As the number of soccer fans in Vermont explodes, a new bar in Shelburne is tackling a hole in the market. On March 28, the Slide In Pub held its soft opening at 3762 Shelburne Road. Owner Joseph Fox bills his biz as “the first-ever soccer bar in Vermont.”
Fox is friends with Vermont Green player Jacob Labovitz, who owns the Soccer Post shop next door to the Slide In at Tenneybrook Square. The former La Villa Bistro & Pizzeria spot had been empty since 2021.
“Having the soccer store there, and the World Cup coming to America, and just how big soccer has really become in Vermont,” Fox said, “this is something that Shelburne and Burlington were needing.”
The Slide In appropriately serves a variety of sliders, ranging from smashed beef to Buffalo chicken to the Papou, with lamb, greens, harissa, pickled onions and tzatziki. Each can be made into a salad or rice bowl. Other dishes include wings, loaded tots and garlic-Parmesan fries. Sauces, dressings, pickles and other ingredients are made fresh in-house.
The pub’s liquor license is pending, but Fox — a 16-year industry veteran and food and beverage consultant who lives in Burlington — expects to have it any day. The Slide In will serve 14 varieties of canned cocktails, house wine, five local and domestic draft beer options, and 10 additional bottled and canned beers.
The pub’s 10 TVs show everything from “the English Premier League to the Italian league to a random league in Finland,” said Fox, 29, who grew up playing soccer in England. On weekends, the Slide In opens at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast options during early matches.
Beyond the beautiful game, the bar screens “every single sport,” Fox said, including Red Sox games and those of the NBA and NHL. The Slide In also offers lounge seating, a dartboard, board games and a PlayStation 5.
This article appears in April 8 • 2026.
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