well as bar seating. Started out with a few drinks. I had a local cider, Sue's Mom had a glass of wine and Sue had a mixed drink. When her drink came out she noticed there was lipstick on the glass. Our server immediately took it back and a new drink was brought back out. Most places might actually give you a drink on the house due to that, but that didn't happen this time. It was a cool evening and the Butternut and Potato Bisque ($4.50 for a cup) sounded excellent. It was just as I thought it would be. A good start to a good meal. For my main course I had the Grilled Tuna Tacos ($13.95). Red chili rubbed tuna loin on Vergennes Laundry soft shell tacos, served with a spicy red chili sauce, guacamole, baby arugula and fried blue corn tortilla strips. The tuna came out rare (like it should be) and everything seemed to be very fresh. The soft shell tacos were interesting. Didn't really fold all that well so most of the ingredients ended up being eaten separately. I didn't really have any issue with that. For dessert Sue and I split a piece of the seasonal Pumpkin Carrot Cake. I don't usually go after carrot cake all that often, but the pumpkin part sold me. A really nice meal and a good chance for me to get to know Sue's parents better. We all had a very nice time and I would definitely come back again. read more

Antidote - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

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A nice restor in Vergennes. We ordered the butternut squash balls and brussel sprouts and the salt n vinegar fries as appetizers. For dinner two of us had the veggie burger ( a bit sweet and with a huge pita bread but good ), veggie enchiladas ( bland but good), and butternut squash soup( good) Waitress was so nice Besides the draft coming through the door It was great! read more

This restaurant is the perfect when driving from Manchester to Burlington. It's closer to Burlington than to Manchester, so it's more like a 2/3rds of a stop than half. But that's ok. Do it. Half of their menu is locally (within 13 minutes) sourced. AWESOME. I had a Moscow Mule with candied ginger. It was decent. My boyfriend selected two beers from the beer menu, and very much enjoyed. He went for the Pig Mac. Bacon, pork belly, porker burger, fried onions, arugula and bbq sauce. Super smokey and delicious. I had the corn dog and I'm SO glad I did! Corn dog was fantastic: great batter and great dog. The fries on the side were well salted. It came with 3 sauces...salsa verde, some mustard relish thingy, and a smokey tomato sauce. I asked for the horseradish mayo that comes with their fries normally, and that was my fav (with a close second from the mustard relish sauce). It was dead on a Saturday at 4, but we ate in the back patio. Their servers don't come on until 5, so that was a bit annoying (we were served by the very nice bartender, but he had a lot on his plate aside from serving us). Get dessert. I had the maple creme brûlée. DELISH. read more

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This place looks great, but only tastes ok. Fun atmosphere...but everything we had underwhelmed. The worst were the nachos, on which they failed to melt the cheese--2 Times. The chicken was pretty unflavorful, the fish and chips unremarkable. But as I said, it is fairly festive and nice staff. read more

I LOVE their steak and grilled asparagus (obviously not during COVID. Everything is disgusting now. I would not even try to get takeout in there during this nonsense. Or ever. ) read more

Although I will say that the chef's food was very well made - the service was TERRIBLE. If you want to spend $20 per person for a meal please take your business elsewhere because honestly between the rude host and our impatient and intolerant waiter our experience was a sure fire 1 star rating. First we had made reservations but added an extra guest to our party - which really we should have called before to let them know - that was our bad. Instead of being flexible and reminding us to call next time, the hostess chastised us and told us that she would not be able to seat us anywhere because she had assigned us a booth and there was no wiggle room. We apologized for the inconvenience but then she was like well fine if you can squeeze then you can eat here I guess - as new time customers this was a surprising entrance into the restaurant. Then once 'comfortably' seated in our booth - which by the way we had plenty of space - we meet our inattentive waiter JC. He took at least 10 minutes before he greeted us because he was chatting with the hostess. He came and said hi - did the specials spiel which was nice and polite. But besides making us wait 45 minutes for our food - which was luke-warm when it arrived no where near hot because it must have been standing out under a heat lamp for at least ten minutes, when we would ask for something like utensils or the order of fries he never brought to our table politely - we had to ask him twice each time. Plus when we asked for something he would act as if it was the greatest demand in the world and that we were the worst table ever to have - when although we were squished and chatty, we tried to be as polite as possible. As a new customer - although my steak was well cooked - (but not served hot) - and the restaurant did have quite a funky atmosphere - I will never be returning to this restaurant because of how unimpressed I was with the service - for this kind of price you're better off going to other venues in neighboring towns. I'm all about supporting local, but not if the experience makes me and my party feel too inconvenient and unwanted to even return the food because it was served cold - plus God forbid you want the French fries you originally ordered with the rest of your meal!!? read more

