Crooked Ladle Catering — Restaurant in Middlebury

Let me start of by being very clear this is a restaurant...not just a food truck, not just a catering company. Its a beautiful, amazing, delicious restautant that my love and I happened upon, only by chance since the owners dont classify this place as a restaurant on Google Maps...they need to! Do IT!! Thank you! this time in Vermont is different, the state is dealing with mass flooding events and lots of devestation, but eveyone was clam, cool, and just livin' their Vermont Lives. We are in town for a Wedding and after a 9 mile hike needed food and drink. Most places in Middlebury dont open until 4ish but lukcy for us the owners of the Crooked Ladle were open due to some unique cercumstances. We started with the cocktials, I had the Corpse Reviver #2 and my love had the green one...The Plant Lady. Now one of the owners was our bartender and she warned us the she is not the normal barkeep. But the drinks were great. Due to this unique situation and losing power the night before we only had a couple options - lite bites. We immediately ordered the Fries and also the Shrimp Noodle Salad. Ok kids, I'm going to say something, and its big...THESE ARE SOME OF THE BEST FRIES AND DIPPING SAUCE THAT WE HAVE EVER HAD, LIKE FOR REALS!!! They are really great and that sauce, lemony and extra horseradish YES!! HELL YES! Thank you! The shirmp salad was also delicious, tons of flavor and fresh ingredients. We cleared our plates and opted for a Key Lime Pie with raspberry coulis. Very good! We also decided to had a couple more drinks to celebrate our newly found favorite French Fries!! I had an espresso martini and my love the Undertaker - which they pineapple jalapeno mixture in house. It was perfect. HOW could it be finding such an amazing place to eat in VERMONT?? Well, its the people! Thank you to the owners of Crooked Ladle - I highly recommend you name the resturant The Crooked Ladle - thats it, no catering or truck... And to my love, thank you for inviting me to this wedding. We had only been dating months when you asked if I wanted to go with you, to be your + 1. Now I'm your forever + 1 and your my forever and always. thank you for seeing me, loving me, wanting me. This time we have shared together, finding each other, forging new adventures, finding all this amazing FOOD, meeting all these beautiful people has been the absolute most perfect and wonderful time of my life. I charish every moment of our love today, tomorrow, and beyond. I love you to the moon and back, and 5 more steps! Love, your...

Don’t be confused by the somewhat convoluted mix of sit-down dining, off-site catering, plants for sale and social conscience that is Crooked Ladle at 51 Main in Middlebury. Just go on Wed, Thurs or Friday nights and enjoy the good food, happy vibe and reasonable prices.

We had all but sworn off dining out due to what seemed like a continuum of underwhelming food, spotty service and exorbitant prices over the past couple of years since Covid. But with family in town and a desire to try something new, we made a reservation at Crooked Ladle.

We were welcomed and seated promptly by Jenny, one of the owners, and handed menu cards. Full bar service with some creative cocktails and local beers is available. The menu is somewhat limited (Smalls, Bigs and Fancies) but varied enough to suit everyone in our party. Even with a full house that Wednesday evening (with live music at 7:00) the service was prompt and the meals came out surprisingly quickly.

Our obligatory order of nachos ($10) was unusual with a house made queso drizzle instead of melted cheese over chipotle braised chicken, pickled jalapeños and house made chips. Excellent!

We ordered four of the five Bigs on the menu: Pork Belly Bao Buns, a Felafel Gyro, Shrimp Noodle Salad and a Brisket Sandwich, all excellent and a good value at $15. Most had a choice of side salad (excellent, very cold with local greens) or fries, which were coated and crisp, the best we’ve had outside of the Black Sheep in Vergennes.

We wanted to try the house made ice cream sandwich for dessert but they were out that evening. We did get them on a return visit with friends the following week, and they were also excellent (two huge house made chocolate chip cookies sandwiching vanilla ice cream, topped with a fudge/chocolate sauce. Too big for one person!

All in all, we were very pleasantly surprised by Crooked Ladle. They seem to have figured out a new niche that will hopefully be profitable and sustainable for them. It was nice to leave...

Jenny and Loren at Crooked Ladle are the dream team for your catering needs! Hiring them for our 100+ person outdoor wedding in October was one of the best decisions we made. Friendly, professional, and talented, they were responsive to our questions throughout, attentive to our food preferences and budget, and executed brilliantly on the day with both food and service. Their food was 10/10 delicious (with many locally-sourced ingredients), beautifully presented, and creative (especially the Mexican-inspired appetizers). Loren's culinary expertise was on full display! More front-facing, Jenny was a logistics and customer service pro and so integral to the smooth flow of the evening. With a friendly and attentive staff, she orchestrated prompt set-up and clean-up, timely service, a steady flow of guests through the buffet line, and ensured the bride and groom were fed throughout the evening (no small feat!). In many conversations during and after the wedding, family and friends raved about the food, with several noting it was the tastiest food they've ever had at a wedding! Thank you, Crooked Ladle. You absolutely crushed it. Highly recommend!

p.s. Thanks for making our mini cannoli...