Old North End launches weeklong food push
Burlington organizers kicked off 'Taste the O.N.E.' this week — a weeklong restaurant promotion in the Old North End featuring nine eateries and special menus running through Sunday, March 29. The campaign is designed to boost small‑business foot traffic and draw diners across Chittenden County to a historically immigrant neighborhood. (wcax.com)
The promotion was organized and publicly promoted by Love Burlington, the city group that runs neighborhood business guides and small‑business support programs. (loveburlington.org) Menu specials posted on the event page show Barrio at 197 N. Winooski offering an $8 lavender‑honey latte with a croissant, Gold at 294 N. Winooski running a three‑course $35 menu with a $10 wine pairing, and Fancy’s at 88 Oak Street serving a four‑course tasting for $45. (loveburlington.org) Kismayo Kitchen’s event offering is listed as an $18 plate (classic Somali chicken or beef with a samosa and drink), and the restaurant reopened under family management after owner‑chef Ahmed Omar died in 2023; Omar received posthumous recognition from the SBA in 2024. (loveburlington.org) Namaste Kitchen Express is presented on Love Burlington as a family‑owned Nepalese spot and is running a $25 prix‑fixe with choices such as chana masala or butter chicken, a listing that the site tags as locally owned and BIPOC‑owned. (loveburlington.org) The Wise Fool is billed as Middle Eastern street food (shawarma and falafel) and Taco Gordo is promoting a $25 option — three tacos or a burrito with a house margarita or mocktail — both appearing on the official participant list. (wisefoolvt.com) Organizers tied an arts element to the rollout by commissioning a neighborhood map from local Old North End artist Matt deForest Jenkins, and local coverage framed the event as the ONE’s inaugural neighborhood restaurant week amid more than 13 new restaurants having opened in the area over the past decade. (loveburlington.org)
