Vermont

First Look: Beloved Vermont crepe restaurant expands to Boston area

Published

1 year ago

April 12, 2025

First Look: Beloved Vermont crepe restaurant expands to Boston area

Vermont is considered one of the best states in the country for beer, with such top breweries as Hill Farmstead, Frost, Lawson’s, Foam, Foley Brothers, Zero Gravity and The Alchemist among the names that come to mind.

A few, such as Hill Farmstead, are true destination spots, where people will travel for hours just to enjoy their beers (and in the case of Hill Farmstead, their bucolic surroundings). But the Green Mountain State is also known for its outstanding food, including from restaurants found in such places as Burlington, Montpelier, Brattleboro and the many smaller towns that are tucked away on scenic roads such as Route 100 and Route 4.

These dining spots tend to offer dishes using locally sourced ingredients including everything from cheese to bacon to maple syrup, and some places, such as Worthy Burger, Hen of the Wood, Simon Pearce, Michael’s on the Hill and The Skinny Pancake have become pretty well-known names for locals and visitors alike.

The last of those places has very quietly expanded to the Greater Boston area, giving locals a little taste of Vermont right in their own backyard.

The Skinny Pancake opened its newest location in Peabody in March, moving into a space at the Northshore Mall just off Route 128. The restaurant sits just to the left of the dining pavilion, and it has an outside entrance, which allows customers to go there without actually having to enter the mall.

The location of the new Skinny Pancake may seem a bit odd considering its quirky and attractive locations in Burlington, Montpelier, Stowe and Quechee, Vermont, as well as its outlet within an historic building in downtown Albany, New York. But another new location in Hadley, Massachusetts, also sits along a commercial strip by a mall, so perhaps its expansion plans are looking more and more at these types of busy shopping areas.

And they did do a very nice job of making the Peabody space as “non-mall like” as possible, with both its main room and little dining areas to the left and in the back featuring a combination rustic-industrial look that you might find in an old mill building. Plenty of seating can be found throughout (including low-top tables, counter seats and booths), and the ordering system is pretty simple, where customers place their orders at the main counter and then find a table and wait for their food to be brought over.

The menu at the new outlet of The Skinny Pancake should be familiar to those who have been to the other locations, with crepes perhaps the signature item. And the crepes are outstanding, as indicated by a couple of recent visits to the restaurant.

The Cubano is one of the highlights of the entire menu, featuring ham, pulled pork and Swiss cheese (both are which are locally sourced), pickles and mustard, making for an unusual but tremendous take on this classic sandwich.

Sweet crepes include a “Sugarshack,” which has maple sugar from a sugarhouse in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and melted butter, with a side of local maple syrup added to make this crepe even more decadent. Some of the other crepe options include a spinach and Cabot cheddar and a chicken, Cabot cheddar and bacon among the savory crepes and a chocolate hazelnut and a “blueberry pie” among the sweet crepes.

PHOTOS: Inside the Boston area’s first Skinny Pancake restaurant

A handful of other food items are available at The Skinny Pancake, and, being true to its roots in Vermont, the traditional poutine is every bit as good as you’d expect, with handcut fries, thick gravy and cheese curds being just about perfect (no smoked meat as of this writing, though it is very tough to find poutine with smoked meat outside of Quebec).

The Thai salad is a sleeper on the menu and is a good option for those interested in a healthier meal, with delicious black bean fritters an option to go with veggies, sesame seeds and dressing. Smash burgers using beef from a farm in northern Vermont are another good option (and yes, they come with Cabot cheddar), while fans of restaurants that serve breakfast all day can choose from a decadent breakfast sandwich, a few breakfast crepe options, and something called “Noah’s Ark,” which includes eggs, bacon or sausage, and a couple of “frumpled” cinnamon sugar crepes along with maple syrup.

As of this writing, you can order some of Vermont’s award-winning beers here from the aforementioned Frost, Zero Gravity and Lawson’s, along with beers from breweries elsewhere in New England. Perhaps the biggest draw to The Skinny Pancake in Peabody may be the fact that offers beer from Hill Farmstead, which is often mentioned among the best breweries in the entire country.

Until recently, it was virtually impossible to find Hill Farmstead anywhere in Massachusetts (except at the wonderful Armsby Abbey in Worcester), but lately it has been seen in more and more restaurants and bars locally. But it is still very tough to find, so this could be a destination spot for Bostonians just for Hill Farmstead’s sublime Edward (which is currently offered and is a beer that should be on anyone’s list if they like American Pale Ales).

