In a converted railroad depot in Bethel, Vermont, right next to Cockadoodle Pizza Café sits one of central Vermont’s more interesting little spots, Babes Bar. It’s a bit of a rarity for the area, since it’s one of the few freestanding bars out there (versus, say, nearby Crossroads Bar and Grill or Worthy Burger, which are indeed “bars”, but with substantial food menus as well. Opened by a married couple, Jesse Plotsky and Owen Daniel-McCarter, who moved to Vermont from Chicago a few years ago to move to the simpler life in Vermont, Babes is an interesting place. If there’s a single word that describes Babes, it is “welcoming”. This is a bar for locals. This is a bar for groups riding through. This is a bar for leaf-peeping tourists. And it’s a queer-owned bar that goes out of its way to be welcoming and inclusive to the LBGTQ community as well.
Inside, it’s been lightly refurbished since its days as railroad depot (primarily by removing the old ticket office), and the remaining interior space is surprisingly warm and welcoming: a bar on the end by the main entrance, and a good dozen tables scattered throughout the interior that are easily rearranged for musical acts or trivia nights. During the warmer months, they’ve got two outdoor seating areas as well, both a former train platform offering up covered seating, and a few picnic tables down by the train tracks (the train still goes through town a few times a day, but it hasn’t stopped in Bethel for a long time). What it really has, however, is community. This place is pretty much always hopping when I come by, with a great cross-section of mid-Vermont hanging out at the bar and tables, enjoying themselves.
You can’t miss the bar when entering, a very large, well-stocked bar with the requisite back bar stacked several tiers high, and they have a good menu: a good selection of liquors, a cocktail covering everything from basic cocktails to some house specialties, and a reasonably good beer list covering both local and a few national low-brow beers. Really, they’ve probably got something to satisfy just about everyone.
Indeed, my eye was drawn to a rarity on New England Menus, a Pimm’s Cocktail. A relatively common British cocktail, the Pimm’s is made from Pimm’s No. 1 Cup, a gin-based beverage flavored with fruits and herbs that’s combined with lemon- or lemon-lime soda, fresh fruit, and usually some fresh cucumber, making a nice, refreshing beverage. The version at Babes is quite enjoyable.
While Babes Bar is definitely a “bar”, it is only a “restaurant” by the thinnest margin. The menu here is limited. Quite limited. As in five items: Chicago-style hot dog, Chili dog, Kiddie Dog, Wisconsin Brat, and potato chips. That’s it. That’s the food menu (although it is definitely worth noting that Babes certainly doesn’t mind outside food being brought in, indeed, it is pretty common to see people eating pizza from Cockadoodle Pizza Café next door, who can even be coaxed into walking the pizzas over if it isn’t busy). The “kitchen’, such as it is, is basically a microwave, a commercial steam tray, and one of those little condiment-dispensing rails. It’s basically like a hot-dog cart, but stationary.
But here’s the great thing: I adore places with tiny menus as long as they can do a good job. And for their small menu, Babes really does a great job. I’ll start with the Chicago Dog. A classic Chicago Dog is one of those combinations you don’t really mess with. A hot dog, topped with “sport” peppers (which are rather hard to find outside of Illinois, sweet, bright green pickle relish, white onions, tomatoes, yellow mustard, celery salt, and a pickle spear. Or, as they say in Chicago, “dragged through the garden.” Served, very importantly, on a poppy-seed bun. And the version here is almost spot on perfect (purists will complain that the Vienna Beef dog has been replaced by a VT-made dog, I think from McKenzie, which to me is a slight improvement). A great dog, and quite a good accomplishment this far from Chicago.
The Wisconsin Brat is no slouch, either. Unlike the hot dog, the brats are imported, from Usinger in Wisconsin. Served up with some good kraut and whole grain brown mustard on a proper brat bun, this is the real deal as well.
Overall? We love Babes Bar. It’s a great, welcoming, and unpretentious spot that really tries to serve the broader community of Central Vermont, with a good overall bar menu, great prices (especially daily specials), and properly-executed and tasty versions of both a Chicago Dog and a Wisconsin Brat. Indeed, probably the best version of both for several hours’ drive.
My favorite thing about Babes, besides everything, is how Jesse and Owen really try to build community in Bethel proper and not just to drum up sales. They did a turkey drive for Thanksgiving, they are welcoming to parents with families (video games upstairs that have a variety of games some of which are definitely kid favorites), they were welcoming to all the folks from the bar that was there before it (when I used to live up the road from it) and they’re supportive of the local AA chapter. They are the real deal and I only wish they were closer to where I live now.
Yeah, they really are a gem. I’d go there a lot more often if I was closer.