Cellar Bistro

Average rating does no justice to the quality of food at this dining establishment. Our dinners were wonderful, reasonably priced, and had great presentation. The kitchen manages to keep up an intricate and large menu, and should be applauded for a fine craft. Pros: Food, Price, Varied menu options, Great bar Cons: Poor customer service, unfriendly servers, take too long to seat tables and greet guests, equally take long to serve food from kitchen more

The Cellar Bistro in Seattle had a kitschy Italian romantic feel. There weren't many low-fat, healthy items... more

The Cellar Bistro in Seattle had a kitschy Italian romantic feel. There weren't many low-fat, healthy items on the menu, but the December speci... more

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. ;-) more

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 more

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 more

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. Pros: free parking Cons: bland overpriced food; extremely overpriced mediocre wine list more

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 more

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 more

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. more

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. more

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. more

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. Pros: Good food. Cons: Horrible service. more

My wife and I dined here to celebrate a special event and it was well worth it. The ambience and decor was romantic and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was very tasty. I tried the monthly special which is a three course meal (for under $20) and my wife had the vegetarian lasanga. Portions were huge and they had great desserts too. We will definitely go there again. Pros: romantic, friendly staff, great food Cons: none really more

I went to the Cellar Bistro with my friend on a weekday night for dinner. The service was extremely friendly and the waitress checked up us just the right amount. The food was quite simply delicious. The portions are big. I ordered the Chicken Serrano: stuffed with three cheeses and topped with marinara sauce and olives. The entree not only came with pasta (amazing pesto penne!) and veggies, it also came with this rich and flavorful casaer salad where one can actually taste the anchovies and the garlic. The croutons were also homemade :-). For dessert, I tried the ice cream amore with Kahlau, Irish Cream, and Amaretto. It was a nice delightful finish to the meal. Pros: Delicious food, service Cons: a bit too dark more

A very romantic and private dining experience awaited us last evening on our first visit to the bistro. Service was warm and attentive. I selected one of the specials that evening, the portabello mushroom parmigiana which was delightful. Servings are generous and you won't leave hungry. My friend enjoyed the stuffed chicken on the fresh menu. The green apple pecan salad was very delicious with just the right blend of balsamic vinagrette. Although rather ""cavernous"" and cellar like upon entering, the dining theme blossomed as our dinner progressed. The server was friendly and added to the enjoyable dining experience. Pros: Very Pleasant Dining Experience! more

Pleasant staff, good food and nice ambience. Decent, well served meals with friendly wait staff and a good menu selection. more

We love pasta Carbonara, have eaten it all over the world, including at the Ristorante Carbonara in Rome where it supposedly originated. Our favorite has alway been in Bruge, Belgium, until TONIGHT!! I had the Gnocchi Carbonara, my husband the Fettuccine Carbonara. Not only was it the best we've ever had, the portions were so good-sized that we had to take half home for tomorrow (we can hardly wait). Now we plan to take some friends there for dinner very soon, and we'll probably have the same wonderful dishes we had tonight. Ken Slack is a great host and chef - thanks for a memorable evening in a very cozy restaurant. Pros: Delicious food, Cozy, intimate, Fair prices Cons: None!!! more

The first time I visited the Cellar Bistro was over 4 years ago and every one of my many visits since then has been just as amazing as the first. There have been a few times when the service was off, but other than that I think that it is quite possibly the best Italian restaurant in Seattle. The food is always prepared perfectly and you get a huge serving of amazing food for not very much money. I actually have had dreams about the red velvet cake, if you go you should try it it is deliciously decadent. If you go on their website and click on specials they always have coupons available which is great for us poor college students (but their prices are great to begin with!). They serve Cafe Vita coffee and brew it to perfection. I am continually impressed by the Cellar Bistro and have brought many many friends their and they always have a great time. Pros: Great food, romantic, comfortable atmosphere, free parking Cons: Parking lot is hard for bad drivers (like me) more

I could live with the black-velvet paintings and the bad music; I could even put up with waitstaff that says things like, ""hello, and welcome, attractive young couple,"" in an affected, dramatic cadence, if only the food were any good. My wife and I have eaten here twice, once under different owners and once under the current owners - nothing has changed. I am still trying to reconcile the other reviews with our own experience - every pasta dish was drenched in either an overly rich, garlicy white sauce that overpowered everything or an acidic, canned tasting tomato sauce. They were out of the osobuco and the veal, so we had to stick to overcooked, overwhelmed pasta. Absolutely terrible and as far from Italian as any Italian restaurant in Seattle. At least the prices were reasonable. Pros: Inexpensive, wine list, no wait Cons: food, cheesydramatic staff more