Bent Nail Bistro in Montpelier: Rebuilt after the Vermont floods. Here's what it took

MONTPELIER ― The co-owner of a bar/restaurant/music venue in Vermont’s capital city said customers have noted that Bent Nails Bistro looks like it’s in Venice thanks to its canal-like setting along the North Branch of the Winooski River. That location is problematic, however, when heavy rains and flooding come along.

Charis Churchill, who opened Bent Nails Bistro with business partner Aaron Ingham in October of 2021, said she heard talk of flooding in Montpelier on Monday, July 10. She made plans to drive from her home in Middlesex to the business on Langdon Street to move equipment on the main floor to a higher location and salvage other materials out of the bistro’s basement. She turned back after encountering water gushing across the road.

An employee who lives in Montpelier was able to get to the bistro to move items to safer locations. “He basically got out before it would have been unworkable,” Churchill said.

She was able to make it to Bent Nails Bistro the following day, wading through standing water along the way.

This profile of Bent Nails Bistro is the latest in a series planned by the Burlington Free Press on Montpelier restaurants as they reopen following flooding that devastated Vermont’s capital city in July. What has the experience been like? What does the future hold?

“I said, ‘Don’t anybody move,’ and I took a video of everything,” Churchill said. “Everything” included coolers flopped on their sides; stool tops that floated away, leaving spindly metal poles that once supported the seats; warped floors; and a layer of silt covering anything that sat below the nearly three-foot water line.

Bent Nails Bistro rests more than a foot above street level, which saved the business from worse damage. Churchill wasn’t overly worried.

Don't forget to draw a turkey: Enter the 2023 Burlington Free Press Hand Turkey Contest

“My attitude with everything in general is, ‘OK, what’s next?’” She was ready to tackle what she thought would be a two-week shutdown to bring Bent Nails Bistro back into shape.

That process took close to three months.

How has the recovery gone?

An old kegerator withstood the flooding, but coolers and ice machines had to be replaced. Crews ripped out drywall and insulation. Contractors in the Montpelier area were booked helping other damaged homes and businesses, so Churchill and Ingham did some of the work themselves.

“I plucked every nail out of this floor,” Churchill said, giving new meaning to the name Bent Nails Bistro.

She wasn’t stressed until Sept. 30 approached. That was the day Bent Nails Bistro scheduled a party to help the business raise money to pay for repairs. Churchill had to oversee plans for that bash – a dozen bands on two stages from noon to midnight that drew 1,200 people – while making sure the art-filled business itself was ready for the big day.

Community members helped throughout the summer by bringing coffee, sweeping out the muck, and donating money. Montpelier Alive was a big help, according to Churchill, who said the organization helped Bent Nails Bistro receive donated funds.

“It’s the only reason we’re here,” she said of the community support.

Business has been good since Bent Nails Bistro returned. The monthly goth-music night filled the space to capacity.

Live music, comedy shows, plays and more Here's November arts picks for Vermont

The city has been covered in “horrible” dust left behind when the silty floods receded, according to Churchill, and continued rains helped make this seem like a year without summer in Montpelier.

“Under the circumstances,” Churchill said, “I think we’ve done quite well.”

Bent Nails Bistro has actually come back in better shape than it was in early July, according to Churchill, who admits that she likes to look at the bright side.

“We have all brand-new equipment,” Churchill said of the gear that replaces some of the old supplies inherited from the building’s previous bar/eatery, Sweet Melissa’s. “We don’t have to worry about it breaking down.”

What does the future hold?

Churchill said something needs to be done long-term to prevent recurring flooding in Montpelier, whether that involves new ways to divert water or manage the spillway at nearby Wrightsville Dam.

Bent Nails Bistro has decided to stick it out at its current flood-prone location on Langdon Street. Each deluge in Montpelier, however, brings a different reaction.

“If this happens again,” Churchill said, “I don’t think anyone will do what we did this time.” That lack of desire to rebuild, she said, would mean there wouldn’t be a downtown Montpelier.

In the meantime, Churchill is happy to see her business, and downtown Montpelier as a whole, start to rebound.

“My favorite moments are looking at the room and seeing people dancing and having fun,” she said. “That’s why we do it.”

Bent Nails Bistro: Hours and location

Address: 4 Langdon St., Montpelier.

Hours: 5 p.m.-closing (typically between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.) Wednesday-Saturday.

Phone number: (802) 225-6087

Website: www.bentnailsbistro.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Bent Nail Bistro in Montpelier: How a Vermont restaurant is rebuilding