There's something about comfort foods that just hit a little harder than anything else. Having grown up in the country, I am quite familiar with comfort foods, what might be a once a month, once every other week, or novelty dish for city folks was a staple of our weekly cuisine.
I didn't even live that far out in the country either, maybe fifteen minutes at the most. I remember working on my aunt and uncle's far for a week when I was a kid. I busted my butt every day in the field, but I swear I probably gained ten pounds that week. The definitely know how to feed you out in the country!
One of my comfort food staples is meatloaf. I hated it when I was a kid, but now that I am older, it's like a siren that calls to me. If I see it on the menu somewhere, there is a good chance that is what I am going to get. It's a simple dish, but when you make it right, it just slaps so hard.
In the case of The Vermont Pub & Brewery it was definitely "bussin" as the kids say these days. After visiting Vergennes Falls, Philo Mountain, and then The Causeway it was well after noon and 
We had seen this pub on several occasions during our excursions in downtown Burlington and we always wondered what it was like. Since this was our last day and we knew we weren't going to be out late (we had to get up at 3 AM to get to the airport for our flight the next morning), we decided to do a larger late lunch and then just get a snack later in the night.
That led us to The Vermont Pub.
The building stands out pretty predominantly in the downtown area and it sits just down the road from The Whiskey Room. As you can see, the sign for it is quite large and very conspicuous. Pretty easy to understand why this place drew our interest.
They have an outdoor seating area that was closed up for the season. I can imagine in the summer this place is probably pretty popular. From the terrace you can see City Hall Park which has lots of activities during the summer. While we were there, it was mostly filled with homeless people. Especially at night.
They have a large bar on one side of the wall that has windows overlooking the terrace. It was pretty dead when we visited, but I can only imagine how packed this place gets when the weather is nicer and it is the prime season for tourists. It's likely a nice hangout for the University of Vermont students as well.
The other side of the bar is pretty standard, but this is also where the dining area is if you want that family setting or you don't feel like sitting at a bar. I've gotta admit, I'm not a fan of stools without backs. Maybe it's just because I am getting old, but my body can't handle sitting like that for long periods of time like I used to be able to.
If you know me, you know that I am a sucker for a good Oktoberfest beer. Usually, when my wife and I take our anniversary trip in October, most places are already tapped out of Oktoberfest since it is often released at the beginning of September. Luckily, that wasn't the case here. As much as I'm a sucker for Oktoberfest,
We both had at least two beer and maybe three through the course of our meal. I honestly can't remember. I just know it was delicious!
As a starter, we got the pretzel bites that came with a spicy brown mustard and a beer cheese dip. We thought the cheese dip was going to be more of a sauce, but instead it looked like the photo above. It kind of had a consistency that was more like horseradish than cheese, but the flavor was definitely sharp white Vermont cheddar.
We had the pretzel bites finished in record time given all the hiking we had done earlier that morning.
Ordering was hard. Despite my earlier comments about comfort food, I was initially drawn to the "Toad In the Hole" on the menu. I'd never heard of anything like that before and usually when we are on trips like this I like to try new and unique things.
Although the Toad in the Hole had me curious, my eyes kept drifting back to the meatloaf and ultimately, that is what won out.
Having had enough of the heavy food we had been eating through the week,
We aren't the sort to squabble over stuff like that though, so she just picked them off and enjoyed her salad anyway.
As you saw from the opening photo, I got the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. It's funny because from the angle above, the loaf almost looks like two BBQ rib bones.
From the side you can tell that wasn't the case. One thing that a lot of people don't like about meatloaf is the fact that it has a tendency to get too dry. This was anything but dry. The veggies and mix of beef and pork left it juicy and delicious. The bacon and sauce on top caramelized into a candied treat that added even more to the flavors.
My mouth is actually watering just writing about it right now.
The slaw wasn't my favorite. It wasn't bad, but I have had much better slaw in my life. It was just passable as far as I was concerned. I don't think I even ate half of it. The potatoes were good, but not as good as the ones we had at Bluebird BBQ. The gravy paired well with them and gave the potatoes a richer flavor than they probably would have had without it.
For our last big meal in Burlington, The Vermont Pub and Brewery was a great choice. We had thought about just getting sandwiches then going out later for a bigger meal, but I am glad we did it this way.
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend you check out this spot. The food was great and the beer is exceptional.
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or