The Hartland Diner

The Hartland Diner provided the best meal I had on my recent weekend in Vermont. I loved the place. Funky ambiance, pleasant service, and a delicious choice off an interesting menu, what more could you ask for.
First the menu, it goes well beyond the basic. It’s not exotic but there are an interesting selection of eggs Benedict variations and omelets. MK opted for a salmon omelette special and I opted for the eggs with a chicken fried steak. Wow! MK was definitely in the clean plate club and if I wasn’t it was because I don’t lick plates!
The chicken fried steak was perfectly chicken fried and topped with a sausage gravy that was more sausage than gravy. Two perfectly fried eggs and a biscuit accompanied.
The Hartland Diner will always be a breakfast or lunch place for me if I’m in central Vermont. It’s good enough that I’m thinking of more trips that way.

We absolutely loved eating here. The food was great, the atmosphere was fun, and even their menus are smart and funny with creative names for their dishes.

So the overuse of superlatives in reviews lately has made me gunshy to post reviews in general, but my experience this morning was just too good not to share.
The food was t r u l y homemade and fresh.
T R U L Y. And for this quality, plates come out when they’re ready… and that DOES NOT MATTER! They have even provided a handy little laminated card titled «How we do things» (or something close to that). So if you’re one of those people who thinks all plates arriving magically at the same time, and in mere minutes because the sign out front includes the word «diner», go somewhere else.
That’ll leave seats open for the rest of us.
As for «the rest of us», GO EAT THERE.

Nice ambiance, friendly owner-​chef, everything is cooked to your pleasure, breakfast all day, engaging décor. Only problem is that it is expensive — payed $ 30 for two grilled cheese sandwiches, cups of soup and coffee. Other than that, a place not to be missed and just one mile off the interstate.

This place sets my standard for pancakes. One is more than enough and sometimes I can even finish it. Great hidden gem of a diner, nice atmosphere, friendly, clean and lots of other great food if pancakes aren’t your thing.

Little place with the best pancakes I’ve ever had. The young people that served us were great and so friendly. Big portions reasonably priced. We will definitely be back! A must stop!

Stopped here due to the high rating on Unilocal.We had the raspberry pancakes which are huge and very tasty. We were a little disappointed at the cleanliness of the place. The condiment containers on the tables were not clean. Ketchup and mustard bottles had dried stuff all over the caps, sugar container cap had not been cleaned in a while and the same with the salt and pepper. It actually looked like built-​up dirt on the sides of the caps. I think cleanliness is important.

You must go to this diner. It is a bucket list sort of thing.

ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS AND DELICIOUS. The décor was phenomenal, and the service was right on point. What makes a great restaurant of course, is the food.
The buffalo bennes and the big man is your ticket to win.
Don’t pass up a chance to eat at the Hartland diner. BOOM!

Good food. Over priced compared to the other diners in the area. If you head there during peak breakfast times good luck finding a table.

We stopped in on a Sunday morning for breakfast. Not a large place but efficiently run. The food was superb! My daughter had a chocolate chip pancake which covered the plate. Of course I tried a bite, density of chocolate chips to pancake was perfect (approximately 0.13−0.38 chips/​cm³). Not too much, which can become overpowering and not too few which makes you wonder why it’s called a chocolate chip pancake.
To be honest, the hash is the best I have ever had (sorry grandpa). The potatoes were thinly shredded and then combined with ample portions of sausage, bacon, ham, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms and then fried to perfection. Of course this is then topped with cheddar cheese making an exquisite combination of flavors and textures. I could feel dopamine flowing with each bite.
I definitely will be back.

Decent food but overpriced. Some may think the décor is authentic. No, it’s kitschy. The self-​promotional efforts (World Diner Domination T-​shirts, etc.) are pretentious and annoying. And customers can’t use the restaurant’s wifi in a place with bad cell reception? You gotta be kidding me.

