Ken’s Pizza and Pub
71 Church St, Burlington, VT, 05401
Ken’s Pizza and Pub Menu
Sorry, We are updating this restaurant menu details.
Visit below restaurant in Burlington for healthy meals suggestion.
Visit below restaurant in Burlington for healthy meals suggestion.
Sorry, We are updating this restaurant cholesterol menu details.
Sorry, we don't have Q&A for this restaurant.
Sorry, No Coupons available for this restaurant.
-
Address :
71 Church St
Burlington, VT, 05401 - Phone (802) 862-3335
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 1:00pm
- Mon : 11:00 am - 1:00pm
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch, Dinner
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Divey
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Categories
Pizza
Pizza is a famous Italian dish savored around the world. The entire credit for the popularity of Pizza in the United States goes to the chain of pizzerias all over the country. While the base and the texture of Pizza remains same across the globe, it's the toppings that differs from country to country. In the United States, you will find the top pizzerias serving pizzas with the toppings of mainly beef, bacon, chicken, ham, and sausage for the non-vegetarians. Other than these famous meat options, Pizzas with veg toppings such as mushrooms, pepperonis, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, etc. are also famous in most restaurants in the United States.
Irrespective of your locality, you will find a variety of different restaurants in your cities offering pizzas of all different types. Pizza is hot favorite among people of all ages in the United States. A large size pizza is enough to feed a family of 3 or 4 at large. Pizza is also the most preferred food whenever a group of friends is hanging out together. Pizza gained popularity in the United States after the American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II.
Over the years, different pizzerias in the United States have developed their own respective regional variations. Pizza gained popularity as the iconic dish in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Whether you prefer thin or thick crust pizza, you can find a pizza of your preference at the best pizza restaurants in your city.
Italian Cuisine
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
Looky Weed - Buy Marijuana Online
Looky Weed is here to help you navigate the maze of legalized marijuana. We provide you with a complete dispensary directory.
C M.
I'll tell ya what: Ken's is consistent with above average food. Way back in the late 90's / early 2000's I ate here while a student at UVM. I thought the food and subs were good (order the Italian mix sub, it's good). I can honestly say that I enjoyed Ken's pizza. More recently, 2012, I ate here again while visiting Burlington. Ken's hasn't changed much. Nor has the food, which is a good thing because the pizza was decent and the Italian mix sub was good. I think you'll like it. Maybe not love. But you'll like it.
(3)Jay D.
I've had a lot of bad dining experiences as an out of towner in Burlington, but this place might be a new favorite. Good pizza, fantastic service, and extremely warm - a welcome relief when the temperatures are -10 and below. A great place to grab dinner when in town.
(4)Zaid E.
Horrendous service and below average food. Steer clear. Protect ur neck
(1)Buck C.
One of those sort of ok type places where the food is, well ok and the waitstaff can range from pleasant to absolute bitches. We've had a couple of real interesting servers who sure weren't happy about their jobs. Entertaining in a warped kind of way. Not sure why I keep going back though. Convenience maybe?
(2)Amanda G.
This place is easy to stumble upon on Church Street. The outdoor seating area is huge and filled with the smell of pizza... Im not kidding, it really makes you walk over. We sat down for dinner and ordered a pizza. Each topping is an additional dollar (just an FYI) The pizza came out and it was hot, cheesy, great sauce and the crust was delicious. We also ordered a caesar salad and it was spicy with garlic flavor. Would recommend for an easy, quick bite outside.
(3)TJ K.
2.5 - 3.0 stars. We had spaghetti/meatballs and an eggplant sandwich with roasted red peppers. It was okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there. Good thing...it was open later than most places on the Church Street mall.
(3)Erik H.
The vibe of this local eatery is relaxed and cool (Fonze cool, not winter cool). The place is packed on Fridays and Saturdays and it's clearly a local go-to. The interior is cozy and I swear to jesus, I never heard a bad song play in the place. The musical selection is classic rock, and that is fine with me. Pizza and classic rock just sort of belong together. The pizza is good. It's not the best I've ever had, but it does the trick. I also tried the wings chicken fingers (don't waste your money on those). If you're looking for pizza, go and give Ken's a shot. Oh, and go ahead and get yourself a beer while your there. PS: The cute waitress didn't hurt, either. :P
(3)Monia C.
The atmosphere was very nice, sitting outside was superb, a street performer was playing live music on the violin right next to us. The staff was very nice and friendly. We loved the experience. The food was good, not amazing but at least it wasn't overpriced, so I was glad. We would definitely come back.
(4)Larry M.
For brews and Italian influenced sandwiches, this is the place. Low-key. Relaxed.
(4)Jennifer D.
Good pizza, beer & great staff
(4)Brian B.
Ken's was just below OK. I stopped in here with my girlfriend to grab a slice of pizza and a beer while roaming around downtown Burlington this past weekend. The pizza was pretty tasteless. I definitely would never order more than 1 slice from here at a time, but if you're hungry and in the area, it will keep you alive a bit longer.
(2)Christopher L.
Ken's Pizza is pretty basic as far as it goes for pizza. I would say if your just looking for a quick slice or two of pizza, then Ken's does the trick. A slice of cheese pizza will run you $2.75 plus $0.25 for any additional topping. However, if your looking to try something new with pizza, then definitely check out American Flatbread.
(3)Beth N.
Good prices, good food, good portions. My husband and I happened in here on a warm summer night as we looked for something to eat and somewhere with A/C. The server was very attentive but not pushy. We had some slices, shared a meatball sub, and had salads. It wasn't the flashiest meal but it certainly didn't need to be.
(4)Derek G.
The best part about Ken's is the Garlic Bread W/Cheese which I got based off the other recommendations. I agree, it is very good!! The pizza is sub-par compared to other restaurants or walk-in pizza places I have experienced. I would not recommend it over anything else in the area.
(2)Patrick M.
If you like tomato paste and gross over cooked oregano filled pizza then Kens is the place for you. I prefer heating up a slice of frozen elios to this place. The bar keep was an a- hole. He reminded me of a Boston bouncer that thinks he is so cool because he has some sort of control. Second time I've been to this place (first time for one drink, but a different jerk at the bar). How do they afford such a great location? Horrible place in my opinion
(1)Joni R.
Ordered a roast beef sandwich that was wonderful. Very reasonable cost. However the service was absolutely horrible. Waitress was unfriendly and unable to help with my order. Also make sure you watch your check my waitress couldn't add so the bill was $7 over the actual amount. Seems adding wasn't her strong suit either.
(3)C M.
Ken's Pizza is a very casual, people-watching, pizza-pasta restaurant. It is okay for children for lunch. The dinner crowd tends to have more beer-drinkers. Ken's is located right on Church Street (heart of Burlington) and has about ten outdoor tables. You can look down the street and see the quaint Church. Ken's can get a little dirty, bring some wipes to clean the table if you have kids with you. The seats furthest from the buiding tend to be cleaner and more relaxing. On a sunny day you can chill have a slice of pizza, lemonade, and watch the flow of tourist and Vermonters stream by. This is a good cheap eatery for kids, again sit further from the building, there are fewer people trying to move by your table. I never eat in the bar, too dark and full of people who look they drink 24/7. I also wouldn't go here with a group larger than four people, tables aren't that big.
(3)Alice Y.
Yeahh....I've definitely experienced better. Pizzas were definitely mediocre and the food was rather bland. The ONLY upside was that they had tons of space so no line or wait no matter what time you come in. Nothing spectacular. I much have rather eaten at Papa John's for a cheaper price.
(2)Mariko M.
Kens is a staple in our dining out go-to's in Burlington. There is seating place for every style. In the summer season there is plenty of seating out front, and inside is divided into the 'family friendly' side (enter to the left, it's where the food is made, is definable brighter, and you can expect families in this side) and the dimly lit dive-y side on the right. I humorous sign out front boasts, 'husband daycare'. The space is a bit on the narrow side and usually fills up (bar seating on the left and booths on the right). On this side there are several TVs and you can always find a huge crowd on game nights. The food is decent and affordable (the sizes of the slices can be a bit inconsistent though, depending on the cook so be warned). The super casual atmosphere, affordable pizza and beer, with excellent church street people watching views will always have me coming back.
(4)David S.
I'm local and this is where I come for a great meatball sub or a huge slice of pizza with always fresh veggies at reasonable price. But not everything on the menu is good (the soggy attempts at mexican dishes for example) and I only do take out. The waitstaff here are notoriously rude and stupid and the wait times ridiculously long. The kitchen staff, too, while ordering and waiting for your takeout are usually rude. And besides being rude to you, you get to listen to them say rude things about other staff and customers- there is zero professionalism in this establishment. It's like everyone that works there hates their job, the customers, and they're own lives... but they seem to greatly enjoy being mean and rude to other people. But they make a damn good meatball sub, and sometimes they even heat up your slice of pizza before throwing it at you. Tonight mine was cold.. and coincidentally I overheard one cook yelling at the other "in and out, in and out" in regards to putting things in the oven, and then laughed at me when giving me the box. That's fine, I was taking it home anyway and my toaster oven works great. The pizza was good even if the staff were dicks.
(2)Mike C.
We were visiting from CT, so we love New Haven style pizza... If you're looking for that type of pizza, don't go to Ken's. The pizza was slightly better than frozen pizza. The sausage was not good, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a can. Even worse, there was no grated cheese or red pepper flakes available to improve the taste. My wife went against the grain and ordered clam strips. Not a good choice either. On the plus side, the atmosphere was very good as it was a nice sunny day and there were a lot of people eating outside. And they had the famous Heady Topper beer that I've been meaning to try. Otherwise, best bet is to try somewhere else for dinner.
(1)Gail D.
Food was fine, we like sitting outside to enjoy our lunch and a nice Heady Topper. The Vermonter sandwich was pretty good and the pizza is good. My problem on this visit was the owner, was rude and a real jerk. The restaurant opens at 11 am., we sat at an outdoor table to wait for the opening 3 minutes early. He sent a waitress out to make us get up and leave the seating area. My brother looked at his watch and said to me good one minute. The owner very angrily told us, if we were going to count down, he would open 15 minutes late, which he didn't. We stayed to eat, but if it was up to me, I would have left. Next time, I wait for Pennycluse. My husband is in the restaurant business and would never treat his customers in this manner.
(2)Doug M.
I used to love the place but I saw a very ugly incident. A man with a cute little dog was being screamed at by an employee for being in seating area before 11 am.
(2)Joscelyn B.
Visited for lunch. I ordered lasagna which came with garlic bread. There was so much cheese and minimal noodles in my lasagna. It was nice to have my food served hot, but the lasagna and bowl were so hot that I could barely eat while my boyfriend was basically finishing his sandwhich. His sandwich came with a bag of lays and he said he enjoyed the sandwich but he didn't eat the chips. Refills were prompt and service was nice. Unfortunately it started raining outside so everyone who was seated out there rushed in to the bar area where we were seated and made things pretty crowded.
(3)r b.