Oh, and for those who aren’t looking for alcoholic beverages, The Skinny Pancake has some great milkshakes, including maple and espresso.

Because it is still new, the Peabody location of The Skinny Pancake still feels like it is getting up and running, and it’s possible that they could add some new food and drink items to the menu at some point. But it has gotten off to a running start with some very tasty food of the type you might find up north and some of the best beers you’ll find anywhere — and the workers have been incredibly friendly and helpful on early visits, which is always a big plus.

If you’re a fan of Vermont restaurants, this is probably one that you’re going to want to check out, even if you aren’t the biggest fan of dining out at shopping malls.

The Skinny Pancake, 210 Andover Street, Peabody, MA, 01960. skinnypancake.com/locations/peabody

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Related Topics:Featured Food/Drink Massachusetts Peabody vermont

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Vermont

Smilin’ Steves closes three Vermont pharmacies, including at Woodstock clinic – Valley News

Published

5 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Press Room

Smilin’ Steves closes three Vermont pharmacies, including at Woodstock clinic – Valley News

WOODSTOCK — The pharmacy inside Ottauquechee Health Center on Pleasant Street is closed as of Friday, along with two other Vermont pharmacies owned by Smilin’ Steves Pharmacies.

The Vermont pharmacy chain announced in a Facebook post just after 2 p.m. Friday that the three locations would be permanently closed at the end of the day. Signs were also posted on the front doors of the stores in Woodstock, Springfield and Ludlow.

Smilin’ Steves’ Rutland pharmacy and High Mountain Home Care LTC Pharmacy, also in Rutland, will stay open.

The company urged customers to call the Rutland pharmacy at 802-775-2545 to transfer prescriptions to another pharmacy, access records or with any other questions.

“We apologize for the suddenness of this,” one of the companies’ owners, Jeff Hochberg, said in a Monday interview. “This was out of our control and we are trying to do everything we can to help correct the situation here and now and forever as long as we can.”

A sign on the door of the Springfield Pharmacy on Monday, May 18, 2026 in Springfield, Vt. JENNIFER HAUCK / Valley News

While the Facebook post from Smilin’ Steves Pharmacies references “unforeseen circumstances with our wholesaler,” Hochberg declined to provide specific details about the situation that he said arose last week. He described it as a “David-Goliath situation” and “where healthcare meets capitalism.”

“I really can’t speak too much to the circumstances other than that they were totally unforeseen. This was not planned and we did everything we could to try to rectify the situation as quickly as possible,” Hochberg said, adding that the situation is still unfolding and there may be “more to come.”

He also declined to explain why the Rutland pharmacy and home care pharmacy were able to continue operating.

The Ottauquechee Pharmacy opened inside the Dartmouth Health-run Ottauquechee Health Center in 2021 after the 167-year-old Woodstock Pharmacy closed its doors in 2020.

DH, which had no ownership or oversight of the pharmacy, learned about the closure on Friday, Keith Thomasset, the health network’s chief pharmacy officer, said in a Monday statement.

DH is “committed to ensuring our patients have access to the care they need, including medications,” and has started researching short-term and long-term solutions to address the pharmacy shortage in and around Woodstock, Thomasset said.

But “opening a new pharmacy is not a quick process,” he added.

Options might include “developing a proposed plan to assist with acute care needs while (continuing) to utilize other Dartmouth Health system pharmacy services, such as our own specialty pharmacy and home delivery pharmacy services,” or starting a new DH-owned pharmacy in the area, Thomasset said.

With the closure, Woodstock joins the growing list of Upper Valley towns without a pharmacy. Amid a bankruptcy case, Rite Aid closed all its locations last summer, leaving Windsor and Bethel without pharmacies.

Pharmacies around Vermont have closed over the last several years, often citing poor margins as a result of low reimbursement rates, according to reporting from VtDigger.

Woodstock residents will have to order prescriptions by mail or travel 25 minutes to pharmacies in Lebanon, including CVS, Hannaford, Price Chopper, Walmart and Walgreens or 35 minutes to Kinney Drugs in Randolph.

For its part, Springfield still has a Kinney Drugs location and the recently-opened North Star Health Pharmacy.

Hochberg encouraged Smilin’ Steves customers to contact the Rutland pharmacy with any questions, adding “the system is designed for situations like this” and customer data is still accessible.

As for the employees, Hochberg said the company reached out to other pharmacies to see if anyone was hiring immediately. He did not know exactly how many employees were impacted by the closures, but said it is more than 10.

