Brick Store

*THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED*

The Brick Store opened in 1790 and has been in business ever since then, making it America’s oldest general store. One of its most fascinating features are its slant-front counters, designed so that ladies wearing hoop skirts can step close and examine the merchandise. It truly smells old, in the nicest possible way, its air filled with the piquant aromas of thick-sliced bacon, aged cheese, maple candy, and cake donuts. The most alluring odor, and one that permeates the very fixtures of the store, is that of the smokehouse, which produces vividly-flavored bacon, Canadian bacon, and cheddar cheese. Also enticing is the scent of sweet fudge, made in flavors that include maple walnut, Creamsicle, Heath Bar crunch, and vanilla rum raisin.

A true general store rather than a restaurant, The Brick Store carries soaps, weathervanes, cookbooks and candies, as well as Live Free or Die t-shirts (the state motto). Although gift baskets of “Yankee breakfast” are available (pancake batter, maple spread, syrup, and bacon), there is no meal service on premises. Still, it is possible to put together a dandy impromptu repast from its wide inventory of cheeses, Vermont crackers, and smoked meats, then commandeer one of the comfortable chairs on the front porch and dine in sight of Route 302. We walked out with bags of old-fashioned store crackers, smoked pepperoni sticks, hunks of cheddar, and a pound of maple brittle.

In 2016 the Brick Store went up for auction and was purchased prior to closing for renovations and restoration. The store reopened a year later in 2017 and has not been visited with the new owners.