Roots the Restaurant

Super fresh Vermont ingredients. You can taste it especially in the dairy and veggies. The burrata is lovely and delicious as well as the hearty tomato soup. The portions are a little small for the price but then again you’re paying for locally sourced food. My chicken cheese steak had great favor but too much bread not enough sauce. I asked for a side salad which was up charged, and I received the bites of lettuce… Besides that the place is cozy and the staff is lovely

Came to Roots with my family last minute without a reservation. Phenomenal food, great customer service, and unparalleled taste, best in the area for dinner that’s for sure.

Loved our dinner at Roots. Almost missed out because we did not have reservations and the tiny restaurant was full. Got lucky and got two seats at the bar. Hubs ordered the chicken thighs pomodoro with polenta. Sauce on the chicken was flavorful. Polenta was perfect. I got Haddock and i loved the way it was cooked. Ordered milk stout to drink that was great. Had a nice cocktail list. Cool, hip little place with great food and was a nice surprise to discover on our journeys.

The Roots is fantastic! The best food and service we have ever had in Rutland! The grilled salmon was excellent and the shellfish stew was phenomenal. The service was warm and engaging. The staff is knowledgeable and really seem to enjoy what they do. The homemade deserts were out of this world. The almond cake was hearty and delicious. We will be back to try the lunch menu soon.

This place was by far the best place we are at while in Rutland! SO GOOD!!! Definitely recommend the cheese fondue, polenta and the curry noodle bowl!!!

I love this place. I do not go to Rutland often but when I do I try to eat here. Steak salad is good. Food is healthy and local.

I recently spent a lot of time in Rutland VT. And had a few meals. One was here at Roots. It came recommended by others and by Unilocal.
You will need reservations. Trust me.
The pros:
— Great food. We had the cheese fondue, perhaps best thing on the menu. Then came the scallop salad, which I didn’t try but my companion loved it. The emu risotto was deemed terrific. And my pasta of the day was very tasty.
— Nice wine list.
— Comfortable seating.
The cons:
— Sloooow service. And we had mentioned being under a time crunch when reservations were made. Assured it would not be an issue.
The odd:
— Our silverware, quite soiled, was taken off our apps plates and put back on table. Weird. Entries are over $ 20 a plate. Fresh silverware appreciated. When this was mentioned, after meal was completed and a very generous tip, the response was «some of our Vermont patrons prefer to use their silverware for environmental reasons». Hmmm. Ok. But then it should either say that on the menu or we should be asked as the apps are being cleared what we prefer.
This was a 4.8 star food experience. But it went to 4 for the weirdly defensive silverware response and the general slooownessssss.
2400y

Wow, wow, wow!!! Paul and I came to Vermont to enjoy some spring hiking and fell in love with this area. The people are kind and cheerful, and the food, well. .. we have yet had meal that is less than stellar.
When you go to Roots, please have the cheese fondue as an appetizer. It will knock your socks off. It was so good, I suspect I’ll be dreaming about it.
Paul ordered the beef of the day, which happened to be a tasty ribeye smothered with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Since I indulged in more than my fair share of the fondue, I ordered the seafood stew. They alter the seafood based on the season. Today it happened to be salmon, shrimp, and mussels. The broth was tomato-​based. Perfect!
In a strange turn of events, it was Paul who was pushing for dessert. I’m not one to say «no» to sweets, so I ordered the blueberry pie, and Paul ordered the apple cobbler. Both were okay (edible, but not worth repeating).
The folks who work at Roots are incredibly friendly. They also happen to run on the slow side. I didn’t mind too much because it was a comfortable place to relax, and also because I was in a food coma.

I visited this restaurant on my ski trip to Killington and it was recommended to me by my hosts. Good call. For starters, you will need a reservation. This might be a problem for a single person but I called ahead and they held a bar seat for me.
The food was great, tasty and fresh. Their farm-​to-​table locally sourced ingredient concept definitely showed and was appreciated. Portions are right size, priced right. Not cheap, but not too outrageous either. It was a pleasant surprise to find Boston-​comparable quality food in Rutland (and in VT for that matter). Rutland (and VT) needs more places like this.
Only complaint I have is that their beer selection is not that great. However, they have selection of eclectic cocktails but should realize that not everyone is into cocktails. Some people prefer beer. Not enough to deduct a star though, all else was great! Keep it up.

LOVE this place!
Love the décor.
The Ceasar salad was super yummy — FULL of flavor w/​out being too strong.
Most excellent burger! Wow.
Great service!
:)

Locally presented cuisine. Always interesting and always delicious. One of the best restaurants in southern vermont.
Had the stuffed pork chops. It had apples, bacon and cheddar inside. My husband had emu meatloaf. Interesting. It is on the small side so get a reservation before you go.

They say that the closer you are to the source of food, the healthier.
Well, going to a farm to table restaurant would be getting me as close as possible to the source of food, without having to live on an actual farm.
The restaurant is called Roots, and has actual pictures of roots on the wall, they looked like ginger roots and onion roots. Again, I do not live close the source of food, so I don’t know what actual ginger roots and onion roots look like, but that’s my wild guess.
This restaurant isn’t that big, so I would recommend making reservations. There is metered parking outside the restaurant on the side of the road. Parallel parking would be a useful skill.
First, we started off with cocktails. I had the cider sangria, which came in a glass with a cinnamon sugar rim. Anything with a cinnamon sugar rim tastes good, and my drink was delicious.
For appetizers, I would highly recommend getting the cheese fondue, which is drizzled with local honey. Its the perfect way to start off your evening, after a day of skiing followed by après ski. You get both house made flat bread and green apples to dip into the cheese. We ran out of bread, and our waiter had forgotten to give us our bread basket, so we had to ask.
Finally the bread basket came– it came with normal butter and some sort of horseradish butter.
For my main course, I had the grilled chicken thighs. Once again, the chickens are locally farmed. They were glazed in VT honey-​butter (YUM YUM), served over a bean ragout that had bacon. Can’t go wrong with that. I also tried a bite of the emu meatloaf. I have never had emu before, all I know about emu is that its an ugly bird that looks like an ostrich. Well, emu tastes like beef and they did a good job with making the meatloaf juicy and tasty.
We also tried some of the local beers there as well.
Roots is a must stop if you come here to ski!