My wife and I have lived in VT for 4 1/2 years and have been to Ken's many times. About two years ago, we started to notice that the pizza was not as good. We kept going in, ordering different pizza's on different nights, trying to find the quality we had always expected, but it just got worse. We stopped going about a year ago, and just gave up. Two weeks ago, we were out in the cold and went in for a salad, which is always good. We also ended up ordering a small pepperoni and cheese pizza just to see if anything had improved. Nope. The pizza was swimming in grease, and the cheese had a weird cottage cheese look with grease floating up between holes in the cheese. I decided to try a slice anyway, but as soon as I picked it up, the entire topping slid off the crust on to my plate. It was then that I noticed that the crust was nearly raw underneath. Yuck! I called the waitress over and pointed it out. After explaining the problem, we noticed that she was pale and kind of shaking. I told her that it wasn't her fault, she didn't make it, and could I speak to the manager. She said "he won't come over." We could see that she really didn't want to go to the manager, so I went to the bar and asked to speak to him. The bartenders just looked blank and didn't answer me. I did notice them glance at a guy sitting right next to me hunched over his drink. I went back to our table, and the waitress came back fighting tears. She said she was sorry but we would have to pay for the pizza anyway. We said no, we would not be paying for a greasy undercooked pizza and we expected it to be removed from our bill. We were very nice about it, but we were also firm. Two minutes later, a large angry man in a rage, rushed up to our table. He waved his arms above our heads like he wanted to take a swing at us, and loudly said "Pay for your drinks and get out, and don't come back." It was the guy who'd been sitting at the bar. Everyone in the place turned and looked at us, but we were so shocked we couldn't believe it just happened. It was such an over the top extreme reaction that we didn't know how to process it! No one has ever spoken to us that way, certainly no business owner who relies on good will! It just didn't seem real! We especially felt bad for the waitress and left her a very generous tip. I still feel like she needs to be rescued from an abusive situation. FYI: My wife and I are a couple of 5'2, middle aged women dressed for shopping. We are not a threat, nor are we out to rip the restaurant off. We have never complained about the food at Ken's previously. We had never met this guy before. We did expected the manager to treat us with respect because it is his establishment to manage, and most managers want to know about problems with food and service. Not this guy. He's a powder keg waiting to blow. After leaving the restaurant we went shopping. Apparently this guy is famous on Church Street for being aggressive and verbally abusive. We've spoken to several people who work in the surrounding businesses who told us that they won't go into Ken's because of the way this guy runs the place, and also because the pizza is so bad. I hope that maybe the owner will read this review and replace him, and maybe get the place back to where it was 4 years ago. All I know for sure is that I will never go back, or take any of our out-of-town visitors into Ken's Pizza as long as he works there. If you go to Ken's, DON'T complain about the food!
(1)Angela B.
This was one of our last stops of the night. We were walking down Church Street and came across Ken's. I wanted some pizza and my boyfriend wanted another beer. The bar definitely has an interesting vibe. My boyfriend sat down next to the famous "Leg Lamp" from the Christmas Story movie. I don't think I've ever been in a bar with a leg lamp. The drink selection was okay. When we left, we ordered a slice of pizza to go. We had just had a slice of pizza from the little pizza counter inside Three Needs. THAT was great pizza. This pizza was not. It was burnt. Every bite tasted charred to me. I could not taste anything but burnt pizza. Too bad because it could have had great potential.
(2)John W.
A solid 3 star Yelp restaurant. Not 2...not 4. A 3 because our waitress was very cool and I liked her...our food though...very bland pizza. Not sure what's up with that.. Saturday night the place was packed. If you just did a 4 hour hike on Camel's Hump in Vermont and you are walking by this place with your stomach growling its hard to keep going. There is something about the outside...the decor...it pulls you in. Now...the servers are very nice. College students mostly. Our server was excellent. Very attentive. Food: The Pizza in humble foodie opinion was so so. It lacked that kick and was very bland. My girlfriend said the same. I put the peppers and grated cheese on it but it really didn't have a lot of flavor compared to other pizza I have had recently. Some ingredient seems to have been left out. French fries were ok. Not amazing but ok. Salad was also just ok...it filled us up but we weren't in awe. They had a home made salad dressing which needs to be looked at also....very bitter tasting. I enjoyed the ambiance though....it seems like a nice place to bring the family and feed the kids who don't know anything about flavor and seasoning but for a real foodie with experience it's a toss up. I guess they are a landmark restaurant in Burlington...and they are nice people...but the pizza and salad were just very weak. Their secret is the location. If not for their location they would possibly be in trouble because there are some great restaurants in Burlington on Church Street.
(3)Mark H.
Nothing bad, nothing good. Pizza was pizza. Beer wasn't cold enough. Out of fairness, fresh ingredients and Caesar salad was good.
(3)Megan B.
I'm begging Kens to bring back their old buffalo chicken sandwich! Please! My sister moved out of VT and one of our favorite things to do when she came back was go and get that specific sandwich because it's her all time favorite food! Yesterday when we went in, we were informed that the sandwich had changed from deli style buffalo chicken to chicken tenders. The sandwich was okay but not even close to as amazing as it use to be. It wasn't on ciabatta bread like it use to be, and there were no longer onions and tomato, it was just tenders, shredded lettuce on a roll with the blue cheese on the side (adios blue cheese crumble :( ) Point being, we've lost one of our favorite meals, and we aren't sure why it needed to change. Every other place has that type of buffalo chicken sandwich, and that's why we went to Kens. Please bring it back!!!!
(2)Billy R.
Awesome place. First went here in '70's as a UVM student. Avoided long lines at the time at What Ales You and Hannibul's - Ken's one of the last places from that era still left. Outstanding pizza, subs etc. good bar food - a neat place to grab a beer and a bite. My go-to place in Burlington that's reasonably priced and unpretentious.
(5)Brian H.
I've never had a great pizza at Ken's. It's mostly mediocre but I do appreciate the NY style slices and crust. Other dishes seem to be sub par. My partner ordered chicken parmesan but the chicken was undercooked and tasted funny. My sicilian sandwich was ok after the first couple of bites but the dressing was just too overwhelming. Service is OK but nothing fantastic. The menu has variety but I don't think any dish here stands out. Ken's would do better with a pizza cart out on Church Street selling slices than try to do this kind of full-service restaurant.
(2)Dana A.
If you are in Burlington you must visit Ken's Pizzeria on Church Street in downtown Burlington and savor their pizza. Ken's is over forty years standing for a reason . We couldn't wait to come back to Burlington - it has been eight months - to indulge in their yummy, hot and gooey thin crust cheese and pepperoni pizza - do not miss this.
(5)Matthew B.
A lot of beer choices on tap and excellent food. Caesar salad is phenominal. Nice wait staff, too.
(5)David T.
Bland pizza. Ordered a pepperoni and sausage slice. The sauce was flavorless. The crust just tasted like bread. The cheese did not seem to be fully cooked. The sausage was extremely bland. This pizza seems like the type that you would find at a flea market or a small local mall, as it was nothing special. The only reason I did not give this pizza one star was because it was not horrible. Nice restaurant, good service (at the bar), but pizza was very forgettable.
(2)Trish W.
Remarkably good NY-style pizza; considerably better than I expected. It takes forever to get food though. We ordered an app, which took 20 minutes, pizza was another 30 on top of that.
(3)Kara B.
I am an Upstate New Yorker who has been out in California for the past 11 months. I miss my family and friends, but the third thing on the list that I miss most is edible pizza!! I was lucky enough to spend a few days in my happy place (BTV) and I went back to Ken's for a bite. We grabbed a take out pizza and it did in fact travel well. The pizza was everything a NY style pizza should be. Our pie had the right crust, good sauce and the correct amount of grease. I highly recommend this place!
(4)Kelly V.
TL;DR Drunk owner picks a fight and kicks out one of our party members; bad pizza The whole story: A small group of friends and I were driving up to Montreal for the weekend and stopped midway in Burlington to grab a bite and take a bathroom break. Pizza sounded good and we happened upon Ken's. After ordering a large cheese pizza to go, a few of us decide to find the restrooms. The men's room had a long line while the ladies' room was completely empty, so my friend Sarah invited my other friend Tyler to use the free stall while we kept watch for other women wanting to use the room. Tyler starts to step in and some random guy in a Hawaiian shirt sitting at the bar starts yelling loudly at him to get out of the ladies room. Since Tyler didn't want to start a fight with the dude (whom we assumed was just a really drunk patron), he got out and waited for the men's room. As I exited the ladies' room, I asked how Tyler was doing. He said something non-incendiary about how rude the dude was. Old Hawaiian shirt overheard us, cursed at Tyler with a few four-letter words, telling him to **** off. Tyler told him to do the same and wanted to leave it at that, stepping into the now-vacant men's room. That REALLY pissed off old Hawaiian shirt, who, much to our surprise, screamed that he was the owner and that he was going to kick Tyler out. He jumped off his barstool, went into the restroom after Tyler and forced him out of the bathroom. As Tyler calmly exited the restaurant, a greasy-haired waiter kid who REEKED of alcohol marched behind him and gave a comical "AND STAY OUT!" at the doorway. Sarah had tried to explain to the obviously intoxicated wait staff that it was her fault for inviting Tyler to use the ladies' room, but nobody would listen to her. What made the whole thing even more awkward was that some of us were still waiting for our pizza while overhearing the wait staff gossip loudly about us. They gave us our pizza in a hurry, severely undercooked. Never again. Terrible pizza, unbelievably rude and unprofessional owner and wait staff who were obviously drinking on the job. They didn't deserve our business. Many other good places in the area, so definitely don't bother with Ken's.
(1)David M.
Strolling up and down Church Street in Burlington Vt. the guys I was with checked the menus of places trying to find a meal that wouldn't break the bank, Ken's had a good meal in our price range. For just under $10 for most sandwiches, this is a great place to quickly drop in, refuel, and keep on moving. The staff is friendly enough, no complaints there. I was surprised they didn't have Woodchuck Hard Cider though, but no place is perfect. In short, go in, order, get food, put food in face, leave. If that's what you want from an eatitorium, Ken's is for you.
(4)Andrea P.
The lobster bisque is amazing!! I got fish and chips at an Italian restaurant. I didn't think that through. They were still good though. Our waitress was very nice :) I'm from New York so I didn't bother trying their pizza lol
(4)Wanxin C.
Cheap. The portion is huge! Pizza tastes good, but too soft. The shrimp taco is good.
(4)Bunny N.
Stopped in here to have a drink to catch up with an old friend. The restaurant was very dark inside, despite it being daytime and so bright outside. It was almost depressing by the mood of it and because there weren't many people sitting inside. Beer selection was OK. I had a Switchback, my new VT favorite craft beer. Service was OK as well. Nothing spectacular. Nothing to rave about. Everything was... A-OK.
(3)Jeremy W.
Pizza was meh but the pub was cool. A wide selection of cheap beers made this out-of-town pizza snob happy enough, though I did hear the bartender mutter some things under his breath at a patron who was being a real pain in the ass...but I should never have been able to decipher an F-bomb directed at a patron (unless of course, it was me).
