Mid-summer, we were meeting up with friends in Burlington, VT for one of the monthly Tiki events a Venetian Soda Lounge, and it gave us one of our relatively rare opportunities to grab breakfast on the way to Burlington. There’s been a lot of change in the dining scene in Randolph, Vermont in the last two years that I’ve been wanting to check out, including a new bagel place (Wee Bird), two restaurants merging (One Main Tap and Grill and Kuya Filipino became Kuya at One Main), and and old favorite, Black Krim, closed up shop and became Wit and Grit. Swinging through town, we decided we had time for a sit-down breakfast, so this time, we decided to check out Wit and Grit.
Wit and Grit is located just down from another of our favorites, Taco Cat, on Randolph’s Merchant’s Row block. Like Black Krim, one step into the space shows that while the building is a little bit eclectic, it’s got a surprisingly nice and airy feel: there’s a central bar, and past that, a large dining area with windows looking over at Pleasant Street. The space has been a lot of different businesses over the year, and occasionally even hosted live entertainment, but the former stage is now part of the dining room (with some entertaining signs reminding you to watch your step when getting up). Honestly, it’s the sort of homey place I expect for a breakfast and lunch joint in Vermont railroad town.
Looking over the menu, all the dishes at Wit and Grit have funky, elaborate names, but they’ve got a nice cross-section of breakfast-ish and lunch-ish items (their actual menu terms, and I love the flexibility), including burritos, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, burgers, and sandwiches. We were in a breakfast mood and decided to split two dishes, starting with their “Don’t count your eggs before they hash”, with house-made corned beef hash and over-easy eggs. This was a really, really good hash, one of the better ones I’ve had in the area. Unusually, it includes green cabbage and carrots, and when done well like this it gives it an almost pot roast-like flavor. While I would have preferred poached eggs to over-easy, the eggs were decent enough, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable breakfast.
Next up, we had the “Mind your biscuits and life will be gravy”, which is basically their take on the standard biscuits and gravy: buttermilk cheddar biscuits, house-made sausage gravy, and over-easy eggs. This was also great. To start with, Wit and Grit is one of the rare places in New England that can make a decent Southern-style biscuit; this was your classic, nicely done cheddar biscuit with a nice crumb to it. Add in a really nice and spicy house-made gravy, and some more eggs (again, this would have been next-level with perfectly-poached eggs), and this was a solid breakfast as well.
Finally, Wit and Grit has one little feature that I wholeheartedly enjoyed, and that’s a mini-donut maker. You can get a half-dozen, freshly-made, hot-out-of-the-oil, dusted with cinnamon and sugar mini donuts, which were the perfect way to round out the meal.
Overall, I loved Wit and Grit. The space is nice, the prices reasonable, the food tasty, and the staff very pleasant. It’s just the sort of relaxing breakfast joint that a town like Randolph needs for both locals and guests, and I hope they continue to do well.
