Bluebird Tavern knows how to do dinner. Aside from being my personal favorite Burlington restaurant (unbelievably delicious every single visit), they are a local favorite as well. A James Beard award nominee. A champion of local causes, musicians, and local farmers and purveyors.
Affectionately known as “the ‘Bird” to my clutch of culinary groupies, Bluebird Tavern serves up local fare from producers and gardens as close as right around the corner at the Intervale, and from farms around Vermont and New England seafood purveyors. Its as local as a restaurant can likely get.
As owner Sue Bette likes to put it:
“At Bluebird Tavern we emphasize local, sustainable, and delicious food grown by our friends. We are committed to bringing our guests the best offerings from the market and from the farm. Our menu changes daily, in honor of the subtle shifts of the harvest.”
Why I love what Bluebird Tavern does
One of my favorite aspects of Bluebird (other than its transcendent menu) is how it markets itself on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. They don’t shove messaging out there to their fans and followers, they promote other people and organizations – almost exclusively.
Take a look at their tweet stream (@BluebirdTavern). You might find all of one self-promoting tweet a week, and a well-deserved promo at that, for the consummate Tavern Tuesday deals. Most of their tweets are all about others. Sharing recipes, interesting foodie finds, local agriculture advocacy, the beneficiaries of their Wednesday Benefit nights (10% of sales go to a select cause every Wednesday) and recognizing followers, customers and the local community.
On Facebook, you’ll find an actively maintained calendar packed to the rafters with all sorts of entertainment and events. This is where Bluebird can gauge interest and support in the events they host, attend or service. They also plug the people that make their business a success. They’ve gone the extra mile with a special Facebook landing page (which designer/geek I put together) that offers quick tidbits and links back to their website for more.
Bluebird utilizes Flickr to showcase the property, staff, menu items, and special events. Sue is quite the photographer and posts some really great shots of the fare and revelers.
Are they all sales-pitchy? No. Do they shove Bluebird Bluebird Bluebird down the throats of their fans? Not ever. That’s what I love about their social media marketing. They share – and have something worth sharing. And they get it.
Treat yourself to a great experience
Make this a must-do on your next visit to Burlington, VT. Check out Bluebird Tavern online »
Yes, they do a great job of parking their social places in plain site on every web page. The only part I have in Bluebird’s web presence is their Facebook landing page – the site design/maintenance is strictly the owner, Sue. The Facebook badge on the site is an easy widget, like the ones found on FB: http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/