(3)Antonio C.
I'm upgrading Kens to a four. Since my last review, I've eaten here four more times and my overall experience with them has improved. The pizza is a lot better and even the other menu items I've ordered were very good. I especially like their NE clam chowder.
(4)Rachel P.
Mediocre at best. I got pizza and it was previously made and they just stuck the vegetables I wanted on it and warmed it. The vegetables were not even cooked.
(2)Steve A.
Was going to eat here but the service was so bad I walked. At least pretend to like your job!
(1)Don M.
Food was ok and we have been there three times, never bad, never great, just good...service was, well spotty. The first time it was bad, second time good, this last time terrible. I noticed the other tables were getting everything they needed, but all the tables our server were working suffered. She was not very friendly, and thats hard to do in Vermont.
(3)Kevin D.
Great location and a really nice outdoor seating area when the weather is nice. But the food is bland, and I guess because it's served outdoors it comes out on paper plates and plastic cups.
(2)Mark E.
Good place to go for a bite to eat on church street if your not looking to spend much. Pizza by the slice and plenty of other good Italian dishes to choose from, like stuffed shells. Yummy! Service is average but this isn't an upscale establishment like others on Church St.
(4)Matt N.
Great pizza, but it's shocking that people who bartend at a place that's been around 40 yrs cannot pour a Guinness. :(
(4)Vanessa M.
Worst place in Vermont. Stank and filled with assholes. Never go here. You've been warned.
(1)Tom H.
Location location location. Actually, if you've had the pizza and like it, which I do, it's consistent. Otherwise the food is filling and the beer is beer. The seating on the marketplace is top notch and that is the primary reason to go to Kens.
(2)Jamie H.
We came in and sat on the bar side, just for some drinks. The food looked and smelled great, however. The service was good and I enjoyed the atmosphere - we stopped in to get out of the rain and to have a drink, glad we came in - I'd definitely like to try out the food!
(4)Bill M.
Had a veggie and cheese sandwich..veggies kinda hard and big..they need to have a grilled veggie instead..wish I tried the pizza..it looked good..
(3)Mathieu H.
There is nothing "amazing" there, just a regular place that will give you much more than junk food that you would have for the same price at the mall next door. Worth the few bucks it will cost you.
(4)Sarah H.
Can't get behind a restaurant whose owner tells patrons "F*** you" simply for telling someone else you didn't think he was the owner and a waitstaff that openly disparages other customers in front of customers. Pizza was so mediocre for this awful treatment. If they hadn't already charged me, I would have walked out when my friends were kicked out.
(1)Matt K.
This is the kind of place where you scratch your head and wonder why they are doing so well in this location, but I guess it's because there are SO MANY PEOPLE that every other restaurant is full. Seriously, there are what, 20 restaurants all up and down Church St.? Anyways, what dropped this one from A-OK to 2 stars is the fries (soggy) and the cheese steak (dry and rather tasteless). The fish and chips was all brown with a plastic container of tartar sauce. Plastic, ugh. No cole slaw, not even some forlorn parsley to make it look palatable. It was palatable, but you had to close your eyes. The beer, Long Trail IPA on tap, was rather "light", but that's our fault for making that choice. Service was ok, but all in all, you can do a lot better on Church St.
(2)Clare F.
I didn't have super high expectations for Ken's, as a red sauce pizza place on a main tourist throughway. But we had just arrived in town and then had a few drinks and were STARVING at 11 PM. We ordered a pizza to bring back to the hotel room for later-night eating for the weekend. I got eggplant parm, which was enormous (ended up wrapping it). The pizza itself had a great crust, sauce, and cheese, although the toppings the dudes decided on (garlic, chive, and sun-dried tomatoes) were a little strong together. The service was very good, and it was nice to have a few drinks while waiting for the food as well.
(4)Keith M.
Are you going here for the food? No. Are you going here for the beers and TV to watch the game? Yes. Order a few appetizers (boneless chicken, mozzarella sticks, stromboli), hang out for a while and relax. The food is better than you think and there are plenty of TVs.
(3)Joe C.
This was my first time eating in downtown Burlington. Ken's really hit the spot. I had a hard cider and a plate of spaghetti. The spaghetti and meat was great I took it home with me. Service was good but it took awhile to get my bill. other that it was perfect! check this place out if your in Burlington.
(4)Bailey Z.
Ken's Pizza has very mediocre pizza. The dough was thick, despite being advertised as thin crust on the menu. We ordered a large mushroom, sausage, artichoke, and eggplant pizza, which turned out too large to finish. The ingredients were average. Everything was just so-so, which goes along with the theme of this place.
(3)Eyal B.
I came in with a Latte (which they don't serve) to the restaurant only be be told I need to throw it out before I come in. The approach was not really polite but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The waitresses all seemed to have a scowl on their face, ours came over and just asked what we wanted without any hello. To be fair I must say the Pizza was good. When I asked for a refill of my diet coke they said there is an extra charge. It would have been nice if they mentioned this when I was ordering. There seem to be a lot of rules put in place by the owners of what you can and cannot do. The most surprising was the automatic addition of the tip to our bill. I understand that our friends from the North have had a bad history of tipping but we are locals. I would have given a lot more for good service but Ken's Pizza is probably the worst service and eating experience I have had in years!
(2)Kevin O.
Great outdoor seating, $6 Heady Toppers, and pretty good pizza/sandwiches make Ken's a great place to enjoy as the weather turns warmer.
(4)Don M.
Food was ok and we have been there three times, never bad, never great, just good...service was, well spotty. The first time it was bad, second time good, this last time terrible. I noticed the other tables were getting everything they needed, but all the tables our server were working suffered. She was not very friendly, and thats hard to do in Vermont.
(3)Clare F.
I didn't have super high expectations for Ken's, as a red sauce pizza place on a main tourist throughway. But we had just arrived in town and then had a few drinks and were STARVING at 11 PM. We ordered a pizza to bring back to the hotel room for later-night eating for the weekend. I got eggplant parm, which was enormous (ended up wrapping it). The pizza itself had a great crust, sauce, and cheese, although the toppings the dudes decided on (garlic, chive, and sun-dried tomatoes) were a little strong together. The service was very good, and it was nice to have a few drinks while waiting for the food as well.
(4)Matt N.
Great pizza, but it's shocking that people who bartend at a place that's been around 40 yrs cannot pour a Guinness. :(
(4)Vanessa M.
Worst place in Vermont. Stank and filled with assholes. Never go here. You've been warned.
(1)Tom H.
Location location location. Actually, if you've had the pizza and like it, which I do, it's consistent. Otherwise the food is filling and the beer is beer. The seating on the marketplace is top notch and that is the primary reason to go to Kens.
(2)Jamie H.
We came in and sat on the bar side, just for some drinks. The food looked and smelled great, however. The service was good and I enjoyed the atmosphere - we stopped in to get out of the rain and to have a drink, glad we came in - I'd definitely like to try out the food!
(4)Kevin D.
Great location and a really nice outdoor seating area when the weather is nice. But the food is bland, and I guess because it's served outdoors it comes out on paper plates and plastic cups.
(2)Mark E.
Good place to go for a bite to eat on church street if your not looking to spend much. Pizza by the slice and plenty of other good Italian dishes to choose from, like stuffed shells. Yummy! Service is average but this isn't an upscale establishment like others on Church St.
(4)Bill M.
Had a veggie and cheese sandwich..veggies kinda hard and big..they need to have a grilled veggie instead..wish I tried the pizza..it looked good..
(3)Mathieu H.
There is nothing "amazing" there, just a regular place that will give you much more than junk food that you would have for the same price at the mall next door. Worth the few bucks it will cost you.
(4)Sarah H.
Can't get behind a restaurant whose owner tells patrons "F*** you" simply for telling someone else you didn't think he was the owner and a waitstaff that openly disparages other customers in front of customers. Pizza was so mediocre for this awful treatment. If they hadn't already charged me, I would have walked out when my friends were kicked out.
(1)Matt K.
This is the kind of place where you scratch your head and wonder why they are doing so well in this location, but I guess it's because there are SO MANY PEOPLE that every other restaurant is full. Seriously, there are what, 20 restaurants all up and down Church St.? Anyways, what dropped this one from A-OK to 2 stars is the fries (soggy) and the cheese steak (dry and rather tasteless). The fish and chips was all brown with a plastic container of tartar sauce. Plastic, ugh. No cole slaw, not even some forlorn parsley to make it look palatable. It was palatable, but you had to close your eyes. The beer, Long Trail IPA on tap, was rather "light", but that's our fault for making that choice. Service was ok, but all in all, you can do a lot better on Church St.
(2)Beth N.
Good prices, good food, good portions. My husband and I happened in here on a warm summer night as we looked for something to eat and somewhere with A/C. The server was very attentive but not pushy. We had some slices, shared a meatball sub, and had salads. It wasn't the flashiest meal but it certainly didn't need to be.
(4)Derek G.
The best part about Ken's is the Garlic Bread W/Cheese which I got based off the other recommendations. I agree, it is very good!! The pizza is sub-par compared to other restaurants or walk-in pizza places I have experienced. I would not recommend it over anything else in the area.
(2)Patrick M.
If you like tomato paste and gross over cooked oregano filled pizza then Kens is the place for you. I prefer heating up a slice of frozen elios to this place. The bar keep was an a- hole. He reminded me of a Boston bouncer that thinks he is so cool because he has some sort of control. Second time I've been to this place (first time for one drink, but a different jerk at the bar). How do they afford such a great location? Horrible place in my opinion
(1)Joni R.
Ordered a roast beef sandwich that was wonderful. Very reasonable cost. However the service was absolutely horrible. Waitress was unfriendly and unable to help with my order. Also make sure you watch your check my waitress couldn't add so the bill was $7 over the actual amount. Seems adding wasn't her strong suit either.
(3)C M.
Ken's Pizza is a very casual, people-watching, pizza-pasta restaurant. It is okay for children for lunch. The dinner crowd tends to have more beer-drinkers. Ken's is located right on Church Street (heart of Burlington) and has about ten outdoor tables. You can look down the street and see the quaint Church. Ken's can get a little dirty, bring some wipes to clean the table if you have kids with you. The seats furthest from the buiding tend to be cleaner and more relaxing. On a sunny day you can chill have a slice of pizza, lemonade, and watch the flow of tourist and Vermonters stream by. This is a good cheap eatery for kids, again sit further from the building, there are fewer people trying to move by your table. I never eat in the bar, too dark and full of people who look they drink 24/7. I also wouldn't go here with a group larger than four people, tables aren't that big.
(3)Alice Y.
Yeahh....I've definitely experienced better. Pizzas were definitely mediocre and the food was rather bland. The ONLY upside was that they had tons of space so no line or wait no matter what time you come in. Nothing spectacular. I much have rather eaten at Papa John's for a cheaper price.
(2)Bunny N.
