As I mentioned in last Fall’s review of The Dinner Table in Swanzey, NH, we’re often traveling down I-91 to southern VT, western MA, or CT for some of our hiking. While a scenic drive, much of I-91 in Vermont isn’t that rich in dining options, especially around breakfast, but we’ve been trying to branch out a bit and try a few more places. A recent trip to hike Mount Holyoke in Hadley, MA led us to stopping off in Westminster, VT (a small town just south of the better-known Bellows Falls) to check out Father’s Restaurant.
Located on the west side of US-5 just a few miles south of Bellows Falls proper, Father’s is actually two restaurants, the main “Father’s Restaurant”, and the seasonal Tasty Butts BBQ (which hadn’t yet opened for the season on our visit). The overall ambiance of Father’s is basically a slightly-worn version of the classic “roadside restaurant” that used to be a lot more common around here, and walking inside takes you into a similar cozy dining room with a bunch of tables around the outside of the room and a central service bar that during weekends is deftly converted by some carpentry of the removable bar top to make a giant breakfast buffet.
The breakfast buffet was looking quite tasty, but for this particular weekend’s activities (hiking isn’t all the fun on an overly-full stomach), our appetites were a bit more modest, so we opted for the a la carte menu, which had your typical American breakfast fare, focusing on their house-made breakfast “McBrian” sandwiches, egg scrambles, hash dishes and omelets. Both Carol and I opted for the same breakfast, the Cajun Omelet, when the server told us it was their own house-made mix of sausages, peppers, onions, and hot sauce. Ordering it up, it came as a substantial three-egg omelet served up with home fries and toast. Two pleasant surprises in this dish. First, the house-made “Cajun mix” was particularly spicy: some spicy sausage, a lot of pepper, and some really spicy hot sauce; spicier than typical for Vermont, I actually enjoyed this, although the first bite was a bit of a surprise. Second: the home fries. So many places seem to cut corners and serve up basically deep-fried French fries in a different shape, and these were nicely-done, properly seasoned and crisped home fries.
So, while Father’s definitely leans towards the “simple breakfast” end of the spectrum, we enjoyed our meal. The food good and tasty (particularly the home fries), the service friendly, and the prices affordable. It’s definitely one of the better options for a quick meal in that neck of the woods.
