
Family friendly spot serving burgers, tacos, tots, craft beer & cocktails, plus outdoor dining.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 395 Mountain Rd, Stowe, VT 05672
Phone: (802) 253-9204
Website: https://backyardvt.com/
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Reviews
This place has quite a few items that caught our attention. We ended up with the fish tacos and the Cuban sandwich. Both were such good choices that we want to go back and try out the other items.
Cuban sandwich had the perfect bread, which makes all of the difference. The ham, pork, pickles, cheese and mustard all came together to create an amazing bite. We opted for the tots and this was a good choice. Crispy outside, tender inside. Well seasoned.
For the fish, the batter held together and was a great consistency. Slaw added a nice balance.
Everything was solid. Our only comment here was that the food was not very hot when it arrived. This did not heavily impact our experience and we didn’t mention anything at the time. Just noted and our personal preference.
We would go back.
At Backyard, you are getting a bit of an outpost experience with a family atmosphere and ambience. When you walk in, the staff are genuinely friendly. Super-rushed but helpful. The service is prompt and there is seating available if you try to make it in before 5:30 or so without reservations outside of ski season.
There is a lot of bear-with-Oakley-sunglasses branding – their logo icon – all over the walls as well as snowboards and bicycles. The lighting is a cluster of paper lanterns, and then as you look out of the door onto the patio, there are these gorgeous string lights.
The bar looks inviting. It serves – among other drafts – Von Trappe, Zero Gravity and Fiddlehead. They were out of a seasonal 14th Star Maple Pumpkin Ale.
The thing that Backyard does well here is serve up orders of tater tots. They are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. I almost wonder if there isn’t something else inside of them because they are so delicious. They come with a sweet honey mustard that has a nice kick. There is also another tater tot option. The TOTCHOS are an inventive appetizer. They are the same crispy fried tots topped with house meat (not sure which), cheese sauce, pico de gallo, Heddy Topper Double IPA pickled jalapeños, cabbage, sour cream and scallions.
We asked what the most popular items on the menu was and the waiter said it was the Local Burger. Out of the 4 kinds of tacos available he said the fish tacos are the 2nd most popular.
The Local Burger is a double smashed beef patty with Cabot Cheddar Cheese, apple bacon jam, maple cream and arugula. I found the burger to be underwhelming. It had a kind of recently-taken-from-the-freezer flavor to it. The aftertaste of the burger overpowered the other ingredients, including the arugula.
We also had the pickled jalapeños on the side with our burger and they are pickled with the Heddy Topper Double IPA from the neighboring Alchemist brewery. The jalapeño peppers were, again, so-so. I didn’t taste any Heddy Topper notes, but they are they are notably pickled.
The fish taco comes with a power slaw with pico de gallo lemon and ‘Yard sauce with a beer-battered fried white fish. My first bites were bland overall, but much more flavorful when I reheated them. I did enjoy the slaw on the bottom of the fish tacos. That was flavorful, crunchy and sweet. And I even tasted a bit of tiny shredded celery which i liked.
I’m very curious to try the fried Brussel Sprout tacos with flash fried brussels sprouts, ‘Yard Sauce, Cotija and street corn salsa. I feel like they would’ve been really delicious.
The Ruby Mule drink was so good and i liked the immediate first few sips. It is crafted with Pama liqueur. I looked it up: PAMA is pomegranate liqueur from Bardstown, Kentucky. The cocktail starts with vodka, PAMA, house-made cranberry simple syrup, lime juice and Gosling’s ginger beer. Unless you enjoy flavored vodkas, I would recommend that you order the Ruby Mule with an unflavored vodka not a flavored cranberry vodka. It may taste more pure. I actually ordered a shot of vodka, after commenting that I didn’t really taste the vodka in the drink. When I got the shot of vodka it was also cranberry, and as the bartender said, the flavored vodka really masks the vodka taste (I am looking for).
For dessert, we ordered the mini peanut butter explosion cake. It’s a combination of fudge brownies, smooth peanut butter, mousse and chocolate cake topped with peanut butter chips. It is very sweet, but also deliciously rich and fudgey.
Another reason I say that Backyard has an outpost atmosphere is because they do not serve coffee or ice cream. But you can have an espresso martini.
And of course, the French 75 cocktails were a hit—refreshing and perfectly crafted.
Overall, a great spot with delicious food and a fun atmosphere. I’d definitely return and recommend.