Dutch Mill Diner in Shelburne adapts to winds of change as it approaches 30th anniversary

This look at The Dutch Mill Diner is the latest in a series of profiles by the Burlington Free Press on long-standing restaurants in Chittenden County. How do restaurants that date to the 20th century remain relevant, while continuing to do the things that have given them such staying power?

SHELBURNE ― Michael Bissonette has only known a world where his family was involved with The Dutch Mill.

In 1968, his grandparents, Charlie and Corrine Bissonette, bought what were then 34 cottages for roadside travelers along U.S. 7 in Shelburne. They added a camping area behind the motel property five years later. Their son and Michael Bissonette’s father, Jamie, and his late wife, Marilou Estacio, opened The Dutch Mill Family Restaurant in July of 1995.

Michael Bissonette, now 35, remembers that when he was a young boy he would come in to bus tables and “putter around” the kitchen. The woman who would become his wife came to The Dutch Mill Family Restaurant in 2007 to wait tables. They began dating in 2009.

Michael and Jessica Bissonette took over ownership of the restaurant last March. They shut it down briefly to make some simple renovations, and then reopened the eatery with a freshened-up look, a few revamped menu items and a new name. The restaurant is now known as The Dutch Mill Diner.

It’s the same place, though, according to Michael Bissonette. He said as much as he gestured from the counter to the dining room that saw regular breakfast customer after regular breakfast customer cycle in and out on a recent Friday morning.

“I’ve known half of them for 15, 20 years,” he said of those customers.

Eye-catching diner sign

Bissonette said The Dutch Mill’s clientele − especially in the dead of winter − is made up largely of locals, many of whom are seniors benefiting from a program through the Vermont-based Age Well aging resource center that lets older residents dine out for minimal cost. In nicer weather, he said, The Dutch Mill (which also does catering and sees plenty of takeout business) experiences an increase in tourists heading to and from the Shelburne Museum and Vermont Teddy Bear.

The rebranding from The Dutch Mill Family Restaurant to The Dutch Mill Diner was “just to have a fresh start,” according to Bissonette. The term “family restaurant” was in vogue when the eatery began almost 29 years ago; Bissonette said “diner” more accurately reflects The Dutch Mill’s offerings in 2024.

“It’s really been an eye-catcher,” he said of the big “DINER” sign near The Dutch Mill’s iconic windmill that once announced a family restaurant was inside. The interior décor displays wall hangings touting the major Boston-area professional sports teams, and includes other odds and ends including old Burlington Free Press articles about The Dutch Mill as well as family photos and a Where’s Waldo sticker.

The Dutch Mill’s menu includes morning staples such as French toast, pancakes, eggs Benedict, breakfast sandwiches and omelets. The menu of breakfast specials is where Bissonette and his crew get to spread their wings a bit, making what he calls “eccentric” items such as peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie dough pancakes and a “Blackjack” Benedict with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce on homemade corn bread with house-made barbecued pulled pork.

Similar to the core breakfast menu, the lunch menu goes traditional as well, emphasizing dishes such as a haddock sandwich, bacon mushroom Swiss burger, meatloaf with gravy and fried clams. Bissonette said he has added popular items to the menu in recent months including a chorizo and cornbread Benedict and a Montreal smoked meat Philly sub.

Bissonette said sometimes he’ll hear from 10 or 15 people a day saying things like, “I didn’t know about this place” or “It’s a hidden gem.”

“It’s really come into its own,” Bissonette said of the business.

Members of the 300 Club

When Judy and Bill Davidson walk into The Dutch Mill, the small staff of 10 full- and part-time employees knows what they’ll be serving even before the Essex couple sits down.

“All she says is ‘Number 300’ – they know what to make,” according to Bill Davidson. Bissonette has installed the Davidsons in what he calls the 300 Club, meaning they come to The Dutch Mill about 300 days a year – “unless we’re out of town,” according to Bill Davidson.

Judy Davidson orders the same thing every time – eggs over easy with toast and tomato slices. Bill Davidson might get oatmeal, sometimes he opts for a veggie omelet, and on rare occasions he’ll get off the healthier track and go for French toast. He said they come for breakfast 99% of the time, but on their infrequent lunchtime visits he might get a hot turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. On this Friday morning, both were drinking iced teas after concluding their meal.

Why would a couple drive 20 minutes one way from Essex to Shelburne – 30 minutes when traffic is heavy, according to Bill Davidson – just to eat at a diner? He discovered the place about three years ago while he was delivering cars for a dealership and has been smitten with The Dutch Mill ever since.

“It’s a fun place to come,” Bill Davidson said. “The consistency, the friendliness – it’s like ‘Cheers.’ Everybody knows your name.”

“They’re so good to everybody,” Judy Davidson said of the staff at The Dutch Mill Diner.

Next generation in the wings

A lot has changed as the generations have changed at The Dutch Mill. Bissonette’s uncle, Chris Bissonette, now runs the campground behind the restaurant. The motel lodging was torn down last March to make way for a residential facility operated by the Howard Center.

The Dutch Mill Diner, though, keeps going under the new leadership of Michael and Jessica Bissonette. Their daughter, Molly, who’s 2, is a little too young to show interest in helping out at the restaurant, but 6-year-old son Jameson is doing much as his father did at that age when the restaurant opened nearly 30 years ago.

“He loves coming and helping clear tables and putting stock away,” Bissonette said of his son.

The Dutch Mill is in the Bissonette family’s blood, and sometimes those blood lines can lead in the heat of a busy time at the restaurant to complicated family dynamics.

“It’s a tough business. Working for family can be tough,” Michael Bissonette said. “But I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything.”

If you go

WHAT: The Dutch Mill Diner

WHEN: 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. daily

WHERE: 4309 Shelburne Road/U.S. 7, Shelburne

INFORMATION: (802) 985-3568, www.dutchmillvt.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Dutch Mill Diner in Shelburne VT works with Age Well resource center