When Waitsfield chef Nathan Davis heard that even Las Vegas tourism numbers were slumping, he took small comfort in the news.
“If Vegas is dead, that is a telltale sign,” the 44-year-old chef-owner of Scrag & Roe said. “People all over the country are pinching their pennies.”
Davis and fellow restaurant owners around Vermont are feeling that pinch.
On top of general belt-tightening, the state has seen far fewer Canadian tourists this year. Foot traffic has been further depressed for downtown businesses in Burlington and Montpelier due to the well-documented challenges of lengthy construction projects and, in the Queen City, public safety concerns.
To add insult to injury, restaurants, like their customers, are also facing higher food prices and other rising costs.
But rather than roll over or bemoan things beyond their control, some restaurateurs are doubling down and getting creative. They are coming up with fresh ways to draw customers: adding new mealtimes and days of service, running special series, and experimenting with different menus.
“Times are tough in the restaurant industry,” acknowledged chef-owner Paul Trombly of Fancy’s in Burlington’s Old North End. “Anything that we can promote to put us on people’s radar is good.”
The bonus for diners is more fun and delicious ways to support local restaurants, whether it’s Detroit pizza-and-dessert nights at Fancy’s or a day devoted to sushi at Scrag & Roe.
Here’s what’s new on the menu at four Vermont eateries.
Fancy Pants Pizzeria
Fancy’s, 88 Oak St., Burlington, 448-2106
Trombly, 45, is a Detroit native with a soft spot for his hometown’s signature pizza, which is made with a focaccia-like dough and baked in a pan for a compellingly crisp crust yielding to a pillowy interior.
Since the former Honey Road chef opened his top-notch veg-forward restaurant in Burlington’s Old North End in spring 2024, he has offered Detroit-style pizza by the $5 slice sporadically. This fall, Trombly launched periodic Fancy Pants Pizzeria Sundays with desserts provided by a star-studded list of local pastry chefs.
Each pizza ($26) has nine fat squares and feeds two to three adults. There are two flavor choices — maybe broccolini with roasted garlic, feta béchamel and pickled Fresno chiles — and one is always vegan. The tight menu includes a couple of veggie sides, such as an excellent Brussels sprout Caesar ($17).
Unlike on regular nights, there are no reservations. On September 28, Fancy’s sold through its 51 prepped pies, including limited takeout preorders, by 7:15 p.m.
For Trombly, the series is a way to remind people about his restaurant, which is a little off the beaten path for many diners. It’s also rewarding, he said, to partner with “a bunch of awesome people in town who make really good sweets.”
The three remaining dates on October 12 and 26 and November 2 will feature Maria Lara-Bregatta of Colchester’s Café Mamajuana, Amanda Wildermuth of Burlington’s Honey Road and Grey Jay, and Carey Nershi of the seasonal bakeshop at Hinesburg’s Red Wagon Plants, respectively.
Nershi, 43, will bake a cookie trio: vegan tahini-miso chocolate chunk, gluten- and dairy-free pistachio-cardamom, and cinnamon swirl snickerdoodle.
She came with friends to the September 28 pizza night and thinks the series is a great idea. Because each is unique, she said, “it draws people, like, I have to go.”
Cuban Cafetería
Santiago’s Cuban Cuisine, 3 Main St., Burlington, 540-2444
Around 2 p.m., on a recent Wednesday, chef-operator Oscar Arencibia was ping-ponging back and forth between the bar and the dining room at Santiago’s Cuban Cuisine, filling water glasses and greeting customers who’d wandered in for a late lunch.
Arencibia, 49, handed his guests a new counter-service daytime menu titled Cafetería Santiago’s, which includes Cuban coffee and tropical fruit shakes ($3.50 to $7), empanadas ($6), croquetas ($9), and other small plates.
Customers can swing by for a classic café Cubano ($3.50) and a guava-and-cheese pastry ($5) starting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday through Friday. The restaurant’s signature Cuban sandwich and make-your-own rice and salad bowls with choice of rice, beans, and roasted pork lechón, beef ropa vieja or a vegan vegadillo (all $18) are available at noon.
Though Santiago’s has been predominantly a dinner restaurant since it opened about two years ago, Arencibia said that by midmorning, “I’m usually here. My prep team is already here. Why not open the doors?”
Beyond adding midweek daytime hours, Arencibia is now open on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. for what he calls Siesta Saturday with tapas, such as ceviche avocado toast ($16) and salt cod fritters ($12), paired with Caribbean cocktails (from $13). He’s also trying out late-night hours from Tuesday through Thursday, serving drinks and snacks, such as empanadas and croquetas, after 9 p.m.
“The more we’re open, the more people know about us,” Arencibia said. “Business begets business.”
Let’s Do Brunch
Sotto Enoteca, 150 St. Paul St., Burlington, 864-5453
Tucked down a staircase just off the corner of Main and St. Paul streets, the Sotto Enoteca wine bar is the lowest profile of three co-owned Italian restaurants that include Trattoria Delia and Pizzeria Verità. Sotto and Tratt, as they are nicknamed, share a kitchen and staff. It was the staff, co-owner Leslie McCrorey Wells said, who suggested starting Sunday brunch over the summer in the intimate wine bar.
Wells, 64, had been talking with her team about expanded hours. “My accountant always reminds me that the restaurants that are doing better are the ones that are open more days,” she said. “Your overhead costs are better distributed.”
She admitted she had some misgivings about adding brunch to busy weekends, but the team was “excited about doing this, and it really showcases Andrea’s talent, too,” she said.
Andrea Battipaglia, Trattoria Delia’s new chef of just over a year, has created a brunch menu that includes garlicky yogurt with poached eggs, pesto, Calabrian chiles and house-baked sesame focaccia ($15); lemon ricotta pancakes with fruit compote ($13); and grilled ham-and-cheese panini with fig jam on focaccia ($15).
Wells also just shared with Seven Days that she will open a new café and market called Alimentari on St. Paul Street this fall. It will further leverage the group’s staff and kitchens and help with buying power, too, she said.
Besides, Wells added, “It’s the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to do.”
Roll With It
Scrag & Roe, 40 Bridge St., Waitsfield, 496-3911
With out-of-town traffic down significantly this year, Scrag & Roe’s Davis knew he had to do something to pull in the locals. His secret weapon turned out to be longtime friend and fellow cook Ira Beaver, who had studied for years under some serious sushi chefs in Florida.
In the spring, Scrag & Roe built on its reputation for pan-Asian cuisine by adding Sushi Sundays with seafood sourced by Wood Mountain Fish. The menu of freshly made rolls and sushi ranges from $10 to $21 for classic spicy tuna and yellowtail rolls, creative chef rolls such as veggie with shiitake mushrooms and avocado, and simple sushi and sashimi.
Demand for (mostly) raw fish “took our slowest day and turned it into our busiest,” Davis said.
Scrag & Roe has since expanded Sunday hours through the evening and recently added some rolls to its regular lunch menu.
In addition, Davis is trying out industry-night Mondays just in his barroom with $15 plates. All guests may partake, even if they’re not hospitality pros.
The “tasty vittles” menu and its purposefully kitschy use of Comic Sans font are tongue in cheek; the miso-and-butter seared scallops and leeks with Vietnamese sausage, mint and lemongrass sound wholly tongue-pleasing.
The original print version of this article was headlined “New on the Menu | How Vermont restaurateurs are innovating to draw customers in tight economic times”
This article appears in Oct 8-14 2025.
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