The Cellar Bistro

09/07/2008 Posted by financial_foodie

My partner and I found this restaurant a few years ago and loved it so much the first time we ended up going one a week for 5 or 6 weeks straight! Needless to say our dining out budget was broken pretty quickly. That's not to say that The Cellar (as we call it) is expensive, we just like fine wine a little too much. ;-) FOOD: I haven't had an entree here I didn't like. Same goes for the appetizers. I would have to recommend the Gorgonzola & Roasted Garlic Crustini. Yum! Of the entrees some of my favorites are the Gnocchi Carbonara, House Lasagna, Sausage Linguini, Veal Parmesan (or Saltambocca), and any of the entrees with pesto sauce. Another thing I would recommend doing is if you don't mind paying for fine wine, let the owner/head chef, Ken, recommend a wine paired with whatever you've choosing to eat. One I would definitely recommend is the Prunotto Barolo. (His wine markups aren't nearly as high as others around town.) LOCATION: North Capital Hill, just south of Roanoke Park, small parking lot on site. ATMOSHERE: Overall it's a smaller place, subtle lighting, good for a nice evening out for two or a quiet dinner with your parents or in-laws while their visiting from out of town. But don't miss the velvet painting of the Godfather in one of the alcoves toward the back!

02/14/2008 Posted by nanibarro

My husband and I just returned from our Valentine Dinner. After waiting 75 minutes for overcooked chewy chicken and begging the server for water or wine....we will nevere go back to this place. Even after telling our server we DONT want our (entire dinner-we literally didn't eat anything) boxed, she brought our dinner back to our table in boxes....um duh we didn't eat it for a reason!!! Anyhow, our dog was happy to eat the chewy chicken.....

Pros: Parking is Free

Cons: FOOD AND SERVICE

11/18/2007 Posted by jtflynn

The cellar bistro is a neighborhood spot literally located in the cellar, downstairs from another restaurant. The room is a bit dark even early in the evening in the daylight. The decor is interesting - there's a velvet painting of Elvis on one of the walls! The food is average Italian, nothing to rave about, but the service was attentive and the prices reasonable. I wouldn't go out of my way to return there, but wouldn't avoid it, either.

Pros: service, value

Cons: dark room, average food

10/06/2007 Posted by akostina

I visited this place with a group of friends, so I got a chance to taste at least 4 different entrees and 2 desserts. My general impression was that they have incompetent cooks in the kitchen and not so knowledgeable staff in the dining room. The vegetarian risotto was dry, not at all creamy and under-seasoned. They really should have called the dish "boiled rice with a few sorry looking vegetables". The scallops piccata - a $20 plate, mind you - were rubbery and a had metallic aftertaste; also under-seasoned. I paid $20 for a 1/2 cup of pasta and a few over steamed pieces of broccoli and carrots and felt like I was under a watchful eye of a renal dietitian. Garlic prawns were.. but of course, overcooked. Based on my experience with the rest of the dishes, you will be paying $15-22 for a sodium-restricted version of something you can cook better at home. Then came the dessert. The highly touted red velvet cake was quite obviously a supermarket cake-mix variety. The chocolate sauce tasted like ( and I am sure was) a Hershey's syrup; the "whipped cream" was whipped directly from the can. The pinnacle off this creation was pink gritty frosting. The wine list deserves a special mentioning. Not only is it poor, it is also outrageously overpriced. For instance a bottle of Washington Hills Riesling (retailing for $6.99 at QFC) was priced at $26! Do not bother asking the waitress about the food or the wine - she does not know the answers. In all fairness she was friendly and smiled a lot. The restaurant has parking - that was the best part of the meal.

Pros: free parking

Cons: bland overpriced food; extremely overpriced mediocre wine list

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09/22/2007 Posted by goldilocks_11

I do not live in Seattle, but I make sure to go to the cellar bistro every time I'm in town because I love the food. My particular favorite is the penne fromage. It is delicious! I would recommend the cellar bistro to anyone who loves italian food. This is a wonderful place to bring a date or go to with a couple of friends.

Pros: food

06/09/2007 Posted by mexispice

Although the food is better than most italian restaurants in Seattle, the service is horrible. We recently went to the restaurant and had the worst experience. The waitress was very slow in taking our orders and had a very bad attitude. At the end of our meal we were enjoying our coffee and dessert when the hostess came and informed us a large party was waiting for our table and said "if you could hurry with your dessert and coffee it would be appreciated." At that time we hadn't even received our bill. Minutes later our waitress came to our table and also asked that we hurry with our coffee because of next party waiting for our table. We still did not have our bill and we were not finished with our coffee. I have never been made to feel so unwelcomed. You would think after spending over $400.00 for dinner they would treat their customers with more respect. We will never go back to The Cellar Bistro or reccommend The Cellar Bistro to any of our friends. They advertise that their restaurant is good for large parties but from our experience they seemed unable to accommodate a party larger than 2 or 3 guests.

Pros: food is average

Cons: terrible wait staff

03/25/2007 Posted by nuggs411

From the moment I walked in the door, impessed I was. From the beautiful decor, the romantic ambiance , to the wonderful smells permeating from the kitchen. The Cellar bistro is a must try. The prices was right, and the food was great. I have only a couple of negative comments. The server for my section chose to service three other tables that came after us, first. She did not ask if we wanted a bread refill and was a bit slow. She was friendly but that doesn't always cut it. The food was really good but the saltimboca was a bit salty. Besides these small details the overall experience was a nine.

03/23/2007 Posted by jblessing

Because of the glowing reviews I took my finace' to The Cellar. The decor was a nice try but really skimped on some finishing touches, like picture frames and attention to detail with the painting. The host that seated us didn't even bother to ask for our drink order and we had to flag him down to get a glass of wine after 10 mintues of sitting there. It was a good 12-15 minutes before our waiter showed up and he was about to run off until we told him we were ready to order. The gorganzola appatizer was decent but my fiance's meal was overcooked and salty. It's a good thing he filled up on the bread because he took 2 bites and deamed the dish inedible. Our waiter seemed to be too busy chatting up the group behind us to check in with us about our meal, we had to complain about the food to another person on the waitstaff. We got neither confirmation, nor appology, nor a comp on our bill for the inedible meal. Thanks Citysearch for the $10 coupon or this meal would have been an insult. We won't be going back there.

03/06/2007 Posted by rborchers7

Exceptional food, veal parmisian melted in my mouth. Very cozy seating that adds to the romantic atmosphere. Truly a gem for couples on a limited budget, but not exclusive to the college age.

02/02/2007 Posted by vln610

We had reservations for Sat at 5:30 to celebrate my daughter's 10th birthday with family members. I called 3x the week prior to verify our large party would not adversely impact the wait staff or kitchen. I was told each time that the reservation time would not cause any problems. When we arrived, the service was slow. I had to ask for our waitress a few times. As we were enjoying coffee & dessert, the hostess approached our table & advised that there was another large party waiting for our table, so could we please finish up. Not 5 minutes later, our waitress told us the same thing AND with a bad attitude. This was all BEFORE we even received our bill. Even after speaking to the owner/chef, & receiving a nice gift certificate for our next visit, I will not be returning to the Cellar Bistro & I will be making sure I let everyone know about our negative experience. I used to question the bad reviews, but now see I have been very lucky with my past experiences dining here. Very unfortunate that this had to happen on a special occasion for my family.

Pros: Good food.

Cons: Horrible service.