Stopped in here to have a drink to catch up with an old friend. The restaurant was very dark inside, despite it being daytime and so bright outside. It was almost depressing by the mood of it and because there weren't many people sitting inside. Beer selection was OK. I had a Switchback, my new VT favorite craft beer. Service was OK as well. Nothing spectacular. Nothing to rave about. Everything was... A-OK.
(3)David M.
Strolling up and down Church Street in Burlington Vt. the guys I was with checked the menus of places trying to find a meal that wouldn't break the bank, Ken's had a good meal in our price range. For just under $10 for most sandwiches, this is a great place to quickly drop in, refuel, and keep on moving. The staff is friendly enough, no complaints there. I was surprised they didn't have Woodchuck Hard Cider though, but no place is perfect. In short, go in, order, get food, put food in face, leave. If that's what you want from an eatitorium, Ken's is for you.
(4)Andrea P.
The lobster bisque is amazing!! I got fish and chips at an Italian restaurant. I didn't think that through. They were still good though. Our waitress was very nice :) I'm from New York so I didn't bother trying their pizza lol
(4)Wanxin C.
Cheap. The portion is huge! Pizza tastes good, but too soft. The shrimp taco is good.
(4)Jeremy W.
Pizza was meh but the pub was cool. A wide selection of cheap beers made this out-of-town pizza snob happy enough, though I did hear the bartender mutter some things under his breath at a patron who was being a real pain in the ass...but I should never have been able to decipher an F-bomb directed at a patron (unless of course, it was me).
(3)Antonio C.
I'm upgrading Kens to a four. Since my last review, I've eaten here four more times and my overall experience with them has improved. The pizza is a lot better and even the other menu items I've ordered were very good. I especially like their NE clam chowder.
(4)Erik H.
The vibe of this local eatery is relaxed and cool (Fonze cool, not winter cool). The place is packed on Fridays and Saturdays and it's clearly a local go-to. The interior is cozy and I swear to jesus, I never heard a bad song play in the place. The musical selection is classic rock, and that is fine with me. Pizza and classic rock just sort of belong together. The pizza is good. It's not the best I've ever had, but it does the trick. I also tried the wings chicken fingers (don't waste your money on those). If you're looking for pizza, go and give Ken's a shot. Oh, and go ahead and get yourself a beer while your there. PS: The cute waitress didn't hurt, either. :P
(3)Monia C.
The atmosphere was very nice, sitting outside was superb, a street performer was playing live music on the violin right next to us. The staff was very nice and friendly. We loved the experience. The food was good, not amazing but at least it wasn't overpriced, so I was glad. We would definitely come back.
(4)Larry M.
For brews and Italian influenced sandwiches, this is the place. Low-key. Relaxed.
(4)Jennifer D.
Good pizza, beer & great staff
(4)Brian B.
Ken's was just below OK. I stopped in here with my girlfriend to grab a slice of pizza and a beer while roaming around downtown Burlington this past weekend. The pizza was pretty tasteless. I definitely would never order more than 1 slice from here at a time, but if you're hungry and in the area, it will keep you alive a bit longer.
(2)Christopher L.
Ken's Pizza is pretty basic as far as it goes for pizza. I would say if your just looking for a quick slice or two of pizza, then Ken's does the trick. A slice of cheese pizza will run you $2.75 plus $0.25 for any additional topping. However, if your looking to try something new with pizza, then definitely check out American Flatbread.
(3)Beth N.
Good prices, good food, good portions. My husband and I happened in here on a warm summer night as we looked for something to eat and somewhere with A/C. The server was very attentive but not pushy. We had some slices, shared a meatball sub, and had salads. It wasn't the flashiest meal but it certainly didn't need to be.
(4)Derek G.
The best part about Ken's is the Garlic Bread W/Cheese which I got based off the other recommendations. I agree, it is very good!! The pizza is sub-par compared to other restaurants or walk-in pizza places I have experienced. I would not recommend it over anything else in the area.
(2)Keith M.
Are you going here for the food? No. Are you going here for the beers and TV to watch the game? Yes. Order a few appetizers (boneless chicken, mozzarella sticks, stromboli), hang out for a while and relax. The food is better than you think and there are plenty of TVs.
(3)Mariko M.
Kens is a staple in our dining out go-to's in Burlington. There is seating place for every style. In the summer season there is plenty of seating out front, and inside is divided into the 'family friendly' side (enter to the left, it's where the food is made, is definable brighter, and you can expect families in this side) and the dimly lit dive-y side on the right. I humorous sign out front boasts, 'husband daycare'. The space is a bit on the narrow side and usually fills up (bar seating on the left and booths on the right). On this side there are several TVs and you can always find a huge crowd on game nights. The food is decent and affordable (the sizes of the slices can be a bit inconsistent though, depending on the cook so be warned). The super casual atmosphere, affordable pizza and beer, with excellent church street people watching views will always have me coming back.
(4)David S.
I'm local and this is where I come for a great meatball sub or a huge slice of pizza with always fresh veggies at reasonable price. But not everything on the menu is good (the soggy attempts at mexican dishes for example) and I only do take out. The waitstaff here are notoriously rude and stupid and the wait times ridiculously long. The kitchen staff, too, while ordering and waiting for your takeout are usually rude. And besides being rude to you, you get to listen to them say rude things about other staff and customers- there is zero professionalism in this establishment. It's like everyone that works there hates their job, the customers, and they're own lives... but they seem to greatly enjoy being mean and rude to other people. But they make a damn good meatball sub, and sometimes they even heat up your slice of pizza before throwing it at you. Tonight mine was cold.. and coincidentally I overheard one cook yelling at the other "in and out, in and out" in regards to putting things in the oven, and then laughed at me when giving me the box. That's fine, I was taking it home anyway and my toaster oven works great. The pizza was good even if the staff were dicks.
(2)Mike C.
We were visiting from CT, so we love New Haven style pizza... If you're looking for that type of pizza, don't go to Ken's. The pizza was slightly better than frozen pizza. The sausage was not good, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a can. Even worse, there was no grated cheese or red pepper flakes available to improve the taste. My wife went against the grain and ordered clam strips. Not a good choice either. On the plus side, the atmosphere was very good as it was a nice sunny day and there were a lot of people eating outside. And they had the famous Heady Topper beer that I've been meaning to try. Otherwise, best bet is to try somewhere else for dinner.
(1)Gail D.
Food was fine, we like sitting outside to enjoy our lunch and a nice Heady Topper. The Vermonter sandwich was pretty good and the pizza is good. My problem on this visit was the owner, was rude and a real jerk. The restaurant opens at 11 am., we sat at an outdoor table to wait for the opening 3 minutes early. He sent a waitress out to make us get up and leave the seating area. My brother looked at his watch and said to me good one minute. The owner very angrily told us, if we were going to count down, he would open 15 minutes late, which he didn't. We stayed to eat, but if it was up to me, I would have left. Next time, I wait for Pennycluse. My husband is in the restaurant business and would never treat his customers in this manner.
(2)Doug M.
I used to love the place but I saw a very ugly incident. A man with a cute little dog was being screamed at by an employee for being in seating area before 11 am.
(2)Alex G.
Wandered in here, with wife and son, looking for a simple meal of pizza, Italian, maybe a beer. Sat outside, no wait, listening to a decent street performer on clarinet. Cute college waitress came quickly, bringing us a decent local beer and a glass of Banfi chianti. Wife started with a side salad. Nothing great; dark, uncrisp lettuce, some tasty cukes, and packaged mozzarella clumped on top. It was acceptable. Pizza by the slice is cheese with your chosen topping heated for a short (very short) while; a little bit of kitchen laziness. My son did love his pizza slices, so that's a big plus. The eggplant parm was "ok," and nothing more; I finished it, however, and it came with angel hair on the side. FYI: the food came out within 10 min of ordering - take that either way you want. Overall, a decent, if mediocre, place where your whole family will find a dish to eat.
(3)Michael M.
Cheesy garlic bread for sure. Good for chilling on a sunny day. Best when the one man band is close or the breakdancers. They always have top notch waitressses.
(3)Scott T.
Even given the local joint vibe here, it was very disappointing. My Greek salad was terrible and my martini was tiny. My wife's pizza had leathery sun dried tomatoes and her wine was awful. Two stars because the kids liked the lasagna and plain pizza and the service was friendly.
(2)Mark X.
worst pizza in burlington, possibly. i think the pizza place at the mall that sells the shitty slices is better
(2)Howard R.
The pizza was delicious, served hot and was filling. The beer selections were pretty decent and served ice cold for a fair price. Nice comfortable, no frills atmosphere. We enjoyed our meal.
(4)Polina T.
Nice local pub with pizza , sandwiches and pasta dishes. I had the lasagne which was excellent and well worth the $8.50. I had thought about pizza but medium was $13.00 then $1.00 for each topping. The supreme was $20.00. A little pricey.
(4)Allison L.
In town for one night (wish it were more), I had the spaghetti dinner with one meatball and one sausage for $8.95. Totally reasonable and huge portions. Service was sweet but awkward, with that I'm-waitressing-my-way-through-college vibe. Didn't really bother me that much, though.
(4)Layla P.
Pizza was fresh and good, but if you are visitng from out of town I would say to skip it.. it's nothing special. If you just want to sit and watch a game and have some beer, then this may be your place.
(2)Rochelle D.
Ken's was my go-to spot when I lived in Burlington. I'm not sure if this will be a ringing endorsement, but a lot of the reason I enjoyed going there so much was because it was often not very crowded on Friday or Saturday nights. The pizza is pretty good, nothing to write home about but hits the spot after a couple of beers. They have a good variety of beers on tap, like most places in Burlington. The atmosphere is not as relaxed as it could be, but people mostly sort of ignore everyone else so it doesn't matter. Definitely very casual. The booths are hard to cram more than 2 people per side into, although we've done it! And the service is so-so. We came to this bar once or twice a week for a year and there was only one waitress that ever acknowledged that she recognized us, despite the fact that we saw the same bartenders there all the time. I feel like you should treat your regulars right by buying them a drink every so often but this never happened here. And we are good tippers. But, no matter. If we still lived in Burlington we'd probably still be going back there since it was the least crowded and college student filled place within walking distance.
(3)r b.
