Have you stopped by Eastdale Village in Dutchess County yet? The live-work-play community is an ideal stop during any Poughkeepsie day trip and was recently lauded for its outstanding design and community impact. Kirchhoff and Union Studios, two companies who brought the Eastdale vision to life, received a 2024 Urban Guild Design Excellence Award for the colorful village.
“Eastdale successfully combines timeless design with a vibrant live-work-play community that attracts residents and visitors alike,” says Joseph Kirchhoff, partner and founder of Kirchhoff. “It’s an honor to be in the company of people setting the standard for the future of urban architecture and design.”
While the Dutchess County hotspot is popular for its one-stop lifestyle attractions and housing options, it’s also a must-visit for foodies throughout the Hudson Valley. Don’t believe us? Take a browse through this guide to Eastdale’s assorted dining establishments and see if your mouth doesn’t water along the way. If you plan to visit after seeing all that the village has to offer, download our Eastdale Foodie Checklist of must-try menu items at each spot for the ultimate food tour.
Alimentari Rossi & Sons
Rossi and Sons has been located on South Clover Street in Little Italy for decades. At the small corner deli, Rossi and Sons provides customers with delicious sandwiches, salads, pastas, and everything Italian. With customers filling up the corner store, the four brothers decided they were ready to expand when local developer Joseph Kirchhoff approached them at the deli one day. After a long renovation process and setup, the new location is now open in Eastdale Village.
The Eastdale Village space is separated into a bakery, deli, pasta station, and sandwich counter. Customers can also order custom-made sandwiches and even adjust the size of the sandwich. Of course, the eatery continues to offer its most famous items even as it has expanded to feature new artisanal sandwiches, salads, and desserts.
Amanda’s Macaron Shoppe
After starting online in 2019, Amanda’s Macaron Shoppe was ready to expand when the opportunity presented itself in Eastdale Village. After opening its physical location, the shop also expanded its menu with bubble teas and other creative drinks. The shop specializes as a gluten-free bakery with uniquely flavored French macarons.
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Amanda’s Macaron Shoppe offers macaron flavors such as coconut lime, red velvet, strawberry champagne, and crème brulee, to name a few. After working with macaron flavors and perfecting the craft, the shop also created its own dessert called macarownies. Yes, they are exactly what they sound like: a macaron inside of a brownie. The popular item currently comes in four different flavors, including chocolate fluffernutter, chocolate cherry cordial, cookie dough blondie, and chocolate Nutella.
In addition to the sweet macaron treats, customers can choose from a wide selection of drinks in the Eastdale shop. The in-store menu has 14 different bubble tea options ranging from Thai tea to milk and cookies. If that’s not enough, create your own bubble tea with a Harney and Sons tea base.
Athena2Go
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Athena Gyro is a Lagrangeville hotspot for authentic Greek cuisine. New to Eastdale Village is the restaurant’s to-go outpost, Athena2Go. While the new location is a more casual eatery than the original spot, fans of the Dutchess County restaurant can enjoy the same dishes like Ionian platters, falafel, souvlaki, salads, dolmades, soups, baklava, and more as takeout from the Poughkeepsie locale.
Barbue
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Perhaps Barbue will be your new favorite happy hour destination in the Queen City. Opened in mid-2024, the restaurant is a swanky cocktail bar that serves brunch, lunch, and dinner from Wednesday through Sunday. At Barbue, you’ll find classic drinks like margaritas, espresso martinis, gimlets, mojitos, Manhattans, and more, all of which can be enjoyed at a discounted rate during happy hour from 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays.
When it comes to bites, indulge in small plates like okra fries, Louisiana hand pies, fried oysters, blue crab gratin, and poutine before digging into entrees like crawfish mac and cheese, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, fried chicken, and more. Inspired by Cajun tastes, the brunch and lunch menus feature other Southern delights like chicken and waffles, shrimp po boys, and fish and chips.
Buns Burgers
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With an original location in Rhinebeck, Buns Burgers now has four Hudson Valley locations. At Eastdale, the brand continues to push its farm-to-table philosophy, serving delicious grass-fed burgers, hand-cut fries, and locally sourced milk and ice cream in its milkshakes. Buns Burgers makes all its food with ingredients from regional farmers as the brand remains committed to creating satisfying and healthier alternatives to fast-casual takeout.
Some menu favorites at the burger joint include burgers like the original bun, cheeseburger, or veggie stacker; hotdogs like the Doggies Dirty and the Doggies Classic; and sandwiches like the Dirty Bird. To go with any meal, the hand-cut fries and vanilla, chocolate, or black and white shakes are perfect options.
Chakra Bowls
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Using locally sourced ingredients that are in season, Chakra Bowls prides itself on creating healthy and clean food. In addition to traditional smoothie flavors, it also carries specific bowls with health benefits such as the soul bowl and the matcha energy bowl.
Other popular bowls available include the breakfast bowl, mermaid bowl, and gypsy bowl. The banana bread bowl contains banana, cinnamon, almond milk, and cacao and is topped with dark chocolate chips, banana, coconut, granola, and peanut butter drizzle.
For salads, the eatery currently offers options such as a Thai bowl, Nourish bowl, Cali bowl, Senorita bowl, and Earth bowl, all of which include a variety of fresh vegetables. On toast, the restaurant offers a variety of avocado toasts ranging from sweet and spicy to caprese.
