The Root Cellar Cafe & Catering

John Choi

This place is such a vibe. It's probably one of the best restaurants I've been to in all of Chapel Hill so far. This place is a mixture of both a specialties market (selling goods you won't find elsewhere) and a cafe. It's very spacious and beautiful. I ordered their breakfast burrito. It was good, not the best I've had, but definitely very solid. And the portions were large so it was a great value overall. I'm excited to check out more of this place's offerings. But highly recommend. A great, hidden gem in Chapel Hill

Veronica Ibarra

Friendly atmosphere, good food, good coffee, and cute little extras at the counter for take home.

Andre Novak

Paired down to one place to order both food and coffee. It makes for some long lines. I don't like it.

Allison Korte

i’ve never left a review before but felt compelled to say something about this place. bordering on gordon ramsay’s kitchen nightmares material. first impressions (judging by the machine full of crusty mac n cheese right next to the cash register, and the cashier swirling a serrated knife in a plastic cup of gray water while we waited to order -- both things you totally want your customers to see right before they eat) was that this is a place that doesn't care, cuts corners, and isn’t worth its high price. second impression was that the root cellar is pretty disorganized with its operations. before we visited the restaurant we were actually going to order online for pick-up. the online menu said the sandwiches came with complimentary tomato basil soup, which sounded awesome tbh. but we changed our minds and decided to eat at the restaurant instead. when i ordered the side of tomato soup in person, the cashier told me that even if they *had* tomato soup, they absolutely do not offer it for free with the sandwiches, and that the employees aren't in contact with the people who control the website so she had no idea what i was talking about. i thought i must've been mistaken but nope. i just double checked, and the website offers a free cup of soup with each sandwich. i guess i was swindled by the attractive logo, the solar panels, and the commitment to “quality” and “scratch-made” sandwiches their website boasts, but tbh it tasted like everything was stale, off-brand food lion groceries slapped together. the BALTO bacon sandwich was seriously over-salted — and i have an extreme tolerance for salt so this is saying something; the sourdough had to have been a store-bought imitation/fake loaf and wasn’t toasted or anything like the social media photos; the spinach was slimy; the BALTO was missing the O (no red onions); the slight smear of avocado had tough and stringy brown bits; there was one little slice of tomato per sandwich half that was mealy as if it'd been stored in the fridge; and the 2 pieces of bacon were chewy instead of crispy, like they were cooked a long time ago and refrigerated. we ordered a $3 side of tater tots and it was literally 8 cold tots that tasted like they were cooked in old oil and covered with the hidden valley ranch dry seasoning mix you get in those packets. my dude said his italian grinder was "...edible", but the sandwich didn't match the menu description -- the balsamic "vinaigrette" looked like gray mayo and the ciabatta wasn't grilled. this guy will eat anything and love it but he wouldn't finish my BALTO! i wouldn’t expect fresh, gourmet-level food…except for the fact that their own website and restaurant signage uses those words haha. i will say the patio was quite nice (the reason for 2 stars instead of 1), but there were signs on each table saying to please clean up your own "dirty dishes" -- y'all couldn't have said "please bus your own tables" or something? nit-picky perhaps but it just added to the overall careless vibe of the place, like we were filthy burdens lol. anyway, we got two sandwiches and the side of tater tots, no drinks (they didn't even ask if we wanted water). worst $30 i've ever spent and hopefully i never have to write a bad review again :)