My wife and I have lived in VT for 4 1/2 years and have been to Ken's many times. About two years ago, we started to notice that the pizza was not as good. We kept going in, ordering different pizza's on different nights, trying to find the quality we had always expected, but it just got worse. We stopped going about a year ago, and just gave up. Two weeks ago, we were out in the cold and went in for a salad, which is always good. We also ended up ordering a small pepperoni and cheese pizza just to see if anything had improved. Nope. The pizza was swimming in grease, and the cheese had a weird cottage cheese look with grease floating up between holes in the cheese. I decided to try a slice anyway, but as soon as I picked it up, the entire topping slid off the crust on to my plate. It was then that I noticed that the crust was nearly raw underneath. Yuck! I called the waitress over and pointed it out. After explaining the problem, we noticed that she was pale and kind of shaking. I told her that it wasn't her fault, she didn't make it, and could I speak to the manager. She said "he won't come over." We could see that she really didn't want to go to the manager, so I went to the bar and asked to speak to him. The bartenders just looked blank and didn't answer me. I did notice them glance at a guy sitting right next to me hunched over his drink. I went back to our table, and the waitress came back fighting tears. She said she was sorry but we would have to pay for the pizza anyway. We said no, we would not be paying for a greasy undercooked pizza and we expected it to be removed from our bill. We were very nice about it, but we were also firm. Two minutes later, a large angry man in a rage, rushed up to our table. He waved his arms above our heads like he wanted to take a swing at us, and loudly said "Pay for your drinks and get out, and don't come back." It was the guy who'd been sitting at the bar. Everyone in the place turned and looked at us, but we were so shocked we couldn't believe it just happened. It was such an over the top extreme reaction that we didn't know how to process it! No one has ever spoken to us that way, certainly no business owner who relies on good will! It just didn't seem real! We especially felt bad for the waitress and left her a very generous tip. I still feel like she needs to be rescued from an abusive situation. FYI: My wife and I are a couple of 5'2, middle aged women dressed for shopping. We are not a threat, nor are we out to rip the restaurant off. We have never complained about the food at Ken's previously. We had never met this guy before. We did expected the manager to treat us with respect because it is his establishment to manage, and most managers want to know about problems with food and service. Not this guy. He's a powder keg waiting to blow. After leaving the restaurant we went shopping. Apparently this guy is famous on Church Street for being aggressive and verbally abusive. We've spoken to several people who work in the surrounding businesses who told us that they won't go into Ken's because of the way this guy runs the place, and also because the pizza is so bad. I hope that maybe the owner will read this review and replace him, and maybe get the place back to where it was 4 years ago. All I know for sure is that I will never go back, or take any of our out-of-town visitors into Ken's Pizza as long as he works there. If you go to Ken's, DON'T complain about the food!
(1)Angela B.
This was one of our last stops of the night. We were walking down Church Street and came across Ken's. I wanted some pizza and my boyfriend wanted another beer. The bar definitely has an interesting vibe. My boyfriend sat down next to the famous "Leg Lamp" from the Christmas Story movie. I don't think I've ever been in a bar with a leg lamp. The drink selection was okay. When we left, we ordered a slice of pizza to go. We had just had a slice of pizza from the little pizza counter inside Three Needs. THAT was great pizza. This pizza was not. It was burnt. Every bite tasted charred to me. I could not taste anything but burnt pizza. Too bad because it could have had great potential.
(2)John W.
A solid 3 star Yelp restaurant. Not 2...not 4. A 3 because our waitress was very cool and I liked her...our food though...very bland pizza. Not sure what's up with that.. Saturday night the place was packed. If you just did a 4 hour hike on Camel's Hump in Vermont and you are walking by this place with your stomach growling its hard to keep going. There is something about the outside...the decor...it pulls you in. Now...the servers are very nice. College students mostly. Our server was excellent. Very attentive. Food: The Pizza in humble foodie opinion was so so. It lacked that kick and was very bland. My girlfriend said the same. I put the peppers and grated cheese on it but it really didn't have a lot of flavor compared to other pizza I have had recently. Some ingredient seems to have been left out. French fries were ok. Not amazing but ok. Salad was also just ok...it filled us up but we weren't in awe. They had a home made salad dressing which needs to be looked at also....very bitter tasting. I enjoyed the ambiance though....it seems like a nice place to bring the family and feed the kids who don't know anything about flavor and seasoning but for a real foodie with experience it's a toss up. I guess they are a landmark restaurant in Burlington...and they are nice people...but the pizza and salad were just very weak. Their secret is the location. If not for their location they would possibly be in trouble because there are some great restaurants in Burlington on Church Street.
(3)Mark H.
Nothing bad, nothing good. Pizza was pizza. Beer wasn't cold enough. Out of fairness, fresh ingredients and Caesar salad was good.
(3)Megan B.
I'm begging Kens to bring back their old buffalo chicken sandwich! Please! My sister moved out of VT and one of our favorite things to do when she came back was go and get that specific sandwich because it's her all time favorite food! Yesterday when we went in, we were informed that the sandwich had changed from deli style buffalo chicken to chicken tenders. The sandwich was okay but not even close to as amazing as it use to be. It wasn't on ciabatta bread like it use to be, and there were no longer onions and tomato, it was just tenders, shredded lettuce on a roll with the blue cheese on the side (adios blue cheese crumble :( ) Point being, we've lost one of our favorite meals, and we aren't sure why it needed to change. Every other place has that type of buffalo chicken sandwich, and that's why we went to Kens. Please bring it back!!!!
(2)Joscelyn B.
Visited for lunch. I ordered lasagna which came with garlic bread. There was so much cheese and minimal noodles in my lasagna. It was nice to have my food served hot, but the lasagna and bowl were so hot that I could barely eat while my boyfriend was basically finishing his sandwhich. His sandwich came with a bag of lays and he said he enjoyed the sandwich but he didn't eat the chips. Refills were prompt and service was nice. Unfortunately it started raining outside so everyone who was seated out there rushed in to the bar area where we were seated and made things pretty crowded.
(3)Billy R.
Awesome place. First went here in '70's as a UVM student. Avoided long lines at the time at What Ales You and Hannibul's - Ken's one of the last places from that era still left. Outstanding pizza, subs etc. good bar food - a neat place to grab a beer and a bite. My go-to place in Burlington that's reasonably priced and unpretentious.
(5)Brian H.
I've never had a great pizza at Ken's. It's mostly mediocre but I do appreciate the NY style slices and crust. Other dishes seem to be sub par. My partner ordered chicken parmesan but the chicken was undercooked and tasted funny. My sicilian sandwich was ok after the first couple of bites but the dressing was just too overwhelming. Service is OK but nothing fantastic. The menu has variety but I don't think any dish here stands out. Ken's would do better with a pizza cart out on Church Street selling slices than try to do this kind of full-service restaurant.
(2)Dana A.
If you are in Burlington you must visit Ken's Pizzeria on Church Street in downtown Burlington and savor their pizza. Ken's is over forty years standing for a reason . We couldn't wait to come back to Burlington - it has been eight months - to indulge in their yummy, hot and gooey thin crust cheese and pepperoni pizza - do not miss this.
(5)Matthew B.
A lot of beer choices on tap and excellent food. Caesar salad is phenominal. Nice wait staff, too.
(5)David T.
Bland pizza. Ordered a pepperoni and sausage slice. The sauce was flavorless. The crust just tasted like bread. The cheese did not seem to be fully cooked. The sausage was extremely bland. This pizza seems like the type that you would find at a flea market or a small local mall, as it was nothing special. The only reason I did not give this pizza one star was because it was not horrible. Nice restaurant, good service (at the bar), but pizza was very forgettable.
(2)Trish W.
Remarkably good NY-style pizza; considerably better than I expected. It takes forever to get food though. We ordered an app, which took 20 minutes, pizza was another 30 on top of that.
(3)Kara B.
I am an Upstate New Yorker who has been out in California for the past 11 months. I miss my family and friends, but the third thing on the list that I miss most is edible pizza!! I was lucky enough to spend a few days in my happy place (BTV) and I went back to Ken's for a bite. We grabbed a take out pizza and it did in fact travel well. The pizza was everything a NY style pizza should be. Our pie had the right crust, good sauce and the correct amount of grease. I highly recommend this place!
(4)Kelly V.
TL;DR Drunk owner picks a fight and kicks out one of our party members; bad pizza The whole story: A small group of friends and I were driving up to Montreal for the weekend and stopped midway in Burlington to grab a bite and take a bathroom break. Pizza sounded good and we happened upon Ken's. After ordering a large cheese pizza to go, a few of us decide to find the restrooms. The men's room had a long line while the ladies' room was completely empty, so my friend Sarah invited my other friend Tyler to use the free stall while we kept watch for other women wanting to use the room. Tyler starts to step in and some random guy in a Hawaiian shirt sitting at the bar starts yelling loudly at him to get out of the ladies room. Since Tyler didn't want to start a fight with the dude (whom we assumed was just a really drunk patron), he got out and waited for the men's room. As I exited the ladies' room, I asked how Tyler was doing. He said something non-incendiary about how rude the dude was. Old Hawaiian shirt overheard us, cursed at Tyler with a few four-letter words, telling him to **** off. Tyler told him to do the same and wanted to leave it at that, stepping into the now-vacant men's room. That REALLY pissed off old Hawaiian shirt, who, much to our surprise, screamed that he was the owner and that he was going to kick Tyler out. He jumped off his barstool, went into the restroom after Tyler and forced him out of the bathroom. As Tyler calmly exited the restaurant, a greasy-haired waiter kid who REEKED of alcohol marched behind him and gave a comical "AND STAY OUT!" at the doorway. Sarah had tried to explain to the obviously intoxicated wait staff that it was her fault for inviting Tyler to use the ladies' room, but nobody would listen to her. What made the whole thing even more awkward was that some of us were still waiting for our pizza while overhearing the wait staff gossip loudly about us. They gave us our pizza in a hurry, severely undercooked. Never again. Terrible pizza, unbelievably rude and unprofessional owner and wait staff who were obviously drinking on the job. They didn't deserve our business. Many other good places in the area, so definitely don't bother with Ken's.
(1)Don M.
Food was ok and we have been there three times, never bad, never great, just good...service was, well spotty. The first time it was bad, second time good, this last time terrible. I noticed the other tables were getting everything they needed, but all the tables our server were working suffered. She was not very friendly, and thats hard to do in Vermont.
(3)Kevin D.
Great location and a really nice outdoor seating area when the weather is nice. But the food is bland, and I guess because it's served outdoors it comes out on paper plates and plastic cups.
(2)Mark E.
Good place to go for a bite to eat on church street if your not looking to spend much. Pizza by the slice and plenty of other good Italian dishes to choose from, like stuffed shells. Yummy! Service is average but this isn't an upscale establishment like others on Church St.
(4)Rachel P.
Mediocre at best. I got pizza and it was previously made and they just stuck the vegetables I wanted on it and warmed it. The vegetables were not even cooked.
(2)Steve A.
Was going to eat here but the service was so bad I walked. At least pretend to like your job!
(1)Matt N.
Great pizza, but it's shocking that people who bartend at a place that's been around 40 yrs cannot pour a Guinness. :(
(4)Vanessa M.
Worst place in Vermont. Stank and filled with assholes. Never go here. You've been warned.
(1)Tom H.
Location location location. Actually, if you've had the pizza and like it, which I do, it's consistent. Otherwise the food is filling and the beer is beer. The seating on the marketplace is top notch and that is the primary reason to go to Kens.
(2)Jamie H.
We came in and sat on the bar side, just for some drinks. The food looked and smelled great, however. The service was good and I enjoyed the atmosphere - we stopped in to get out of the rain and to have a drink, glad we came in - I'd definitely like to try out the food!
(4)Bill M.