I stopped in on a Saturday for lunch. My daughter had been pleasantly insistent about visiting. I ordered a cheeseburger, pink inside. I always order that way to avoid the medium-​rare battle. You know, the burger almost invariably shows up carelessly well done no matter how it’s ordered. But if I order pink there’s no excuse for it being otherwise. For the first time in my life a waitress took down that order without blinking an eye. Holy schist!
As I’ve done about a thousand times before in this life, I ordered a Coke with my cheeseburger. To my utter surprise and delight it arrived cold in the 12 oz trademark light green glass bottle. What the??? I immediately knew that the chef has exquisite taste and a wicked eye for detail.
The cheeseburger materialized about 90 seconds before my daughter’s, consistent with how she’d ordered hers. I took a bite. This was no cheeseburger, it was a time machine. I was transported back some 50 years to when my grandmother took this little boy to a fabulous little lunch counter. A seven year old’s taste buds, brand spanking new and ready to embrace the world had created a lifetime memory. It came right back. I stifled the urge to spin around on my stool as I did 50 years ago.
Go. You won’t be disappointed.

Not a cheap place, but the food is good! Fresh ingredients and massive, massive portions. And the décor is probably the cutest I’ve ever seen!
I got a Benedict, and unless you like it drowning in hollandaise, I’d ask for it light. The pancakes looked amazing, I wish I had tried them! If I’m ever in the area again I would come here with out hesitation!

Great diner right off of hwy 91. The pancakes are ENORMOUS so beware. I had the fresh fruit waffle which came with cantaloupe, grapes, bananas, and oranges with a pick-​your-​size dollop of whipped cream added by the waitress table side. Boyfriend had the buffalo chicken wrap and he seemed to like it as the plate was wiped clean!

Incredible local ingredients make for some incredible eats here in Hartland VT. Owner is extremely down to earth, a fantastic chef/​baker and wonderful with kids. My children sometimes sit at the counter solo to play with the Magic 8 Balls and plastic dinosaurs! Which is encouraged btw. Breakfast will keep you full well into afternoon. Lunch with a homemade piece of pie is amazing too. We also love the wide array of condiments on each table and the drinks served in jam jars. This bright and sunny spot is a must if you’re in area.

Love this place. Atmosphere is great, staff is friendly, food is amazing and if you leave hungry it’s your own fault. Most important the coffee is delicious. Only reason I gave 4 instead of 5 stars is because, although you leave with a full belly, your wallet will be much lighter. Breakfast is pricey. I only eat here a couple times a month. If they brought the prices down, I’d eat here 5x a week.

Amazing food in an little, out of the way town…
Stopped in at the Hartland on the way back from a long ski weekend in Vermont. We had a really nice lunch here. The omletes were huge, everything was chopped well and well cooked and the ingredients were clearly VERY fresh. The fact that they make everything on site was pretty amazing. We had two omletes, some enorous pancakes, homemade sausages (both links and patties) and one of the specials. I had the eggs, cheddar and sausage served over a great slab of cornbread. The homemade sausages were outrageous.
Everyone loved their meals and we were happy with the speed of service, quality of the food and preparation. This was absolutely one of the tastiest breakfasts we have ever had, anywhere. the fact that everything is cooked in country fresh butter had something to do with it!
As we were leaving we grabbed a couple of Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies. We were so full that we couldn’t even think about grabbing one of the nice pies.
Looking forward to our next visit so we can stop again.

On a scale of 1 to 5 Hartland Diner is a 6. It would be higher but I subtracted 94 points because they are not open every hour of the day. I guess my inferior, late night, homemade meals will have to suffice until they come to there senses and stay open 24 hours.
BIGGEST PANCAKES EVER!!!
I highly recommend the Maple Walnut, Chocolate chip pancake. You will only regret that your stomach is not bigger.
JUST GO ALREADY!!!

Unbelievable. I love this place!
This is my favorite diner on the planet.
Could they be better? No.
Are they amazing? Yes.
Do I go here every chance I get? Of course.
Go here. Don’t regret it.