• File: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
• Carnitas taco at Mad Taco

After being inundated in the July 2023 floods, Mad Taco in Montpelier rebuilt and reopened in late October of that year — only to be destroyed by a fire six days later. On September 24, the casual taco spot — which also has locations in Essex, Middlebury and Waitsfield — finally re-reopened, co-owner Joey Nagy confirmed.

The Creamery Restaurant in Danville was two years shy of a half-century in business when the family-owned restaurant announced it would close on September 7 so that current proprietor Marion Cairns could retire. The Creamery was known for homey New England fare, including maple cream pie made with a closely held family recipe.

In Milton, the Painted Lady Café hit the two-year mark before closing on September 28. As Seven Days previously reported, the restaurant was a retirement project for chef-owner Eric Fredette, a longtime flavor guru and global R&D chef for Ben & Jerry's. The business' Facebook post announcing the closure noted that Fredette "looks forward to his second retirement being much more relaxed."

Taco Gordo in Burlington's Old North End has ended its late-night offerings. Available Friday and Saturday from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., the limited menu was "surprisingly devoid of tacos" but "radiated with flavor," according to a Seven Days summer roundup of late-night food options. The social media announcement promised the "occasional late-night party" to come.