The Crafted Kup
Always looking to expand his business and connect with the community, the owner of The Crafted Kup, Tanner Townsend, moved his second location into Eastdale Village. In addition to a packed drink menu, the café also makes a variety of fresh baked goods. With their coffee or tea, customers can enjoy bagels, danishes, muffins, scones, croissants, cookies, and more.
Some of the café specialties include a matcha latte, cafe Cubano, cafe miel, and RPG, the latter which contains espresso, brown sugar, caramel, and vanilla. Hot and cold drinks are available all day, and customers can buy their own freshly ground coffee in-store. In the summer months, customers come in for cold drink options which include iced coffees, lattes, cold brew, coffee shakes, iced tea, iced chai, iced mochas, and smoothies. The Eastdale Village location is a perfect spot to run in and grab cafe fare on the go.
The Doughnut Dolly
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Years in the making, The Doughnut Dolly finally opened its doors at Eastdale Village in August 2023. Owner Jennifer DiPalo-Foley has been a Hudson Valley resident since 2013 and has since fallen in love with the area and helping the community. As a novice home baker, she decided to take the leap to open her donut shop as a way to bring the community together under her roof.
A constantly changing menu is stocked with flavors of filled, old-fashioned, and cake donuts, so there’s something to suit every mood. Try the crème brulee, cider maple, or tuttie frutti for fun new combinations, or the Boston creme or strawberry frosted for go-to classics. In addition to donuts, The Doughnut Dolly also has hot and cold beverages like drip coffee, matcha, cold brew, and iced tea.
Eastdale Ave Bagels
Eastdale Ave Bagels opened in November 2021, fulfilling owner Alex Maravegia’s lifelong dream of running his own bagel shop. Together with his team, Maravegia makes hundreds of bagels fresh each weekend. After turning on the ovens and the kettle (where the bagels are boiled), Maravegia gets to work on pastries. He makes croissants, muffins, scones, and other morning treats out of a separate convection oven. A few of the most popular varieties are corn, blueberry, oat bran raisin, and, of course, chocolate chip.
The shop’s perfectly chewy bagels are made fresh every single day, making them the perfect base for a morning meal. More than a dozen styles offer something for every palate. Go sweet with blueberry, French toast, or cinnamon raisin. Alternatively, whole wheat, pumpernickel, egg, onion, and sesame, to name a few, are perfect savory picks.
As if that wasn’t enough, Eastdale Ave Bagels also makes its own cream cheeses and salads. Cream cheese lovers can choose between jalapeno, veggie, scallion, lox spread, honey walnut raisin, olive pimento, sun-dried tomato, and strawberry. On the other hand, chicken, egg, whitefish, and tuna salads are delicious for heartier spreads.
Just a Little Pie Shop
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Searching for pie in Poughkeepsie? Look no further than Just a Little Pie Shop. The business moved into Eastdale toward the end of 2023 and has been serving up sweet slices ever since. Rotating pies of the week include everything from chocolate peanut butter pretzel brownie to chocolate-covered strawberry, and mainstay flavors range from savory pies like chicken pot pie, meatball marinara, and pot roast to sweet options like Nutty Apple, Chocolate Dreams, and Cherry Clouds. Pie lovers can also build their own pies and score deals on two- and four-packs.
Pizzeria Posto
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Patrick Amadeo is skilled in making wood-fired pizza and opened up Pizzeria Posto in 2012 to prove it. With an original location in Rhinebeck, Amadeo decided his business was ready to expand when Eastdale Village was constructed. At Pizzeria Posto, customers can choose from a selection of wood-fired pizzas such as Margherita, Mama Mia, Morandi, and Marino. All of the pizzas are made with fresh ingredients and often feature Italian favorites like fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato.
In addition to pizza, the eatery also has a featured list of hearty salads and a wine selection that features a variety from Italy to perfectly pair with the pizza for the night. Customers can order by the glass or select a bottle to share with the table. The location in Eastdale offers sit-down dining as well as takeout so customers can enjoy their food in any setting.
Spoons Ice Cream & More
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Sisters Alyssa and Kellie Fasano are native to the Hudson Valley and have worked in a number of restaurants and food service establishments over the years. After hearing about Eastdale Village, the sisters knew that they wanted to start a local, family-owned business. And what better way to start than with an ice cream shop?
The sisters’ boutique ice cream store specializes in gourmet sundaes and over-the-top milkshakes. At Spoons Ice Cream & More, customers can choose from 24-plus flavors of hard ice cream including gluten-free, vegan, NSA, and dairy-free options as well as soft-serve ice cream. Known for their elaborate ice cream confections, the sisters offer regular ice cream, ice cream sundaes, freakshakes, homemade ice cream bars, and sandwiches, as well as ice cream cakes.
Tomo Asian Fusion
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Since fall of 2023, Tomo Asian Fusion has been serving up fine dining Asian cuisine. Its partner restaurant is Mr. Sushi Grill in Middletown, which whips up classic sushi rolls, appetizers, and hibachi dishes daily. At the Eastdale restaurant, enjoy signature sushi rolls, hibachi dinners, noodles, soups, and more in a welcoming ambiance. Stop by during the day to cash in on lunch specials from hibachi to maki.
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