Had a veggie and cheese sandwich..veggies kinda hard and big..they need to have a grilled veggie instead..wish I tried the pizza..it looked good..
(3)Mathieu H.
There is nothing "amazing" there, just a regular place that will give you much more than junk food that you would have for the same price at the mall next door. Worth the few bucks it will cost you.
(4)Sarah H.
Can't get behind a restaurant whose owner tells patrons "F*** you" simply for telling someone else you didn't think he was the owner and a waitstaff that openly disparages other customers in front of customers. Pizza was so mediocre for this awful treatment. If they hadn't already charged me, I would have walked out when my friends were kicked out.
(1)Matt K.
This is the kind of place where you scratch your head and wonder why they are doing so well in this location, but I guess it's because there are SO MANY PEOPLE that every other restaurant is full. Seriously, there are what, 20 restaurants all up and down Church St.? Anyways, what dropped this one from A-OK to 2 stars is the fries (soggy) and the cheese steak (dry and rather tasteless). The fish and chips was all brown with a plastic container of tartar sauce. Plastic, ugh. No cole slaw, not even some forlorn parsley to make it look palatable. It was palatable, but you had to close your eyes. The beer, Long Trail IPA on tap, was rather "light", but that's our fault for making that choice. Service was ok, but all in all, you can do a lot better on Church St.
(2)Clare F.
I didn't have super high expectations for Ken's, as a red sauce pizza place on a main tourist throughway. But we had just arrived in town and then had a few drinks and were STARVING at 11 PM. We ordered a pizza to bring back to the hotel room for later-night eating for the weekend. I got eggplant parm, which was enormous (ended up wrapping it). The pizza itself had a great crust, sauce, and cheese, although the toppings the dudes decided on (garlic, chive, and sun-dried tomatoes) were a little strong together. The service was very good, and it was nice to have a few drinks while waiting for the food as well.
(4)Keith M.
Are you going here for the food? No. Are you going here for the beers and TV to watch the game? Yes. Order a few appetizers (boneless chicken, mozzarella sticks, stromboli), hang out for a while and relax. The food is better than you think and there are plenty of TVs.
(3)Joe C.
This was my first time eating in downtown Burlington. Ken's really hit the spot. I had a hard cider and a plate of spaghetti. The spaghetti and meat was great I took it home with me. Service was good but it took awhile to get my bill. other that it was perfect! check this place out if your in Burlington.
(4)Bailey Z.
Ken's Pizza has very mediocre pizza. The dough was thick, despite being advertised as thin crust on the menu. We ordered a large mushroom, sausage, artichoke, and eggplant pizza, which turned out too large to finish. The ingredients were average. Everything was just so-so, which goes along with the theme of this place.
(3)Eyal B.
I came in with a Latte (which they don't serve) to the restaurant only be be told I need to throw it out before I come in. The approach was not really polite but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The waitresses all seemed to have a scowl on their face, ours came over and just asked what we wanted without any hello. To be fair I must say the Pizza was good. When I asked for a refill of my diet coke they said there is an extra charge. It would have been nice if they mentioned this when I was ordering. There seem to be a lot of rules put in place by the owners of what you can and cannot do. The most surprising was the automatic addition of the tip to our bill. I understand that our friends from the North have had a bad history of tipping but we are locals. I would have given a lot more for good service but Ken's Pizza is probably the worst service and eating experience I have had in years!
(2)Kevin O.
Great outdoor seating, $6 Heady Toppers, and pretty good pizza/sandwiches make Ken's a great place to enjoy as the weather turns warmer.
(4)C M.
I'll tell ya what: Ken's is consistent with above average food. Way back in the late 90's / early 2000's I ate here while a student at UVM. I thought the food and subs were good (order the Italian mix sub, it's good). I can honestly say that I enjoyed Ken's pizza. More recently, 2012, I ate here again while visiting Burlington. Ken's hasn't changed much. Nor has the food, which is a good thing because the pizza was decent and the Italian mix sub was good. I think you'll like it. Maybe not love. But you'll like it.
(3)Jay D.
I've had a lot of bad dining experiences as an out of towner in Burlington, but this place might be a new favorite. Good pizza, fantastic service, and extremely warm - a welcome relief when the temperatures are -10 and below. A great place to grab dinner when in town.
(4)Zaid E.
Horrendous service and below average food. Steer clear. Protect ur neck
(1)Buck C.
One of those sort of ok type places where the food is, well ok and the waitstaff can range from pleasant to absolute bitches. We've had a couple of real interesting servers who sure weren't happy about their jobs. Entertaining in a warped kind of way. Not sure why I keep going back though. Convenience maybe?
(2)Amanda G.
This place is easy to stumble upon on Church Street. The outdoor seating area is huge and filled with the smell of pizza... Im not kidding, it really makes you walk over. We sat down for dinner and ordered a pizza. Each topping is an additional dollar (just an FYI) The pizza came out and it was hot, cheesy, great sauce and the crust was delicious. We also ordered a caesar salad and it was spicy with garlic flavor. Would recommend for an easy, quick bite outside.
(3)TJ K.
2.5 - 3.0 stars. We had spaghetti/meatballs and an eggplant sandwich with roasted red peppers. It was okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there. Good thing...it was open later than most places on the Church Street mall.
(3)Patrick M.
If you like tomato paste and gross over cooked oregano filled pizza then Kens is the place for you. I prefer heating up a slice of frozen elios to this place. The bar keep was an a- hole. He reminded me of a Boston bouncer that thinks he is so cool because he has some sort of control. Second time I've been to this place (first time for one drink, but a different jerk at the bar). How do they afford such a great location? Horrible place in my opinion
(1)Joni R.
Ordered a roast beef sandwich that was wonderful. Very reasonable cost. However the service was absolutely horrible. Waitress was unfriendly and unable to help with my order. Also make sure you watch your check my waitress couldn't add so the bill was $7 over the actual amount. Seems adding wasn't her strong suit either.
(3)C M.
Ken's Pizza is a very casual, people-watching, pizza-pasta restaurant. It is okay for children for lunch. The dinner crowd tends to have more beer-drinkers. Ken's is located right on Church Street (heart of Burlington) and has about ten outdoor tables. You can look down the street and see the quaint Church. Ken's can get a little dirty, bring some wipes to clean the table if you have kids with you. The seats furthest from the buiding tend to be cleaner and more relaxing. On a sunny day you can chill have a slice of pizza, lemonade, and watch the flow of tourist and Vermonters stream by. This is a good cheap eatery for kids, again sit further from the building, there are fewer people trying to move by your table. I never eat in the bar, too dark and full of people who look they drink 24/7. I also wouldn't go here with a group larger than four people, tables aren't that big.
(3)Alice Y.
Yeahh....I've definitely experienced better. Pizzas were definitely mediocre and the food was rather bland. The ONLY upside was that they had tons of space so no line or wait no matter what time you come in. Nothing spectacular. I much have rather eaten at Papa John's for a cheaper price.
(2)Alex G.
Wandered in here, with wife and son, looking for a simple meal of pizza, Italian, maybe a beer. Sat outside, no wait, listening to a decent street performer on clarinet. Cute college waitress came quickly, bringing us a decent local beer and a glass of Banfi chianti. Wife started with a side salad. Nothing great; dark, uncrisp lettuce, some tasty cukes, and packaged mozzarella clumped on top. It was acceptable. Pizza by the slice is cheese with your chosen topping heated for a short (very short) while; a little bit of kitchen laziness. My son did love his pizza slices, so that's a big plus. The eggplant parm was "ok," and nothing more; I finished it, however, and it came with angel hair on the side. FYI: the food came out within 10 min of ordering - take that either way you want. Overall, a decent, if mediocre, place where your whole family will find a dish to eat.
(3)Michael M.
Cheesy garlic bread for sure. Good for chilling on a sunny day. Best when the one man band is close or the breakdancers. They always have top notch waitressses.
(3)Scott T.
Even given the local joint vibe here, it was very disappointing. My Greek salad was terrible and my martini was tiny. My wife's pizza had leathery sun dried tomatoes and her wine was awful. Two stars because the kids liked the lasagna and plain pizza and the service was friendly.
(2)Mark X.
worst pizza in burlington, possibly. i think the pizza place at the mall that sells the shitty slices is better
(2)Howard R.
The pizza was delicious, served hot and was filling. The beer selections were pretty decent and served ice cold for a fair price. Nice comfortable, no frills atmosphere. We enjoyed our meal.
(4)Polina T.
Nice local pub with pizza , sandwiches and pasta dishes. I had the lasagne which was excellent and well worth the $8.50. I had thought about pizza but medium was $13.00 then $1.00 for each topping. The supreme was $20.00. A little pricey.
(4)Allison L.
In town for one night (wish it were more), I had the spaghetti dinner with one meatball and one sausage for $8.95. Totally reasonable and huge portions. Service was sweet but awkward, with that I'm-waitressing-my-way-through-college vibe. Didn't really bother me that much, though.
(4)Layla P.
Pizza was fresh and good, but if you are visitng from out of town I would say to skip it.. it's nothing special. If you just want to sit and watch a game and have some beer, then this may be your place.
(2)Rochelle D.
Ken's was my go-to spot when I lived in Burlington. I'm not sure if this will be a ringing endorsement, but a lot of the reason I enjoyed going there so much was because it was often not very crowded on Friday or Saturday nights. The pizza is pretty good, nothing to write home about but hits the spot after a couple of beers. They have a good variety of beers on tap, like most places in Burlington. The atmosphere is not as relaxed as it could be, but people mostly sort of ignore everyone else so it doesn't matter. Definitely very casual. The booths are hard to cram more than 2 people per side into, although we've done it! And the service is so-so. We came to this bar once or twice a week for a year and there was only one waitress that ever acknowledged that she recognized us, despite the fact that we saw the same bartenders there all the time. I feel like you should treat your regulars right by buying them a drink every so often but this never happened here. And we are good tippers. But, no matter. If we still lived in Burlington we'd probably still be going back there since it was the least crowded and college student filled place within walking distance.
(3)Joe C.
This was my first time eating in downtown Burlington. Ken's really hit the spot. I had a hard cider and a plate of spaghetti. The spaghetti and meat was great I took it home with me. Service was good but it took awhile to get my bill. other that it was perfect! check this place out if your in Burlington.
(4)Bailey Z.
Ken's Pizza has very mediocre pizza. The dough was thick, despite being advertised as thin crust on the menu. We ordered a large mushroom, sausage, artichoke, and eggplant pizza, which turned out too large to finish. The ingredients were average. Everything was just so-so, which goes along with the theme of this place.
(3)Eyal B.
I came in with a Latte (which they don't serve) to the restaurant only be be told I need to throw it out before I come in. The approach was not really polite but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The waitresses all seemed to have a scowl on their face, ours came over and just asked what we wanted without any hello. To be fair I must say the Pizza was good. When I asked for a refill of my diet coke they said there is an extra charge. It would have been nice if they mentioned this when I was ordering. There seem to be a lot of rules put in place by the owners of what you can and cannot do. The most surprising was the automatic addition of the tip to our bill. I understand that our friends from the North have had a bad history of tipping but we are locals. I would have given a lot more for good service but Ken's Pizza is probably the worst service and eating experience I have had in years!