The Tree Huggin Down in the Dirt Veggie burger is AMAZING!!! We are from Indiana and were on vacation headed to NYC and found Antidote on yelp and decided to give it a try. Boy are we glad!!! There were 6 of us and every single entree that was ordered was delicious! I had the veggie burger and let's tell you it was the best I've ever eaten. The pasta carbonara was a very close second as well as the Tuna Tacos and D Le Bacon Blue Cheese Burger. As for drinks the Snow White Martini was wonderful and if your a beer lover you have to try the Blackberry seasonal beer. The service was impeccable and the prices very very reasonable for such quality food! Hope we can return again. read more

Antidote - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

We went here last night for dinner. It's a really cool little place! Yes, it's in the basement, but it's not a scary, cobweb filled basement, so I wouldn't let that sway your decision. However, I would not give this place any points for ambiance. There are some cute-looking booths with high back seats leading to the bar area with lower tables and a tile floor. The bar area is reminiscent of a VFW hall with the old tile floor and low plastic tables and chairs. The furniture had a goodwill feel to it, and not in that hip, retro way. Nothing really matched. On to the food. Ok... the food was amazing. We were starving and tired from a long day of exploring and it definitely hit the spot. I had the ham & mac & cheese. It was so comforting that I wanted to climb inside my dish and take a nap. Like most places in the area there is a heavy emphasis on supporting local, and I dig it. My date had a burger - I think there was blue cheese on it. Loved it. The food was just amazing. We did make reservations but I don't know if they were completely necessary. I also give them props for holding it down on St. Patricks day. It was crowded and people were festive, but there wasn't a beat skipped. read more

Despite a few issues with some beers being out of stock and some incorrect replacements being brought to the table, Antidote provided a delicious meal for a great price in its unexpected basement location. A group of six adults shared a nice meal here on quiet Sunday night with reasonably free-flowing drinks and lots of delicious food for under $200 including tip. I was visiting from out of town and liked the inclusion of so many local items - especially the delicious Vermont cheeses. There was a surprising amount of diversity in the dishes offered, and all were executed well. I enjoyed enchiladas with smoked chicken and red rice, and my husband's ale-braised pork platter was as impressively presented as it was delicious. The mussels in vodka sauce were another stand-out at the table. The service was fast and friendly, and the prices were great. If I lived in the area, this is the type of low-key atmosphere with excellent food that I would seek out often. read more

This cozy little restaurant and night club has excellent food. Great nachos, excellent soup and my main course was delicious. Menu is a bit small. Extremely nice service. Simple, rustic ambience. read more

Such a neat little bar/restaurant. Inventive and tasty cocktails and a great local beer list. Had the ruby red mule (refreshing and a nice twist) and my other half had a 14 Star IPA- always a great choice. We started with the mussels in a coconut thai broth which ended up giving us a large quantity for the price. We then had the fish and chips and grilled tuna tacos- both were fantastic and the fish tasted really fresh. I definitely recommend upgrading to the parmesean truffle fries-- so good! Great location, atmosphere, and the food was amazing. Will definitely be returning! read more

Antidote - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

I love the atmosphere of this place. I've been twice now and the food has been wonderful. The mac n cheese is to die for and the veggie burger is one of the best I've ever had. My girlfriend ordered the turkey burger and the pattie was so over cooked, it was tasteless and dry. It happens; she sent it back and ordered the veggie burger in its place and it came lickity split and all was well with the world again! The service was super throughout. The martinis are also great deal here. $14 doesn't seem outrageous to me for a well made martini, maybe a touch pricey for VT... but, all martinis come with a sidecar, so you are essentially getting 2 solid martinis for that price. Well worth it, imho. read more

The best casual fare ever anywhere. Amazing tacos and fajitas. To die for turkey pot pie. Perfectly crafted cocktails. Nice and efficient wait staff. read more

Antidote - Lounges Near Me - Vergennes, Vermont

Ian the owner as well as chef loves to come out of the kitchen to be bartender and mix for his customers. His menu is a reflection of his passion for food, truly unique, as well as a "nice selection of what I heard at the next table being described a comfort food" if their is room left in your stomach desert is always mouth watering! It might be in the basement but the warmth and hospital lit make you feel at home! Will recommend and revisit often read more

