Nine months after launching as a pop-up, Peace Burger now has a long-term home in Waitsfield. Peace Burger at Afterthoughts opened at 8 Route 17 in January, serving “bootleg versions of the greatest burgers of all time,” owner Aaron Zurcher said. It was inspired by the drive-ins and classic fast-food restaurants he remembers from his childhood on the West Coast.
The burger biz is the latest addition to the revitalized building near the intersection of Routes 100 and 17, most famously Gallagher’s Bar & Grill. Now, the downstairs is home to Valley Meade dispensary and the upstairs has transformed into Afterthoughts, a bar and venue that hosts live music and line dancing.
Peace Burger currently offers its menu of smash burgers and chicken sandwiches Thursday through Sunday evenings, when Afterthoughts is open. Takeout lunch service is on pause while Zurcher and business partner Nate Dunbar, former owner of Waterbury’s Vermont Beer Collective, hire more staff.
Before starting Peace Burger last spring, Zurcher worked remotely as a creative director and taught snowboard lessons “to interact with humans,” he said. When winter ended, he decided to try his hand at his first food business. Six weeks later, Peace Burger was a weekly vendor at the now-defunct Waterbury Farmers Market and a regular presence at events and outside dispensaries in the Mad River Valley and beyond.
Connecting with Aron, Corey and Emily Shea, who own Afterthoughts and Valley Meade, “seemed like a great opportunity,” Zurcher said, noting that food vendors beside dispensaries “do awesome.”
“There’s some really cool history in this building,” he continued. “We’re excited to bring the spirit of fun and joy back into the space.”
This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue 2025.
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