This and Table 24 are a dead tie for my favorite dinner restaurant in VT.
The food is fresh and great for someone eating a clean diet.
They have a smaller bar.

This cute little place was a great find for us. The space is small and open with a cute little bar and colorful décor.
The menu was loaded with plates we wanted to try so we found it difficult to make a decision but our waiter was great and helped us decide.
I settled on the short rib tacos with a side of polenta and hubs grabbed the chicken cheesesteak and fries. All were delicious. We will definitely return to sample more of their menu.
On my list for the future:
Black bean cakes
Beet Caprese
Walnut crusted salmon
Smoked tomato ravioli
Shrimp po-​boy
I do have one small piece of feedback. The blackberry blast was overly sweet. It needed more sour to balance it. I would have cut back on the syrup and add more lemon then a bit of club soda to give it some fizz.

My mom and I now stop here for lunch every time we drive from Jersey to Vermont. The food is interesting, healthy, and delicious. The first time I came, I had the black bean cakes. The portion is generous and they are just as black bean cakes should be– crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. They are very flavorful, and the guacamole served with them is great. This time, we had the stuffed mushrooms– amazing. They were perfectly cooked– they held their integrity as mushrooms (did not turn to mush in the oven), and the stuffy was very flavorful. The dish was also served with a sort of chutney that was a great add to the mushrooms. I got the fish tacos for my main, and they were great. The flavors of the slaw inside, the guac and the seared fish went perfectly with each other.
We will continue to stop here– definitely worth a visit!

Roots was, as I was told by the reception when I walked in a few months back, an establishment that required reservations to enjoy their culinary artistry and unique yet subtle atmosphere. Not having a reservation I kindly said thank you and walked down the street to another more accommodating restaurant.
Last night, Sunday evening, I found a stool at the bar and I ordered a beer and the Grilled Portobello mushroom sandwich with their diced sweet potato side. After the majority of the dish was consumed I felt a hair in my mouth, and upon further examination of the remains I discovered aluminum foil in the food as well. Unsettling.
Hopefully in the near future the Rutland area will be upgraded with a cleaner reputation on Wales.

Nice little spot. Cozy and friendly. Exposed brick. Neat lighting.
Great drinks. I ordered a lemonade spiked with fresh blueberries that had a nice taste and was cool and refreshing.
Got a nice beet salad atop a great bed of spinach plus goat cheese sprinkled over all of it.

Delicious, fresh and locally sourced foods to fill your belly.
Roots offers an array of salads, sandwiches, entrees and specials that vary from day to day. Everything they had on their menu sounded appetizing, I ended up opting for a lighter meal featuring their curry squash soup and the quinoa salad. They have an awesome local draft beer list and their cocktails all sounded very refreshing. I opted for a pale ale out of northern Vermont which was hoppy and went perfect with my salad and soup. My friend’s bbq pork sandwich looked amazing as well but I wasn’t hungry enough for a sandwich at the time.
The environment is airy, bright, and cozy. I could see it getting busy in the evenings as it isn’t a huge place, but it was rather empty for our late lunch. The service was friendly and efficient and I never had an empty water glass. I loved my meal and I would definitely return if I’m in the area.

Stopped by Rutland after a day of hiking and found this gem for dinner! We didn’t have a reservation, and they were booked for the night, but we were able to grab 2 seats at the bar. Walking in, the food looked amazing! Big portions, and everything looked equally great! The bartender was fantastic! Very helpful, attentive, and gave us recommendations for what to do around town at night, since it was our first time in the area.
My boyfriend and I split the cheese fondue, ravioli, and the greek salad. It was the perfect amount of food for 2 hungry people – we left satisfied, but not overly stuffed. First thing first – the cheese fondue… so delicious! The lend of cheese was flavorful with a nice golden crust. It came with thinly sliced apples and plenty of pita to soak up all the cheese. Highly recommend!
Then, the ravioli – oh man! Best ravioli I’ve ever had! The sauce was outta this world! So creamy, with a lemon citrus flavor. I’m drooling thinking about it! Definitely the highlight of our meal!
The greek salad. Was a great salad, but nothing too special – Very light with plenty of toppings.
Highly recommend coming here, and would stopped in again when in the area.
Although there seemed to be openings at the bar, be sure to make a reservation in advance.

There are a lot of restaurants to choose in the Killington area, and I’m so glad we decided to come here!
First off, our server was fantastic. She was friendly, had great suggestions, and attentive. Per her suggestion, we started off with the fondue. She warned us that it was not a traditional preparation, which is fine. The fondue was creamy, rich, flavorful, and not too salty.
For our entrée, I had the Chimichurri Emu which was a first for me, and my friend got the Grilled Monkfish. The Emu texture was a little chewy as it is a lean meat, but it was cooked perfectly. The chimichurri sauce that went with it was really good as well. It had nice acid and provided a good balance for the meat.