This was an accidental visit that became a wonderful dinner. We had planned to go the pizza joint upstairs but when we saw the sign for Bar Antidote we decided to give it a try. Place looks great. Yes, it is a bar but has a pub vibe. Although not slow we did have to ask the bartender for someone to come by and take our order. After the kickstart, service was attentive. The food selection was different and interesting. We had the 18 Hour and pork sandwich. Both were well prepared and plated. Fine selection of beer (although more IPAs would be better) with most being local. We will be back to try other selections. Note to the owner/manager: You have a window to the kitchen so you must pay attention to what it looks like. The salad prep guy with a large beard MUST have a beard net. Also replace the fly strip with 1000 dead flies. Easy and necessary stuff to fix. These were unpleasant to see. read more

The Hostess was rude and unwelcoming. BUT we decided to stay for dinner anyway. We are vegetarians and made this very clear. It took almost an hour fo r the 5 of us to get our food. We started eating and bacon was in one of the entries. The waiter asked hoe we felt about that. Well we said we are not going to eat it. The rest of us started eating our meals and he took back the other meat meal. Four of us finished our meal. A half hour later he delivers the other meal. At this point we were done and ready to leave. We told the waiter we were not paying for that meal. He didn't offer any sort of solution, he just picked up the meal and walked away and gave us the $100 Check. We will never ever go back there. read more

This place makes ambitious promises with their menu and they keep them. Bravo I'll be back. Best Kimchi in Vermont. Loved the oyster buns and the pork buns. Rest of menu looks great. read more

Favorite place for dinner, birthdays or date night. The basil ale mussels are to die for, and be sure to bring home the remaining broth. Makes for a great pasta sauce. read more

Our local haunt and we love it! The food has improved greatly and it is a great place for drinks. If you want a quiet meal you may want to sit in the booths because with a band playing the main room is very loud. read more

Going to school in Burlington, I never expected to see sophisticated food outside of Btown. After recently visiting the area, I was very surprised at how much Vermont (overall) is changing. It's holding onto its quaint, small-town/farm vibe, but there is some amazing food coming out of this state. Thanks to the local produce, meat, etc., of course. My college friend I was staying with recently got married and had her reception here. She RAVED about it. Walking in, I wasn't TOO impressed. It's a nice looking place, and definitely has a nice atmosphere, but nothing out of this world. The hostess remembered my friend and her husband. The friendly-feel was really nice, and all of the people there were great. I was totally confused/enticed by the Surf n Turf burger, which is their local beef burger with seared scallops, greens, truffle aioli, etc. I added bacon (duh). It was $14 - not bad for local beef and scallops! In LA, that kinda thing would be around $20+. I was definitely a little afraid of it. But it was really, really good! It sounds like a mad scientist concoction, something that they put on the menu to sound innovative and interesting but maybe wouldn't be so good; but it really was very good! I would get it again. I only have one tiny complaint: I don't drink, but wanted something "fancy," so I asked if they could fling something together for me that wasn't a Shirley Temple. I got a mojito-like drink...kinda like a lemonade with fresh-crushed mint. I think they put a ton of bitters into it. It was CRAZY tart/sweet - too much. However, I am sure it is rare for a restaurant/bar in Vermont to get such a request, and I wasn't expecting anything out of this world. But I think a good bar should have some kind of interesting non-alcoholic drink to offer. Just my opinion. Definitely don't think any less of the place though! :) read more

I wouldn't come in expecting a gourmet experience, you're in a bar afterall. On one of my last nights in Vermont we ate at Bar Antidote. I ordered the Ham 'n' Mac 'n' Cheese. I'd been lusting after this dish for months and finally I had it. Sadly it didn't live up to my expectations. The tomato jam tasted off, I think ketchup would have been better. What a sad thought! The ham steak was delicious but I was really after the mac with the rich cheddar cheese sauce them menu promised. It was more creamy and bland than expected when one is in Vermont, the land of cheddar. My husband had the black bean quesadilla and said it was good. But it looked a little on the sparse side and the beans were whole and just sprinkled amongst the cheese. You might be wondering why I would give the place 4 stars if the food was just okay....the nachos. The nachos are the saving grace. Glorious flavor. I would have gone back every week and just eaten the nachos if I'd stayed in the area. Give the place a chance and make sure to order those nachos. read more

