Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill VT. Restaurants 1930 to present

Guest post and photos by Gary Irish 

Edited and formated by Bernie Paquette

Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill VT. Restaurants (1930 -2021)

Joe's Dairy Bar, c1960 

Part III Restaurants 

The businesses (in Part II) were primarily overnight accommodations. For someone passing through town who just wanted a meal, several businesses opened to cater to their needs as well.  

In the 1930s, Harmon and Agnes Howe returned to Jericho.  Harmon was the grandson of Lucien Howe, who had operated the Chittenden Mills flour mill.  They took down the brick “servant’s quarters” on the Galusha farm, what is now 5 Lee River Road, and used the brick to build a luncheonette on the former post office site, what is now 50 Route 15.  

The two-story building right in the center of the picture is what was taken down, the brick being used to build Howe's restaurant.

They operated this successfully for several years, and after Harmon’s death in 1938, Agnes continued the business for a short time before selling to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Rowland.  The Rowlands converted part of the building into living quarters and continued the luncheonette business into the 1940s before it was finally closed.  The building is now the home of Stanley Knapp.

Rowland's restaurant, now the Stan Knapp home,
Route 15 at Lee River Road, Jericho Corners

The former Nay drug store in Riverside was purchased in 1948 by Hector Marcoux, who had previously operated what is today Jacobs’ Market on Park Street. 

Underhill Drug Store, probably a little before Hector Marcoux bought it - maybe 1920's

He remodeled the store, adding an up-to-date soda fountain and newsstand, and prescriptions were now sent to the Terminal Pharmacy in Burlington to be filled.  He also converted the upstairs rooms, the former Masonic Temple, into living quarters.  [When the Masonic Temple came to Jericho from Essex in 1882, they were located on the upper floor of the Home Market building in Jericho Corners until it burned in 1901.  They then moved to rooms above Nay’s Drug Store in Riverside, only to be burned out in the great fire in 1906.  They moved into the rooms above the new Nay’s store after it was rebuilt, and remained there until moving to the former Baptist Church in Jericho Corners in 1929, where they have remained since.]  The drug store was sold to Mr. Agius in 1953, and he converted the drug store area into the Underhill Restaurant, which he operated for a short time before selling to Mr. Snow.  He ran the restaurant, as well as living with his family in the rooms on the upper floor, for about one and one-half years.  It was then sold to Bruce Ward, who operated it as Ward’s Luncheonette, before converting the building to apartments about 1965.

Hector Marcoux calendar/thermometer.  The calendar is built into the back, and would have been folded down, except it was never used, and is still on the back.

The Cabin Restaurant building at 36 Route 15 was originally built in the 1930s by Crosset Shonio as a showroom where he could display and sell products from his woodenware business, which he conducted in the former Jericho Granite Co. sheds on the site.  

Cabin Restaurant, 36 Route 15, Jericho Corners

After that business closed, the building sat unused for a time, until being remodeled and converted into a restaurant by Archie Powell in 1948.  About a year later, it was purchased by Martin Powell, and over the next few years, the restaurant was continued by several owners, including Mr. and Mrs. Sam Tash, Mrs. Maude Carter, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Burke, and finally George and Abbie Rice.  They continued the operation until the end of 1963; the building was then converted into a home.

Joe’s Drive-In Snack Bar was started in May 1950 by Joe Rotunda, Jr., and has continued in business every summer since that time.  In the early 1960s, it was known for a time as Joe’s Dairy Bar.  

Joe's Dairy Bar, c1960  You can see just a bit of his father's store on the left.

Some specialties include homemade French fries, homemade spaghetti sauce, and chili, and they make their own freshly ground hamburger every day.  In 1991, the snack bar was torn down, and a completely new building was erected to replace it.  For a time in the early 1990s, they operated Take-A-Break Caterers, and in 1998, they also operated a snack bar at the Lake Iroquois beach in Hinesburg.  Since Joe’s death in 2010, the snack bar has been carried on by his wife, Marilyn Kozlowski.  For many years, Joe and Marilyn spent the winters in Florida, as memorialized by Tracy Campbell Pearson in her book Where Does Joe Go?  Joe’s Snack Bar is one of the most widely known places in Jericho and is often used as a reference point for giving directions.  

The Alpine Restaurant was started in 1977 by Al and Vera Soucek at 273 VT Route 15.  By the end of 1979, they were advertising their New Year’s Eve Gourmet Dinner.  They also made and sold Alpine Sauce, their special steak sauce.  The restaurant operated until 1982 when the building was purchased by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  It has been used as their church since that time.

A building was erected at 38 Park Street by Dan Girard where he operated the Casual Corner Restaurant and Lounge from August 1984 until early 1986.  