(2)Kevin O.
Great outdoor seating, $6 Heady Toppers, and pretty good pizza/sandwiches make Ken's a great place to enjoy as the weather turns warmer.
(4)C M.
I'll tell ya what: Ken's is consistent with above average food. Way back in the late 90's / early 2000's I ate here while a student at UVM. I thought the food and subs were good (order the Italian mix sub, it's good). I can honestly say that I enjoyed Ken's pizza. More recently, 2012, I ate here again while visiting Burlington. Ken's hasn't changed much. Nor has the food, which is a good thing because the pizza was decent and the Italian mix sub was good. I think you'll like it. Maybe not love. But you'll like it.
(3)Jay D.
I've had a lot of bad dining experiences as an out of towner in Burlington, but this place might be a new favorite. Good pizza, fantastic service, and extremely warm - a welcome relief when the temperatures are -10 and below. A great place to grab dinner when in town.
(4)Zaid E.
Horrendous service and below average food. Steer clear. Protect ur neck
(1)Buck C.
One of those sort of ok type places where the food is, well ok and the waitstaff can range from pleasant to absolute bitches. We've had a couple of real interesting servers who sure weren't happy about their jobs. Entertaining in a warped kind of way. Not sure why I keep going back though. Convenience maybe?
(2)Amanda G.
This place is easy to stumble upon on Church Street. The outdoor seating area is huge and filled with the smell of pizza... Im not kidding, it really makes you walk over. We sat down for dinner and ordered a pizza. Each topping is an additional dollar (just an FYI) The pizza came out and it was hot, cheesy, great sauce and the crust was delicious. We also ordered a caesar salad and it was spicy with garlic flavor. Would recommend for an easy, quick bite outside.
(3)TJ K.
2.5 - 3.0 stars. We had spaghetti/meatballs and an eggplant sandwich with roasted red peppers. It was okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there. Good thing...it was open later than most places on the Church Street mall.
(3)Erik H.
The vibe of this local eatery is relaxed and cool (Fonze cool, not winter cool). The place is packed on Fridays and Saturdays and it's clearly a local go-to. The interior is cozy and I swear to jesus, I never heard a bad song play in the place. The musical selection is classic rock, and that is fine with me. Pizza and classic rock just sort of belong together. The pizza is good. It's not the best I've ever had, but it does the trick. I also tried the wings chicken fingers (don't waste your money on those). If you're looking for pizza, go and give Ken's a shot. Oh, and go ahead and get yourself a beer while your there. PS: The cute waitress didn't hurt, either. :P
(3)Monia C.
The atmosphere was very nice, sitting outside was superb, a street performer was playing live music on the violin right next to us. The staff was very nice and friendly. We loved the experience. The food was good, not amazing but at least it wasn't overpriced, so I was glad. We would definitely come back.
(4)Larry M.
For brews and Italian influenced sandwiches, this is the place. Low-key. Relaxed.
(4)Jennifer D.
Good pizza, beer & great staff
(4)Brian B.
Ken's was just below OK. I stopped in here with my girlfriend to grab a slice of pizza and a beer while roaming around downtown Burlington this past weekend. The pizza was pretty tasteless. I definitely would never order more than 1 slice from here at a time, but if you're hungry and in the area, it will keep you alive a bit longer.
(2)Christopher L.
Ken's Pizza is pretty basic as far as it goes for pizza. I would say if your just looking for a quick slice or two of pizza, then Ken's does the trick. A slice of cheese pizza will run you $2.75 plus $0.25 for any additional topping. However, if your looking to try something new with pizza, then definitely check out American Flatbread.
(3)Alex G.
Wandered in here, with wife and son, looking for a simple meal of pizza, Italian, maybe a beer. Sat outside, no wait, listening to a decent street performer on clarinet. Cute college waitress came quickly, bringing us a decent local beer and a glass of Banfi chianti. Wife started with a side salad. Nothing great; dark, uncrisp lettuce, some tasty cukes, and packaged mozzarella clumped on top. It was acceptable. Pizza by the slice is cheese with your chosen topping heated for a short (very short) while; a little bit of kitchen laziness. My son did love his pizza slices, so that's a big plus. The eggplant parm was "ok," and nothing more; I finished it, however, and it came with angel hair on the side. FYI: the food came out within 10 min of ordering - take that either way you want. Overall, a decent, if mediocre, place where your whole family will find a dish to eat.
(3)Michael M.
Cheesy garlic bread for sure. Good for chilling on a sunny day. Best when the one man band is close or the breakdancers. They always have top notch waitressses.
(3)Scott T.
Even given the local joint vibe here, it was very disappointing. My Greek salad was terrible and my martini was tiny. My wife's pizza had leathery sun dried tomatoes and her wine was awful. Two stars because the kids liked the lasagna and plain pizza and the service was friendly.
(2)Mark X.
worst pizza in burlington, possibly. i think the pizza place at the mall that sells the shitty slices is better
(2)Howard R.
The pizza was delicious, served hot and was filling. The beer selections were pretty decent and served ice cold for a fair price. Nice comfortable, no frills atmosphere. We enjoyed our meal.
(4)Polina T.
Nice local pub with pizza , sandwiches and pasta dishes. I had the lasagne which was excellent and well worth the $8.50. I had thought about pizza but medium was $13.00 then $1.00 for each topping. The supreme was $20.00. A little pricey.
(4)Allison L.
In town for one night (wish it were more), I had the spaghetti dinner with one meatball and one sausage for $8.95. Totally reasonable and huge portions. Service was sweet but awkward, with that I'm-waitressing-my-way-through-college vibe. Didn't really bother me that much, though.
(4)Layla P.
Pizza was fresh and good, but if you are visitng from out of town I would say to skip it.. it's nothing special. If you just want to sit and watch a game and have some beer, then this may be your place.
(2)Rochelle D.
Ken's was my go-to spot when I lived in Burlington. I'm not sure if this will be a ringing endorsement, but a lot of the reason I enjoyed going there so much was because it was often not very crowded on Friday or Saturday nights. The pizza is pretty good, nothing to write home about but hits the spot after a couple of beers. They have a good variety of beers on tap, like most places in Burlington. The atmosphere is not as relaxed as it could be, but people mostly sort of ignore everyone else so it doesn't matter. Definitely very casual. The booths are hard to cram more than 2 people per side into, although we've done it! And the service is so-so. We came to this bar once or twice a week for a year and there was only one waitress that ever acknowledged that she recognized us, despite the fact that we saw the same bartenders there all the time. I feel like you should treat your regulars right by buying them a drink every so often but this never happened here. And we are good tippers. But, no matter. If we still lived in Burlington we'd probably still be going back there since it was the least crowded and college student filled place within walking distance.
(3)Kara B.
I am an Upstate New Yorker who has been out in California for the past 11 months. I miss my family and friends, but the third thing on the list that I miss most is edible pizza!! I was lucky enough to spend a few days in my happy place (BTV) and I went back to Ken's for a bite. We grabbed a take out pizza and it did in fact travel well. The pizza was everything a NY style pizza should be. Our pie had the right crust, good sauce and the correct amount of grease. I highly recommend this place!
(4)Bunny N.
Stopped in here to have a drink to catch up with an old friend. The restaurant was very dark inside, despite it being daytime and so bright outside. It was almost depressing by the mood of it and because there weren't many people sitting inside. Beer selection was OK. I had a Switchback, my new VT favorite craft beer. Service was OK as well. Nothing spectacular. Nothing to rave about. Everything was... A-OK.
(3)Jeremy W.
Pizza was meh but the pub was cool. A wide selection of cheap beers made this out-of-town pizza snob happy enough, though I did hear the bartender mutter some things under his breath at a patron who was being a real pain in the ass...but I should never have been able to decipher an F-bomb directed at a patron (unless of course, it was me).
(3)Antonio C.
I'm upgrading Kens to a four. Since my last review, I've eaten here four more times and my overall experience with them has improved. The pizza is a lot better and even the other menu items I've ordered were very good. I especially like their NE clam chowder.
(4)Rachel P.
Mediocre at best. I got pizza and it was previously made and they just stuck the vegetables I wanted on it and warmed it. The vegetables were not even cooked.
(2)Steve A.
Was going to eat here but the service was so bad I walked. At least pretend to like your job!
(1)Mariko M.
Kens is a staple in our dining out go-to's in Burlington. There is seating place for every style. In the summer season there is plenty of seating out front, and inside is divided into the 'family friendly' side (enter to the left, it's where the food is made, is definable brighter, and you can expect families in this side) and the dimly lit dive-y side on the right. I humorous sign out front boasts, 'husband daycare'. The space is a bit on the narrow side and usually fills up (bar seating on the left and booths on the right). On this side there are several TVs and you can always find a huge crowd on game nights. The food is decent and affordable (the sizes of the slices can be a bit inconsistent though, depending on the cook so be warned). The super casual atmosphere, affordable pizza and beer, with excellent church street people watching views will always have me coming back.
(4)David S.
I'm local and this is where I come for a great meatball sub or a huge slice of pizza with always fresh veggies at reasonable price. But not everything on the menu is good (the soggy attempts at mexican dishes for example) and I only do take out. The waitstaff here are notoriously rude and stupid and the wait times ridiculously long. The kitchen staff, too, while ordering and waiting for your takeout are usually rude. And besides being rude to you, you get to listen to them say rude things about other staff and customers- there is zero professionalism in this establishment. It's like everyone that works there hates their job, the customers, and they're own lives... but they seem to greatly enjoy being mean and rude to other people. But they make a damn good meatball sub, and sometimes they even heat up your slice of pizza before throwing it at you. Tonight mine was cold.. and coincidentally I overheard one cook yelling at the other "in and out, in and out" in regards to putting things in the oven, and then laughed at me when giving me the box. That's fine, I was taking it home anyway and my toaster oven works great. The pizza was good even if the staff were dicks.
(2)Mike C.
We were visiting from CT, so we love New Haven style pizza... If you're looking for that type of pizza, don't go to Ken's. The pizza was slightly better than frozen pizza. The sausage was not good, and the sauce tasted like it came out of a can. Even worse, there was no grated cheese or red pepper flakes available to improve the taste. My wife went against the grain and ordered clam strips. Not a good choice either. On the plus side, the atmosphere was very good as it was a nice sunny day and there were a lot of people eating outside. And they had the famous Heady Topper beer that I've been meaning to try. Otherwise, best bet is to try somewhere else for dinner.
(1)Gail D.
Food was fine, we like sitting outside to enjoy our lunch and a nice Heady Topper. The Vermonter sandwich was pretty good and the pizza is good. My problem on this visit was the owner, was rude and a real jerk. The restaurant opens at 11 am., we sat at an outdoor table to wait for the opening 3 minutes early. He sent a waitress out to make us get up and leave the seating area. My brother looked at his watch and said to me good one minute. The owner very angrily told us, if we were going to count down, he would open 15 minutes late, which he didn't. We stayed to eat, but if it was up to me, I would have left. Next time, I wait for Pennycluse. My husband is in the restaurant business and would never treat his customers in this manner.