Perfect Fries... Perfect "Rising Sun" Burger - Grilled local pork burger topped with house cured bacon, kimchee, cilantro, baby arugula and a fried Maple Meadows egg. Everyone else in my party - 3 had either traditional burgers or fish and chips, all were very happy with their meals. read more

Good service & food. Stopped in for a pint before a local performance. The bartender immediately gave me samples of free beer when asked which beers on tap were best / darkest (I'm a Guinness fan but like to try local microbrews). Nice! read more

A really cool bar/restaurant in the basement of a downtown house. Food was pretty good as I had the Chef Special (Scallops, Mussels, & Shrimp over a Capenneli pasta with a tomato & garlic sauce. The vibe and environment is really hip and modern and surprise in Vergennes. Wait staff was very polite and professional. read more

My husband and I tried this place recently and loved it! Our waitress was attentive and enthusiastic, the cocktails were good, the food was good, and the portion sizes were gigantic. We each got a salad and an entree - I couldn't finish my whole salad (which was really yummy), and I got the pasta carbonara which was more than enough for three full meals! read more

Well guess it depends who is working on how your night will go. First couple times were amazing. This time we got the older woman at the bar. Horrible service and attitude. Food and drinks still amazing but will turn around and leave if she is the only one behind the bar next time. FIRE HER and keep this place hopping. read more

Don't be put off by the rather dank basement entry. Inside, the Antidote is remarkably bright and airy, and on a Saturday night had a great vibe. Great gourmet comfort food (burgers, quesadillas, award winning chili, etc) plus a few fancier selections. Everyone in our party had good things to say about the food, and the service was excellent and charming. read more

Pretty cool vibe and awesome menu with decent drinks and prices. A hole in the wall, but again, you're in VT.

So disappointed. Service was the worst I've ever witnessed. We sat down and ordered our drinks and they came out just fine. Right before our meal came out, I ordered another glass of wine. It took about 15-20 minutes in a place that had plenty of empty seating. I didn't say anything about the wait. The other person I was with ordered a second round as well after our food came out. It took 20 minutes for our server to come back to tell us the tap has been kicked. Frustrated, all he wanted was a drink and ordered something else without fussing. It took ANOTHER 15 minutes before I spoke up and asked to just cancel the order and asked for the check after waiting about 40 minutes total for a beer. There was not one apology. Instead, all we got was "bad luck that the second tap was kicked too huh?" No one even told us the second was kicked either. Safe to say we will never be back again. You never let your customers wait that long for drinks! read more

Whenever we go here we attempt to try a new dish as well as beverage, and we are never disappointed! Their appetizers and main dishes alike are creative and delicious, and their cocktails are delightful. I had their special last night which consisted of seared ahi tuna over sweet grilled corn, greens, dressing and tomatoes, with roasted red potatoes on the side- every bite was amazing. It was a meal that was light enough so I didnt feel stuffed but the food combination made me feel satisfied! Never full enough to skip dessert though. We shared a maple bread pudding that was so rich and delicious it was only made more perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! It was an amazing meal with great service and ambiance. This is my favorite restaurant in little Vergennes, by far! read more

Great local find! Excellent meal (we tried the nachos and open-faced pub steak), great drinks and friendly service. Fresh, local ingredients used in dishes, you can definitely tell and appreciate the difference. Dessert was probably the best we've ever had in a restaurant (banana pudding which was custard topped with caramel, freshly sliced bananas and candied orange peel - AWESOME!) We enjoyed the booths located in the front of the restaurant, which have high backs so although you can hear others around you, you're able to enjoy your own date or group. Prices very good for the fresh food and atmosphere, we'll be back to try out more of the menu options! Also looking forward to checking out the bar area on a live music night and the back patio when it's not 35 and snowing at the end of May. Nice job Antidote, we'll see you again soon!! :) read more

I've been to the Antidote 10 - 15 times and I have NEVER had a bad meal. Not even a mediocre one! Every single meal I've had there, big or small, has been fantastic in every way. Great food selection with top notch ingredients (local when possible), great beer & wine selection and the service is always friendly and accommodating. I've been a LOT of restaurants in my 41 yrs and I've had some amazing food, but the Antidote is easily the best one and the most consistant. Whether you're looking for a burger or pub fare or a gourmet meal, this is the place to go. Worth the trip from wherever you live but make a reservation or you will be disappointed because they are always busy. Enjoy!! read more