After the Flower Mill florist shop at 30 Route 15 closed, the building was converted to a bakery and coffee shop by Kim Evans and opened in the fall of 1999 as The Village Cup.  She operated it until selling it to Steve Burke in November 2008.  Mr. Burke upgraded and expanded the kitchen, as well as updated the dining area and added a wrap-around deck.  He expanded the hours, adding dinner and a Sunday brunch.  Two years later, he opened Caroline’s Fine Dining in the main house, while the Village Cup continued in the former garage space.  Unfortunately, Caroline’s was a victim of the Village Cup’s success, so in March 2013 Caroline’s and the Village Cup closed, and after renovations, the businesses were combined and re-opened that April as Fields Restaurant by Burke and executive chef Jonathan Gilman.  They offered moderately priced entrees featuring as much seasonal local food as possible, including local beef and fresh vegetables.  In November 2013, the restaurant was sold to Kevin Cummings of Underhill.  Mr. Cummings has been in the restaurant business all his life, having owned nine Howard Johnson and Ground Round restaurants at one time, and has owned Rosie’s in Middlebury for 28 years.  He renamed the restaurant Jericho Café & Tavern, (now often known simply as JCaT) and, along with his son-in-law Chris Dorman, offers fine casual dining or fine comfort food.

In August 1985, the east end of the Nadeau Lumber building at 249 Route 15 became home to Mountain High Pizza Pie.  

Nadeau Lumber & Mountain High Pizza Pie, 1991

This was started by Perry and Melinda Williams, who brought the idea from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where another Mountain High Pizza Pie is located (along with a third in Alaska, although neither are affiliated with the one in Jericho).  After about two years, Perry and his wife decided they didn’t care for the business and sold it to Lisa Williams (no relation).  In 1991, Kyle Hibbard started working for Lisa, and in March 1996, he and his mother Bonnie Hibbard bought the business.  They operated it until February 4, 2014, when it was sold to Josh, Carlene, and Paul Metruk, who continue to offer pizzas as well as grinders, salads, ice cream, and other goodies.  As the businesses in the complex were reconfigured, Mountain High has now moved across the parking lot into a corner of the large storage building on the property.

What had been the hen house on the former Carpenter farm at 239 Route 15 was converted to commercial space as part of the property’s development as Jericho East.  Alternative Energy Associates opened in this building in April 1977.  Starting in 1982, they also operated the Jericho Beverage Store, a state liquor agency, at the same location.  The business operated until the fall of 1984.  Starting in January 1985, this space was converted to a restaurant.  It was first operated by Alan and Danielle Petrie as The Restaurant at Jericho East until the spring of 1987.  Emma’s Restaurant, operated by Carolyn Tandy, opened in the space on October 22, 1988.  She specialized in German food and wine.  The restaurant was sold to Daniel Lacroix, an instructor at the New England Culinary Institute in July 1994. He continued it under the same name, but since he was from Paris, he offered French food and a fine dining experience.  In June 1996, the restaurant changed hands again, becoming LaCucina, with an Italian theme, offering pizza and spaghetti, operated by Dennis Mackey and Richard Lefebrve, who had previously operated a restaurant by the same name in Complex 159 in Essex Junction.  In conjunction with the restaurant, they also operated LaCucina Restaurant Caterers.

This iteration of the restaurant was closed in the summer of 1998 by the IRS, but the seized equipment was soon purchased by Joan Ladouceur, who operated it as the Ladouceur Family Restaurant through 2003, featuring family-style meals at family-friendly prices.  From 2003 to 2004, the restaurant was operated as Uncle Jim’s by Glenn and Ellie Martin.  It then closed for two weeks in late March/early April 2004 and reopened as Old Yankee Restaurant, still operated by the Martins.  In 2005 it was continued under the name The Old Yankee by Amy Little of Underhill, who operated it for the next five years.  In August 2010, the restaurant was leased to Paul and Roberta Gillespie, who had previously operated the Brick House Bakery and the Flour Shop bakery & café in Underhill Flats.  They operated it as The Hungry Lion until its final closure in March 2013, after operating for over 28 years.

Hungry Lion restaurant at Jericho East

The Jericho East Snack Bar, started in May 1989 by Ray and Barbara Magee, was operated from a trailer located on the east side of the lower parking lot at the Jericho Plaza at 213 Route 15.  

Kate’s Food Truck is a snack bar that opened briefly at the end of the 2020 season at 261 Route 15 and was open for the full season in 2021, with a typical snack bar menu.  

Gary Irish

View Part IV: Heritage in Historic Homes: Jericho & Underhill, Vt. : Fire Destroys Landmarks.