The Bryant House Restaurant at the original Vermont Country Store in Weston is now Mildred’s Grill.
The restaurant’s new incarnation — which is softly open and will be fully operational starting next week — is named after Mildred Orton, the wife of Vermont Country Store founder Vrest Orton. Mildred was the matriarch of the Orton family, which continues to own and operate the store to this day. According to the restaurant’s new menu, Mildred “endeared herself to hungry customers by making her famous ham sandwiches,” which were “hearty” and “worth the drive.”
The Vermont Country Store, founded in 1946, is a tourist destination and Vermont institution. The redesign of the restaurant, which sits next door at 657 Main Street, is intended to accommodate a higher volume of customers, “getting people in and out without the one-and-a-half- or two-hour wait we had with the old restaurant,” food service supervisor Glen Gourlay said.
The building, built in 1827, has been closed since June 9 for a “significant renovation,” according to Gourlay. “We removed walls and staircases to make the space more user-friendly and conducive to hanging out,” he said.
The new restaurant features counter service only and a lower price point than its predecessor. Rather than the upscale entrées and traditional multicourse fare that the Bryant House was known for, the menu at Mildred’s offers burgers made with local grass-fed beef, mac and cheese, salads, and grilled-cheese sandwiches — including Mildred’s ham-and-cheddar melt. All are priced at $14 or less.
“We’re hoping this will be a comfortable, community-friendly space that appeals to locals and theatergoers, as well as tourists who come to the store,” Gourlay said.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Mildred’s Menu”
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2019.
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So sorry to see the Bryant House menu go. Going out for a meal (to me) means sitting down and being waited on, and ordering something I do not make at home (like pot pie, not like a burger)
I continue not to understand why people choose to go to a historic place and demand nothing less than MacDonald’s type speed. I understood when the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge MA built a brand new inn next door with contemporary decor to appeal to those type of people, but I failed to understand why, when renovating the bathrooms at the original, historic inn, they chose to install showers only, no bathtubs. If you’re going to an Inn that’s over 100 years old, and provides wonderful rose-scented bath salts, why not luxuriate in a bath rather than rinse off in a shower they way you do before going to work every day?
I applauded when the Vermont Country Store took over Country Curtains from the Red Lion – because something is better than nothing – but visiting the shops – browsing and taking the time to feel the fabrics, absorb the vignettes was just. the. best. And, I always bought more than I meant to in a retail setting rather than I do on line. Same goes for the Country Store. I could just live there. I have to look at, and hold, every item. The only time I order on line is to reorder something I’ve purchased there in person, and have enjoyed so much I need more. And, there is so much more at the store that is not offered on line or in the catalogs. I’ll be back soon (just trying to avoid the crowds of leaf peepers) to do some Christmas shopping.