Brown sugar harissa. Sesame seeds. A cool dish of dried lime labneh for dipping. Not exactly the vocabulary you expect from a conversation about the best wings in Vermont, and yet here we are: readers of Burlington’s alt-weekly have handed the Seven Daysies “Best Wings” title to Honey Road in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Five years running is not a fluke; it’s a verdict, and it made Honey Road the easy Vermont pick for our wing guide to the nation.
The stranger part is that Honey Road, at 156 Church Street, isn’t a wing shack at all. It’s a small-plates, mezze-style Eastern Mediterranean restaurant where the wings share a menu with braised lamb and crispy duck. Before this streak started, the award belonged for several years to a regional chain. Then a women-owned, independently run kitchen on a pedestrian shopping street showed up with a sticky, spicy, sweet plate of chicken and declined to give the title back.
Why Honey Road’s Harissa Chicken Wings Keep Winning in Burlington
On the menu, they’re listed simply as Harissa Chicken Wings: sweet-and-spicy, brown-sugar-harissa-tossed chicken wings, served with a side of dried-lime labneh for dipping. In naming them the best in the area, Seven Days described them as sesame-sprinkled, sticky, spicy, and sweet, and perfectly balanced. That balance is the whole trick. Harissa brings a chile-forward heat, the brown sugar lacquers everything into something glossy and caramelized, and the labneh, a thick, strained yogurt brightened with dried lime, cuts straight through the richness the way blue cheese is supposed to, but rarely does.
There’s no ranch, no obligatory celery stick, no sauce chart on the wall. You get one preparation, done exactly the way the kitchen wants it done, and that confidence is a big part of why the dish spreads by word of mouth. It’s a genuinely different experience from a basket of buffalo wings at a sports bar, and it rewards ordering a few other things alongside it.
What to Order at Honey Road and What It Will Cost You
The Harissa Chicken Wings run $16 per order on the restaurant’s official online ordering menu, and the kitchen marks them both gluten-free and nut-free, a meaningful detail if you’ve ever been burned by mystery breading elsewhere. Since Honey Road is built around shared small plates, the wings work best as an opening act rather than the whole evening. Order them, pass the labne around, keep going.
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Chef and co-owner Cara Tobin has drawn national attention for the kitchen’s work: she was named a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Northeast in 2024, and has been recognized as a semifinalist in earlier years as well. That pedigree explains a lot about why a plate of wings here tastes considered rather than tossed together. If you like your Vermont food awards with a side of good-natured local argument, the state’s most talked-about burger inspires a similar level of devotion.
Planning Your Visit to Church Street Marketplace
Honey Road sits at 156 Church Street, right on the Church Street Marketplace, Burlington’s pedestrian-only stretch of shops, street performers, and patios. That location makes an easy evening of it: wander the marketplace, duck in for wings and mezze, then walk it off afterward. Parking downtown is garage-and-meter territory, so plan to leave the car once and stay on foot.
One honest caveat before you go. Operating hours for Honey Road are listed inconsistently across third-party sites; some show the restaurant open daily in the late afternoon and evening, others show it closed on Mondays. We couldn’t confirm a single authoritative current schedule, so call ahead at (802) 497-2145 or check the official listing yourself rather than trusting an aggregator. You can check hours and reservations here before heading downtown. Reservations are a smart idea regardless, since Church Street fills up fast on weekends.
Honey Road Practical Details at a Glance
Honey Road is located at 156 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401, and the phone number is (802) 497-2145. Online ordering is handled through the restaurant’s Toast page, which is also the most reliable place to view the current menu and pricing. The must-order item is the Harissa Chicken Wings at $16, with the dried lime labne dip included. Confirm hours directly before you drive in.
Other Vermont Flavors Worth Chasing
If the wing hunt has you in a road-trip mood, Vermont offers plenty of worthy detours. Waterbury’s beloved barbecue destination makes a natural companion stop on a smoke-and-sauce tour, and closer to home, a longtime local salad bar favorite rounds out a weekend of eating well in the Queen City. But for the single plate of wings Vermonters keep voting to the top, the answer has been the same Church Street address for five straight years.
Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat restaurant has the best wings in Vermont?
Honey Road, at 156 Church Street in Burlington, has won the reader-voted Seven Daysies “Best Wings” award in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Its Harissa Chicken Wings are the signature dish behind the streak.
What are Honey Road’s signature wings called?
They are listed on the menu as Harissa Chicken Wings: sweet-and-spicy, brown-sugar harissa-tossed chicken wings, sprinkled with sesame, and served with a side of dried-lime labneh for dipping.
How much do the wings cost at Honey Road?
The Harissa Chicken Wings are listed at $16 per order on Honey Road’s official online ordering menu. Menu pricing can change, so confirm when you order.
Are Honey Road’s wings gluten-free?
Yes. The restaurant’s own online menu marks the Harissa Chicken Wings as both gluten-free and nut-free.
Is Honey Road a chain restaurant?
No. Honey Road is an independently owned, women-owned-and-operated Eastern Mediterranean restaurant in Burlington, not a multi-location chain.
Where exactly is Honey Road located?
Honey Road is at 156 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401, on the pedestrian Church Street Marketplace in downtown Burlington. The phone number is (802) 497-2145.
What are Honey Road’s hours?
Hours are listed inconsistently across third-party sites, with some showing daily evening service and others showing Monday closures, and we could not confirm a single authoritative schedule. Call (802) 497-2145 or check the restaurant’s official website before visiting.
Has Honey Road’s chef won any major culinary awards?
Chef and co-owner Cara Tobin was a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Northeast in 2024, and has been recognized as a James Beard semifinalist in earlier years.
What makes these different from classic buffalo wings?
Instead of a vinegar-and-cayenne buffalo sauce with ranch or blue cheese, Honey Road’s wings are tossed in a brown sugar harissa glaze, sprinkled with sesame, and served with dried lime labneh, a tangy strained yogurt dip, for an Eastern Mediterranean take on the format.
