Within the depths of the Student Union Building, the Cellar Pub is a popular place for students to enjoy a meal, drink a pitcher and relax with friends.
Established in 1994, the Cellar offers classic pub food like wings, burgers and fries. Their drink menu ranges from tap beer to mixed drinks and shooters. Their menu’s most expensive item is 2 pounds of wings for $16.50 and all prices include tax.
What to order
A classic appetizer at the Cellar is the Artichoke and Spin Dip. The concoction, most often referred to as spin dip, is served in a dish surrounded by tortilla chips and pita slices. It’s not as thick as most spinach dips, but it still has a great tangy taste topped with warm cheese.
If you’re vegetarian, the Cellar has some tasty options for you too. The Veggie Burger is served on a white bun and topped with black bean relish, cheese and hummus. Served with fries, the Veggie Burger offers all the taste of a classic pub meal without the meat.
The Aquinian Arts Editor Jerry Faye-Flatt has been vegetarian for nine years, so she’s had her fair share of veggie burgers.
“Veggie burgers usually suck and it was better than bad,” she said.
One of the most popular orders around the table is the Crunchy Chicken Sandwich. The breaded chicken breast is served on a white bun with cheese, lettuce and tomato. If you don’t like those toppings, the servers will customize the meal to your taste. Getting the sandwich tossed in honey garlic sauce tops it all off, adding a sweet and savoury flavour to the already tasty meal. The sandwich is served with fries and the Cellar’s own spicy concoction they call Hacienda Sauce.
The meat eaters on our staff highly recommend the Crunchy Chicken Burger. Anytime we eat at the Cellar at least two editors order it.
Another vegetarian option is the Black Bean Bowl. Made of rice, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, black bean relish and sriracha, the bowl is full of flavour with a bit of spice. This dish is also gluten-free, but since all meals are made in the same area, there’s no guarantee it won’t be contaminated.
As someone who’s been on a prescribed gluten-free diet for the past two months, I was excited to enjoy a meal with my friends at our go-to restaurant. But the Black Bean Bowl didn’t hit the spot the same way the Crunchy Chicken Burger always used to. I miss bread.
The atmosphere
The Cellar is a student hangout. It’s probably not the place you’d suggest to your parents when they come to visit (unless your parents aren’t like regular parents, they’re cool parents).
When you’re eating here, you really feel like you’re in a cellar. Wood plank walls, low ceilings, dark lighting and an unexplained hole in the men’s bathroom door.
Any night of the week, the Cellar is packed with students laughing off the stress of the day. Music blares through the speakers and different sports games are broadcast on TV screens.
The Cellar offers a different special every night. Mondays are football night, with all appetizers on special. Tuesdays are the chef’s special with discount on certain beers. Wednesdays are wing night, with wings going for 60 cents a piece. Thursdays are wine night with specials on glasses and litres of wine and sangria. Fridays are for the Fatty Fatty Grilled Cheese, another popular item on the menu, served with tomato soup. Saturdays are for Hockey Night in Canada with some beers on special.
The Cellar also features different events like drag shows and trivia nights.
Overall
The Cellar is a great place to grab some grub. It’ll fill you up without breaking the bank, and it features a large menu that’ll keep you trying something new every time. Servers are polite and helpful, and the atmosphere screams university. Overall, the Cellar is always a good idea, but since everyone seems to agree, it might take a minute to find a table.
