Ditching the Dining Hall

Ask most Middlebury students for their favorite local restaurant in Middlebury, and you’d likely hear about Sabai Sabai, Flatbread Pizza, or Storm Cafe, to name a few. I’d like to buck that trend, and suggest that the place to eat in Middlebury is the truly underappreciated Noonie’s Deli.

Noonie’s, located behind Marble Works in downtown Middlebury at 137 Maple Street, serves soups, salads, and a variety of delicious signature sandwiches that every Middlebury student should try before they graduate. The sandwiches are under ten dollars, but your taste buds will never know.

Take the Tyrion Lannister, for example. Grilled chicken and bacon serve as the meaty base, which is then set ablaze with jalapeno and banana peppers and spicy buffalo dressing. Melted cheddar cheese and freshly cut avocado extinguish the flames, and a slice of tomato and leaf of lettuce round out the dish. For under eight dollars, it’s truly a remarkable dish.

Not into hot foods? Try the tamer Cape Codder: Turkey, sliced apples, tomato, red onion, lettuce, cheddar cheese and cranberry mayonnaise.

“I’d never had a sandwich before until I’d been to Noonie’s,” Jack Dolan ’15 said. “And then I did. And I’ve never looked back since.”

However, what truly sets these sandwiches apart is their bread. Freshly baked every day, Noonie’s offers rye, honey-wheat, and whole-wheat bread, which is incredibly soft. In fact, the bread is so soft that these multi-layered sandwiches tend to come apart as you gorge upon them – our chief complaint. Still, considering their flavor and cost this seems like a minor inconvenience at most.

The building itself is unremarkable: Noonies usually has had indoor tables available, most of which are in a loft above the sandwich bar. Customers can also take their food outside to a set of picnic benches.

Many of you reading might be thinking at this point, ‘I have been to Noonies a million times. Tell me something I don’t know!’ How about this: Noonie’s delivers. Yup, you heard that right – place your order online at www.nooniesdeli.com or by phone at (802)-388-0014 and sit back and wait for your delicious food to be rushed over.

Need to feed a few friends? Or are you looking to cater a whole party in Atwater? Not to worry – Noonie’s does this too.

“Whether you are catering a corporate meeting, athletic tailgate, social gathering or large conference, Noonie’s can help you every step of the way,” their website boasts, “from ordering to on-time delivery.” Noonie’s is capable of catering to parties of up to 300 people.

It’s this delivery/catering service that really sets Noonie’s apart. Not only is the food delicious, freshly made, and accessible to most Middlebury students, but you won’t even have to venture further than the closest major road to pick it up. This is a game changer, especially for impatient and lazy people like myself.