After more than four and a half years of dishing up nationally acclaimed breakfast sandwiches, the owners of the Café HOT. in Burlington told Seven Days they will close the popular 198 Main Street eatery within the next three months. Brothers Allan and Travis Walker-Hodkin made the decision to shut reluctantly, they said, in order to return to their native New York to be closer to family and friends. Allan’s 2.5-year-old twins figured prominently in the decision, they added. The restaurant space is for lease, which will impact the closure timeline.
The Walker-Hodkins moved to the Burlington area from New York City, seeking a change during the pandemic. Allan, 43, and his wife came from Brooklyn in late 2020, and Travis, 40, followed from Queens in early 2021. They decided to build on Allan’s expertise as a longtime NYC restaurant professional and open a breakfast spot in the former Mirabelles Bakery & Café in September 2021.
The Café HOT. quickly developed a fervent fan base for its menu of meat-free breakfast sandwiches on house-baked buttermilk biscuits and milk buns. Over time, the brothers added their signature chicken-fried egg and glazed “bonuts,” made from rings of fried biscuit dough. In Bon Appétit’s 2023 list of best restaurant meals, the magazine praised the “glorious” #8 sandwich, which stars “a craggy, crisp-crusted slab of fluffy scrambled eggs.” Packages of the café’s frozen chicken-fried eggs are now sold in local grocery stores.
The brothers have been vocal about the negative impact to downtown businesses from Burlington’s “Great Streets” initiative, which entailed roadwork that forced them to cut staff and hours of operation, as well as forgo their own paychecks through the first quarter of 2025. But, Travis clarified, “We’re not leaving because of Main Street construction.”
Throughout unpredictable road closures and other challenges, the Walker-Hodkins remained committed to the city. After funding cuts forced Burlington City Arts to cancel the annual Festival of Fools last summer, they spearheaded a successful crowdfunding campaign to support a smaller version of the Church Street event. (The festival returns this year in full force.)
“This place is rad. We’ve been here for five years. We don’t want to leave, but family’s trumping all of that,” Allan said. “It’s hard. It’s bittersweet.”
The brothers have no plans to sell the Café HOT. brand or its recipes but are not yet sure whether they will open a similar restaurant, or continue to make their frozen chicken-fried egg packaged product, once back in New York.
The Walker-Hodkins joked that they should poll their social media followers to see what they should do. But they said they expect to stay in the business in some capacity.
“I love restaurants,” Allan said. “The good, the bad, all of it. It’s too much fun to not continue to try.”
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