(2)Doug M.
I used to love the place but I saw a very ugly incident. A man with a cute little dog was being screamed at by an employee for being in seating area before 11 am.
(2)Angela B.
This was one of our last stops of the night. We were walking down Church Street and came across Ken's. I wanted some pizza and my boyfriend wanted another beer. The bar definitely has an interesting vibe. My boyfriend sat down next to the famous "Leg Lamp" from the Christmas Story movie. I don't think I've ever been in a bar with a leg lamp. The drink selection was okay. When we left, we ordered a slice of pizza to go. We had just had a slice of pizza from the little pizza counter inside Three Needs. THAT was great pizza. This pizza was not. It was burnt. Every bite tasted charred to me. I could not taste anything but burnt pizza. Too bad because it could have had great potential.
(2)Billy R.
Awesome place. First went here in '70's as a UVM student. Avoided long lines at the time at What Ales You and Hannibul's - Ken's one of the last places from that era still left. Outstanding pizza, subs etc. good bar food - a neat place to grab a beer and a bite. My go-to place in Burlington that's reasonably priced and unpretentious.
(5)Brian H.
I've never had a great pizza at Ken's. It's mostly mediocre but I do appreciate the NY style slices and crust. Other dishes seem to be sub par. My partner ordered chicken parmesan but the chicken was undercooked and tasted funny. My sicilian sandwich was ok after the first couple of bites but the dressing was just too overwhelming. Service is OK but nothing fantastic. The menu has variety but I don't think any dish here stands out. Ken's would do better with a pizza cart out on Church Street selling slices than try to do this kind of full-service restaurant.
(2)r b.
My wife and I have lived in VT for 4 1/2 years and have been to Ken's many times. About two years ago, we started to notice that the pizza was not as good. We kept going in, ordering different pizza's on different nights, trying to find the quality we had always expected, but it just got worse. We stopped going about a year ago, and just gave up. Two weeks ago, we were out in the cold and went in for a salad, which is always good. We also ended up ordering a small pepperoni and cheese pizza just to see if anything had improved. Nope. The pizza was swimming in grease, and the cheese had a weird cottage cheese look with grease floating up between holes in the cheese. I decided to try a slice anyway, but as soon as I picked it up, the entire topping slid off the crust on to my plate. It was then that I noticed that the crust was nearly raw underneath. Yuck! I called the waitress over and pointed it out. After explaining the problem, we noticed that she was pale and kind of shaking. I told her that it wasn't her fault, she didn't make it, and could I speak to the manager. She said "he won't come over." We could see that she really didn't want to go to the manager, so I went to the bar and asked to speak to him. The bartenders just looked blank and didn't answer me. I did notice them glance at a guy sitting right next to me hunched over his drink. I went back to our table, and the waitress came back fighting tears. She said she was sorry but we would have to pay for the pizza anyway. We said no, we would not be paying for a greasy undercooked pizza and we expected it to be removed from our bill. We were very nice about it, but we were also firm. Two minutes later, a large angry man in a rage, rushed up to our table. He waved his arms above our heads like he wanted to take a swing at us, and loudly said "Pay for your drinks and get out, and don't come back." It was the guy who'd been sitting at the bar. Everyone in the place turned and looked at us, but we were so shocked we couldn't believe it just happened. It was such an over the top extreme reaction that we didn't know how to process it! No one has ever spoken to us that way, certainly no business owner who relies on good will! It just didn't seem real! We especially felt bad for the waitress and left her a very generous tip. I still feel like she needs to be rescued from an abusive situation. FYI: My wife and I are a couple of 5'2, middle aged women dressed for shopping. We are not a threat, nor are we out to rip the restaurant off. We have never complained about the food at Ken's previously. We had never met this guy before. We did expected the manager to treat us with respect because it is his establishment to manage, and most managers want to know about problems with food and service. Not this guy. He's a powder keg waiting to blow. After leaving the restaurant we went shopping. Apparently this guy is famous on Church Street for being aggressive and verbally abusive. We've spoken to several people who work in the surrounding businesses who told us that they won't go into Ken's because of the way this guy runs the place, and also because the pizza is so bad. I hope that maybe the owner will read this review and replace him, and maybe get the place back to where it was 4 years ago. All I know for sure is that I will never go back, or take any of our out-of-town visitors into Ken's Pizza as long as he works there. If you go to Ken's, DON'T complain about the food!
(1)John W.
A solid 3 star Yelp restaurant. Not 2...not 4. A 3 because our waitress was very cool and I liked her...our food though...very bland pizza. Not sure what's up with that.. Saturday night the place was packed. If you just did a 4 hour hike on Camel's Hump in Vermont and you are walking by this place with your stomach growling its hard to keep going. There is something about the outside...the decor...it pulls you in. Now...the servers are very nice. College students mostly. Our server was excellent. Very attentive. Food: The Pizza in humble foodie opinion was so so. It lacked that kick and was very bland. My girlfriend said the same. I put the peppers and grated cheese on it but it really didn't have a lot of flavor compared to other pizza I have had recently. Some ingredient seems to have been left out. French fries were ok. Not amazing but ok. Salad was also just ok...it filled us up but we weren't in awe. They had a home made salad dressing which needs to be looked at also....very bitter tasting. I enjoyed the ambiance though....it seems like a nice place to bring the family and feed the kids who don't know anything about flavor and seasoning but for a real foodie with experience it's a toss up. I guess they are a landmark restaurant in Burlington...and they are nice people...but the pizza and salad were just very weak. Their secret is the location. If not for their location they would possibly be in trouble because there are some great restaurants in Burlington on Church Street.
(3)Mark H.
Nothing bad, nothing good. Pizza was pizza. Beer wasn't cold enough. Out of fairness, fresh ingredients and Caesar salad was good.
(3)Megan B.
I'm begging Kens to bring back their old buffalo chicken sandwich! Please! My sister moved out of VT and one of our favorite things to do when she came back was go and get that specific sandwich because it's her all time favorite food! Yesterday when we went in, we were informed that the sandwich had changed from deli style buffalo chicken to chicken tenders. The sandwich was okay but not even close to as amazing as it use to be. It wasn't on ciabatta bread like it use to be, and there were no longer onions and tomato, it was just tenders, shredded lettuce on a roll with the blue cheese on the side (adios blue cheese crumble :( ) Point being, we've lost one of our favorite meals, and we aren't sure why it needed to change. Every other place has that type of buffalo chicken sandwich, and that's why we went to Kens. Please bring it back!!!!
(2)Joscelyn B.
Visited for lunch. I ordered lasagna which came with garlic bread. There was so much cheese and minimal noodles in my lasagna. It was nice to have my food served hot, but the lasagna and bowl were so hot that I could barely eat while my boyfriend was basically finishing his sandwhich. His sandwich came with a bag of lays and he said he enjoyed the sandwich but he didn't eat the chips. Refills were prompt and service was nice. Unfortunately it started raining outside so everyone who was seated out there rushed in to the bar area where we were seated and made things pretty crowded.
(3)Dana A.
If you are in Burlington you must visit Ken's Pizzeria on Church Street in downtown Burlington and savor their pizza. Ken's is over forty years standing for a reason . We couldn't wait to come back to Burlington - it has been eight months - to indulge in their yummy, hot and gooey thin crust cheese and pepperoni pizza - do not miss this.
(5)Matthew B.
A lot of beer choices on tap and excellent food. Caesar salad is phenominal. Nice wait staff, too.
(5)David T.
Bland pizza. Ordered a pepperoni and sausage slice. The sauce was flavorless. The crust just tasted like bread. The cheese did not seem to be fully cooked. The sausage was extremely bland. This pizza seems like the type that you would find at a flea market or a small local mall, as it was nothing special. The only reason I did not give this pizza one star was because it was not horrible. Nice restaurant, good service (at the bar), but pizza was very forgettable.
(2)Trish W.
Remarkably good NY-style pizza; considerably better than I expected. It takes forever to get food though. We ordered an app, which took 20 minutes, pizza was another 30 on top of that.
(3)Kelly V.
TL;DR Drunk owner picks a fight and kicks out one of our party members; bad pizza The whole story: A small group of friends and I were driving up to Montreal for the weekend and stopped midway in Burlington to grab a bite and take a bathroom break. Pizza sounded good and we happened upon Ken's. After ordering a large cheese pizza to go, a few of us decide to find the restrooms. The men's room had a long line while the ladies' room was completely empty, so my friend Sarah invited my other friend Tyler to use the free stall while we kept watch for other women wanting to use the room. Tyler starts to step in and some random guy in a Hawaiian shirt sitting at the bar starts yelling loudly at him to get out of the ladies room. Since Tyler didn't want to start a fight with the dude (whom we assumed was just a really drunk patron), he got out and waited for the men's room. As I exited the ladies' room, I asked how Tyler was doing. He said something non-incendiary about how rude the dude was. Old Hawaiian shirt overheard us, cursed at Tyler with a few four-letter words, telling him to **** off. Tyler told him to do the same and wanted to leave it at that, stepping into the now-vacant men's room. That REALLY pissed off old Hawaiian shirt, who, much to our surprise, screamed that he was the owner and that he was going to kick Tyler out. He jumped off his barstool, went into the restroom after Tyler and forced him out of the bathroom. As Tyler calmly exited the restaurant, a greasy-haired waiter kid who REEKED of alcohol marched behind him and gave a comical "AND STAY OUT!" at the doorway. Sarah had tried to explain to the obviously intoxicated wait staff that it was her fault for inviting Tyler to use the ladies' room, but nobody would listen to her. What made the whole thing even more awkward was that some of us were still waiting for our pizza while overhearing the wait staff gossip loudly about us. They gave us our pizza in a hurry, severely undercooked. Never again. Terrible pizza, unbelievably rude and unprofessional owner and wait staff who were obviously drinking on the job. They didn't deserve our business. Many other good places in the area, so definitely don't bother with Ken's.
(1)David M.
Strolling up and down Church Street in Burlington Vt. the guys I was with checked the menus of places trying to find a meal that wouldn't break the bank, Ken's had a good meal in our price range. For just under $10 for most sandwiches, this is a great place to quickly drop in, refuel, and keep on moving. The staff is friendly enough, no complaints there. I was surprised they didn't have Woodchuck Hard Cider though, but no place is perfect. In short, go in, order, get food, put food in face, leave. If that's what you want from an eatitorium, Ken's is for you.
(4)Andrea P.
The lobster bisque is amazing!! I got fish and chips at an Italian restaurant. I didn't think that through. They were still good though. Our waitress was very nice :) I'm from New York so I didn't bother trying their pizza lol
(4)Wanxin C.
Cheap. The portion is huge! Pizza tastes good, but too soft. The shrimp taco is good.
(4)