One restaurant to close, another to make its debut in Chittenden County by week's end

Chittenden County will lose one restaurant but gain another by the end of this weekend.

Heart N’ Soul by Mark BBQ, which moved to Market Street in South Burlington after closing its operation in Colchester late last year, will shut down “after this week,” according to a July 9 social-media post by owner Darrell Langworthy. He attributed the reason for the closure to health issues, including a recent knee injury and “the beginnings of diastolic heart failure,” which he termed “somewhat correctable with some major life changes that I need to start right away.”

He added that “The stress of running a restaurant in a very questionable climate doesn’t help.”

Closing the restaurant is “by far one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,” according to Langworthy’s post. “I am saddened by this ending but I am filled with joy and love for the journey it has been.”

“Most business owners measure their success by money in the bank, but I have never been that business owner,” Langworthy wrote. “Maybe it was my humble (upbringing) or it could have been some of my life struggles that lead me to view success by how you make an impact on others. I have also realized that the real currency in life is time, we all only get so much of it here and with the ones we love. And I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to make that time longer and matter.”

Langworthy began his Texas-style Mark BBQ in Essex Junction in 2018 before opening the comfort-food-themed Heart N’ Soul restaurant next door the following year. He shut those eateries down and moved the concept into The Guilty Plate Diner in Colchester in 2022 before last year’s transition to South Burlington.

Langworthy’s enterprises have included efforts to help those less fortunate, including food giveaways for the needy and a goal to train and employ people with addiction issues. He wrote on his social-media post that “I have given my blessing” to a longtime employee who plans to open a similar Texas barbecue restaurant in Essex in the spring.

Switchback Brewing opening restaurant

The longtime Burlington beer maker Switchback Brewing announced in May that it would be opening a 3,700-square-foot tap house, beer garden and restaurant adjacent to its Flynn Avenue site. The company revealed July 5 on social media that it now has a date for the opening of the new space – noon Friday, July 12.

Switchback teased a food menu July 9 on social media that includes items such as Caesar salad, a “wicked whoopie pie,” pickle-brined chicken wings, pimento cheese dip, a Switchback smash burger and a quinoa and cauliflower veggie burger. The brewery’s website shows that the new site will be open from noon-9 p.m. Fridays-Sundays and 2-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday through July 21, with hours following that to be announced.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck atbhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.