The roads to Queen Bee's Snack Bar in Monkton are mostly dirt. One of them, Piney Woods Road, is so narrow and tree-covered that Kim Jewell's daughter calls it "the haunted forest." You come out the other side onto Hardscrabble Road, and there it is: a big red trailer, a pole barn with picnic tables underneath, and the smell of something very good on the grill.

Queen Bee's started the way the best things start — with someone who was already doing it for free. For years, neighbors would wander over to Kim Jewell's house on weekends and ask what she was cooking up. She had a reputation. New burger experiments. Desserts. Whatever looked good that week. On her 40th birthday, her family bought her a red truck with "Queen Bee" written across it — a name she'd earned advocating for the 23 foster children she and her husband had taken in over the years — and her daughter Melissa told her: "Mom, you're now going to make money off all these people you've always cooked for."

In 2015, Jewell opened Queen Bee's Snack Bar next to her house on Hardscrabble Road. She thought maybe 15 or 20 people a day would come. On a busy summer Sunday these days, she goes through 350 pounds of potatoes — just for the fries.

In November 2023, an electrical fire destroyed the snack bar in the early morning while Kim was getting ready to open. "Eight years of blood, sweat and tears," she said — but the community showed up, they rebuilt, and Queen Bee's came back.

The Food

The hand-cut fries are the first thing to order — fresh cut daily, and worth every minute of the wait. The burgers are built the way Kim insists: meat on the bottom, toppings on top, like something you'd be proud to set down in front of someone. The double patty doesn't skimp; these are serious burgers. Michigan dogs, chicken tenders, onion rings — the classic snack bar lineup, done right. The fried green beans are odd and delicious and worth trying even if you're skeptical. The salads look fresh and generously topped. Save room for a creemee — or don't, because the food has a way of filling you completely, and then somehow you end up ordering dessert anyway.

The grass-fed burger is the thing to get. The sweet potato fries are exceptional. The coleslaw is house-made and better than you expect. Prices are genuinely affordable — this is not a Brooklyn-burger situation; it's real food at real prices, made by a person who actually cares how it looks when it goes out the window.

The Vibe

The pole barn is open on all sides, gravel underfoot, string lights overhead, a propane heater taking the edge off on a cool day. It feels less like a restaurant than like a really good backyard — which, in a sense, it is, given that Kim's house is right there sharing the driveway. Families spread out across the picnic tables. Dogs wander. Nobody's in a hurry.

We've been coming here as a family for a while now — my fiancée and I, our five-year-old, our twelve-year-old, and most recently a five-month-old along for the ride. We bring the dog. We park off to the side of the lot so she can hang in the shade by the hatchback while we eat. The kids are the ones who push for it: mention food and they're already lobbying for Queen Bee's before you've finished the sentence. My twelve-year-old, who is friends with Kim's daughter, barely slows down long enough to finish eating before she's off running around in the yard. The five-year-old follows wherever he can. The baby doesn't have opinions yet, but he'll get there.

The regulars are easy to spot — the ones who know exactly what they're getting, who pull in off Hardscrabble Road with the confidence of people who've made this drive a hundred times. This is the kind of place that becomes part of a summer routine before you realize it's happened: a Friday afternoon stop, a post-swim treat, a Sunday errand that turns into lunch. The back roads around Bristol and Monkton are as beautiful as anything in Vermont, and Queen Bee's has a way of feeling like both the destination and the reward for making the drive.

The Details

Queen Bee's is seasonal, open from spring thaw through fall freeze-up—roughly May to October. Hours vary; check the Facebook page before making the drive, especially early and late in the season. It's worth the trip. Just come hungry.

Queen Bee's Snack Bar
1915 Hardscrabble Road, Monkton, VT | (802) 989-8607
Facebook: Queen Bee's Snack Bar
Seasonal: roughly May–October | Outdoor seating | Dogs welcome | Cash and cards accepted