When asked if there is any possibility of reopening the closed locations as the company works to resolve the situation, Hochberg said the “future is very uncertain.”

“There is definitely a possibility of something in the future, pharmacy is not going anywhere, it’s just got to change,” Hochberg said.

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Vermont

VT Pride events mix protest, joy as LGBTQ groups see threat in new laws

Published

17 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Press Room

VT Pride events mix protest, joy as LGBTQ groups see threat in new laws

Over the last few years, many states have made it harder for transgender people to access gender-affirming care, or in some cases have outright banned it for minors.

Transgender people in many states have been restricted from playing sports or using bathrooms that match their identities, and some states have censored school curricula that discuss LGBTQ+ people more broadly and limited free expression. At the federal level, the Trump administration has sought to limit people’s ability to update IDs like passports to reflect their gender.

That’s why many local LGBTQ+ organizations say celebrating Pride Month, which traditionally occurs in June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, is more important than ever.

“Looking at so much of how this country is portraying queer and trans people, we need to celebrate who we are as a people,” said Essex Pride President Kris Smith Thyme. “We need to show that we’re not monsters in a closet, that we’re friends and partners, neighbors, artists and creators.”

“There’s nothing more beautiful than celebrating queerness and transness in the face of all this hatred,” Thyme said.

St. Albans Pride Corps President Scott Bushey echoed Thyme’s sentiments.

“Pride celebrations started out as the very first protests,” said Bushey, and today holding a Pride event is practicing peaceful protest.

“(We’re) standing up for the fact that we deserve the same rights that everyone else gets,” Bushey said. “That we shouldn’t have to fight to get them or to keep them. That we shouldn’t have to worry about what we’re legally able to do.

Essex Pride and St. Albans Pride Corps are two of a number of Vermont LGBTQ+ organizations preparing to host events — festivals, movie nights, arts performances and social hours — to honor people who’ve faced discrimination for their sexualities or genders around this time of year.

Essex Pride’s three-day celebration is slated to take place a few days before Pride Month, from May 29-31, St. Albans Pride Corps’ six-day celebration is set for June 7-14.

Both Thyme and Bushey said their groups’ plans include “something for everyone,” regardless of age or interests.

Essex Pride events

Essex Pride’s fourth annual Pride celebration includes a garlic bread-eating social gathering; a comedy show and dance party; a drag story hour; a festival; a families and friends happy hour; a festival afterparty, which will include a drag and burlesque show with local performers; and free movie screenings of “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” and “Paris is Burning.”

The festival will include local performances, vendors, food trucks and creative activities for all ages and abilities. There will also be a quiet indoor space for people to view the Vermont Queer Archives and a memorial to trans people who have died from violence.

“Joy is the greatest act of resistance, but we can’t ignore what’s happening to the community now,” said Thyme.

St. Albans Pride Corps events

St. Albans Pride Corps’ third annual Pride celebration includes a Pride-based church service; a film screening of and panel discussion about “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar”; Pride game and karaoke nights; its Pride in the Park festival; a drag show; a parade; and a family day and ice cream social, with free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

St. Albans Museum will also have a monthlong exhibit about Pride in Vermont through the years. Attendees can add to a storytelling quilt at the museum.

Bushey said his organization included a Pride-based church service in its lineup because religious spaces are where many LGBTQ+ people have historically faced significant discrimination. He added that St. Albans has a “very large LGBTQ church-going community.”

“It’s really important to us that we really highlight the support of these local churches,” said Bushey. “There are lots of people who go to church who don’t come out because they’re afraid of being kicked out or pushed away.”

The five churches that will share the service believe “everybody is loved by God, that everyone is welcomed in church,” Bushey said.

Megan Stewart is a government accountability reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at mstewartyounger@gannett.com.

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Vermont

Best Vermont high schools for athletes? According to one study, these are top 25

Published

1 day ago

May 17, 2026

Press Room

Best Vermont high schools for athletes? According to one study, these are top 25

Vermont is the home to several notable sports legends over the decades, from Susan Dunklee to David Ball to Albert Gutterson and beyond.

And that trend continues today, with high school athletes creating storylines across the state.

Which high schools in Vermont are considered the best for athletes in 2026?

According to a study conducted by Niche, which accounts for “reviews of athletics, number of state championships, student participation in athletics, and the number of sports offered at the school”—and data from the U.S. Department of Education—these are the top 25.