Good Food and People-Watching at Sweetwaters

Sweetwaters restaurant and bistro offers a variety of food at decent prices.

Story and photos by Christena Rulli

On a breezy day, my guest and I walked up a few steps to a stately tan door to enter the old Burlington Trust building transformed into Sweetwaters restaurant and bistro. Dim lighting and green carpeting surrounded us as a hostess smiled in greeting and asked, "Just two?" With a slight nod, she plucked two menus from a bin and walked us down to the patio area. Padlocked windows transformed this outdoor area to more indoor seating in the winter. We were lead to a small circular green table and two chairs - a prime spot to people-watch in the Church Street Marketplace.

Our waitress arrived shortly, and asked us for our beverage selections and told us the day’s specials. She had to speak loudly, because every table around us was occupied with customers, varying from college students to senior citizens to children. Faint rock music was playing in the background as I looked at the menu, which offered a variety of options from soups and salad to seafood and chicken. The prices were reasonable with entrée’s ranging from $9.00 - $15.00. After scanning the menu, I decided on the Shirt Sleeve sandwich and my guest chose the Sweetness Burger. My guest and I both mutually decided to split the crab and spinach dip appetizer. Within 10 minutes our waitress returned and we placed our orders.

Approximately 15 minutes passed and our waitress reappeared with our appetizer. A mixture of blue crab meat pieces, parmesan cheese, and spinach was presented in a medium-sized white bowl. Presented next to the creamy concoction was sourdough bread slices. Additional smaller white plates were provided for us and we began to dig in. The cheese and spinach combination gave a slight tang to the crab meat and complimented well with the bread’s hardness. As we finished the dip, our main courses arrived. My Shirt Sleeve consisted of a flour tortilla tucked around crispy chicken with a buttery corn flake coating, tomatoes, swiss cheese, lettuce, bacon strips, and thousand island dressing, sliced into two. The sandwich was executed well with the dressing adding a spiciness to the chicken. Since the sandwich was quite heavy, it didn’t take me too long to become full. My dish also had a side of orange sweet potato fries with horseradish sauce. The sauce added a sweet tanginess to the crunchy fries and I devoured them. My guest had a conventional burger cooked well to his liking and he also had the sweet potato fries. He also finished the fries quite quickly.

The waitress reappeared at our table three more times to make sure the food was cooked to our liking. When we finished, she asked us about dessert, which my guest and I both declined. She gave us our check, which was around $36.00 - quite good for two people. Before leaving, we made our way to the bathroom, which was like following a maze. Stairs awaited us through an open door, giving that feeling of entering a creepy basement; however, more lighting and carpeting was at the bottom. A tan mosaic and a tiled floor splashed with some toilet paper greeted me. Overall, it was acceptable. My only regret is that I could not sample any of the desserts under the Sweetness category because I was too full to enjoy it.

How was your experience at Sweetwaters?

Sweetwaters Restaurant and Bistro
120 Church Street
Burlington, Vermont 05401
(802) 864-9800

Hours: Mon-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sun 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.