One Lawson Lane
At One Lawson Lane in Burlington, Vermont–a small alley tucked behind Pacific Rim and a parking lot on the corner of St. Paul and College Streets–you will find one of Burlington’s better breakfast spots, Magnolia Bistro. Though it might be a little hard for tourists and Burlington newcomers to find, it is worth the effort. Magnolia is a “green” (GRA certified) restaurant that is open for breakfast and lunch daily.
Magnolia is located downstairs in a basement location previously occupied by other restaurants, including a great tiki bar that was probably out of place in Vermont, but I rather liked. I really love what the owners have done with the decor here. It’s got a simplistic Vermont feel to it, with exposed stone walls and painted white wooden beams, with an eclectic floor featuring clean brick, stone, and wood floors (yes, all three), and playful, colorful artwork on all the walls.
Partial view of bar
Available seating offers a variety of options for groups and solos. There are large booths and tables tucked into recesses, creating cozy nooks for group dining. For solo diners and couples, there are two-tops and plenty of bar seating at an L-shaped bar. The tables are spaced well apart, so you don’t feel like you’re sitting on top of your neighbor. There is also a small patio outside that gets a generous amount of sunlight. In fact, the restaurant itself sees a fair amount of sunshine for a basement space. So there’s no need to fear that you will be dining in a dungeon just because it’s located downstairs.
Two-top
My first meal was lunch with a friend. We arrived at around 12:15. The restaurant was not very full inside, but the patio was (it was a rare, beautiful, sunny day in Burlington); we were asked if we wanted to sit on the patio (in which case the wait would be 10 mins) or eat inside. Since I had to get back to work, we sat inside. That didn’t really help. Lunch still took well over an hour, and I had to hunt the waitress down to pay so we could leave.
Seating area
I ordered an iced coffee that was a bit strong, forcing me to use more cream and (organic) sugar than usual, but that was fine. The lunch menu is soups, salads, and sandwiches, all fairly healthy and with lots of vegetarian-friendly ingredients like seitan and beets, and a garbanzo bean burger. Overall, I felt the breakfast menu was more appealing–and luckily, they serve it all day. My friend and I both ordered from the breakfast menu. She had the Sesame Tofu Scram and declared it very good. I ordered the Vermont Omelet, which contains cheddar cheese, diced apples and maple sausage. Here in Vermont, there is a tradition of eating cheddar cheese with apple pies, and anything flavored with maple is about as Vermont as it gets, so the name is appropo. Omelets and scrambles come with home fries and choice of toast. I got the wheat toast, which was a little too thin and holy for me, and beyond an initial taste, I didn’t touch the home fries, which were thick potato cubes. I’m more of a shredded hash brown fan. The omelet, however, was terrific. I don’t think I left a crumb untouched. The flavors of the cheese, apple and sausage were very complementary.
California Omelet
A few days later, I came back with two other friends for breakfast. Again, the restaurant was not full, which meant we didn’t have to wait for a seat. (Always a good thing.) Service was much quicker this time around; we were in and out in an hour. I ordered the California Omelet, which has avocado, tomato, grated carrot, and veggie sausage. It was so bland as to be tasteless. I had to pour on some Rancho Ancho sauce just for flavor. (I’ve never tried Rancho Ancho sauce before, but I really liked it–just don’t ask me to describe it! I figured it was a safer choice than the other two bottles of hot sauce at the table, and I was right.) The toast was better this time around (no holes), but I forgot to ask for jam, and it wasn’t automatically brought to me. Because the omelet was disappointing, I ate more of the potatoes than I had at the previous meal and found them to be nicely seasoned.
So while neither of these meals were flawless, they were good enough that I will return. The restaurant is in a really cool space, and I like that it’s not so popular that it’s overly crowded. (I hate waiting to get into a restaurant.) If you’re looking for a healthy breakfast or lunch option, this is a good place to try, especially if you like to support green businesses. Don’t expect perfection, and obviously, some menu items are better than others, which is true everywhere. The prices here are very good, too: You can easily have breakfast for under $10. Just don’t be in too big of a hurry to leave.
Magnolia Bistro is open Mon-Fri 7am-3pm and Sat-Sun 8am-3pm.
