St. Charles Cellar

The atmosphere is warm, inviting, and intimate. The food is great, and the drinks are even better! The door to the cellar doesn’t open until 6:30, but you can get drinks upstairs at St. Mazie while you wait.
When you walk down the stairs and round the corner, it feels like you walked into another era. With low ceilings, small wooden tables, and warm dim lights it gives a romantic setting. It definitely gets packed, so you might want to make a reservation if you’re planning on having dinner here. We were lucky enough to get a table since we arrived early.
The Brown Derby was my favorite cocktail there. Also, the charcuterie plate was a great appetizer to share for the table, it’s big enough for 3 people.
My one disappointment was that the happy hour is not honored once you are down in the cellar. You can actually buy the same drinks for less money upstairs at St. Mazie. My advice would be to grab a happy hour drink upstairs, then go downstairs to enjoy the food and atmosphere.

I was skeptical coming in here because it is one of those speakeasy places that you have to visit at the right time in order to get in… but this place is great. Very nice ambience. Dark and moody, with a live feed from the New Orleans style jazz musicians upstairs (who were great). Excellent food– I had the Porchetta, my boyfriend had the short rib. Both were cooked to perfection. We also split a delicious chocolate mousse. Good service. No complaints whatsoever, definitely recommend this place, especially for couples.

My boyfriend and I are in love with this place. Perfect Sunday night date spot. Almost never crowded on that day. Very intimate. Very quiet for good conversation. Menu is limited but the food is delicious. I recommend getting the daily specials. Cocktails are really well made and presented, even non alcoholic ones. It’s also a place where you have to have the full meal to get the true experience (appetizer, lunch, dinner).
The atmosphere of a speakeasy is also a big part of its charm.

Of low-​lit, low-​reception, cellar bars in the immediate neighborhood, you could do better than St Charles at Rye, where they’ve perfected snappy cocktail service and Scotch eggs, and where they music from the upstairs establishment doesn’t overwhelm conversational din.
You’ll have to yell at St Charles since the music upstairs is often live. You’ll probably be served about a drink an hour on a busy evening — the place seems perpetually understaffed. But you’ll have a good time — it’s good for groups, good for food and drink, and a good-​seeming little secret under the jazz club.

To me this is a great place to come when you’re looking for a lovely atmosphere, specialty cocktails and a more quiet place to linger and talk over drinks. It’s dark, candlelit, and romantic for sure, but I wouldn’t come for snacks or a meal.
We came thinking it would be a good dinner spot, but I was a little disappointed with the menu selection. It’s not a large menu and it lacked variety in my opinion. We got a bunch of stuff to share as appetizers/​small plates, but wasn’t really impressed with anything we got. For reference we had the charcuterie, mussels, bruschetta, and short ribs. The portions were very small and the charcuterie was pretty unsubstantial and not at all exciting. I was also a little disappointed not so see a cheese selection. It seems like the sort of place that would.
Otherwise, the cocktails were great and service was fine. As I mentioned earlier the space is lovely and seems like it would make for a great date spot.

Get to the Chase:
Pros:
1) Fantastic staff! So cool and friendly
2) Cocktail specialty drinks are super strong, bold and flavorful! Oh my damn!
3) I got a Nola hipster vibe, which is a GOOD thing! Very few restaurants these days have personalty and character, bit St. Charles Cellar definitely has it in spades through and through from the food to the drinks to the ambience and even the staff.
4) Happy hours I think from 5:00 ish pm to 7:00 for oysters and prosecco. Yummo
5) Live music usually every night
6) Super stars for having kept my dad’s scarf! He had left it there a few nights before New Year’s eve and they kept it for almost a week in order for us to come back and pick it up! FANTASTIC!
Cons:
1) Difficult to reach a person on the phone — only the automated machine or email.

Adore this place. So charming and intimate and friendly, friendly staff. The food is above par, as are the drinks. Perfect for date night. And I love that it is so so close to my apartment! I predict that this is soon to become a regular spot for me.

That Porcheta was like buttah, and the cookies and ice cream were intoxicating. music volume was retarded and the temperature was 90+. Almost a sauna.

Intimate, rustic, and refined. From the warm dim lights like nearby stars to the exposed brick subdued in candle-​like shadows, this place is great for warming up and getting close. The barman has a tight tie to this place and I’ve seen him every time of the several times I’ve been here. It’s clear he takes his craft seriously and he is an adept guide for both the custom and classic drinks. Dining is available too, but I haven’t eaten here yet. No crowds. No pretension. Just good drink and conversation in a setting that is nostalgically intimate.

Adorable! Great food (hello mussels!), personable service and a truly unique space. Shared a bottle of wine and had dinner with two friends at the tiny bar. It was a real pleasure. Would make for an excellent date spot, can’t wait to return for live music.

The food here is really good. That combined with the ambience is what makes it a five star. Try the mussels! Be sure to make reservations.

Dude, wheres MY food? Except for one «how’s the food?» the waiter disappeared to the back for 45min then reappeared to eat HIS dinner 2 tables behind me. Really? And an hour to cook a tiny chicken breast when we were the only diners? Forget this place.

I want to love this place, it’s so cute and cozy. Amazing atmosphere.
Worst service I have ever experienced. Despite repeated attempts to order, it took us over an hour to get a server to actually come to the table to take our order. They never cleared our appetizer plates, we had to do that ourselves. Served three of the group their dinners so far ahead of the group, that they were all done before the next two people were served (cold food), who were also done before the last two in our group finally got their food (cold and not properly prepared). We couldn’t even get anyone to bring us wine — we had to keep going to the bar. What a mess. Such a shame.

A beautiful and cozy space, but the menu and service were disappointing.
After being seated promptly and given menus and water, no one ever came back to take our order. This gave us a lot of time to look at the food menu and realize that nothing sounded that good. The prices are about average for the neighborhood, but the dishes seemed pretty boring.
After fifteen minutes trying to get someone’s attention, we opted to go elsewhere. This could have been awkward but the servers didn’t seem to notice us leaving either.

As intimate of a meal I have had anywhere in the city (with my buddy, unfortunately). Great food, so so service, above average drinks. The Prix Fixe Unilocal deal is a total steal, so make sure you check-​in before dinner. Definitely make sure to have a drink before and/​or after dinner upstairs at St. Mazie.

You know that moment when you and your significant other are sitting down at a new spot, loving the vibe, enjoying the cocktails, and you are in the first few bits of your meal: You try his, he tries yours. You both say comments like hmmm… and oh! because you realize your food is really not that great. That is dinner at St. Charles.
This is my first Unilocal review– I created a Unilocal account to write this review. I also work in food service.
This place is cozy and cute, albeit, we were the only ones in the entire place at 8:30 pm on a Thursday which should have been an indicator. St. Charles is super trendy, sexy, and low key, but the food was phenomenally disappointing (like I could have made that at home and better) and overpriced. We could have easily walked to Rye, DuMont, or Diner and paid the same $ 95 bill for better food.
The mushroom risotto was like something I would microwave at home, very sticky and gummy, and only accompanied by portobello mushrooms. Could we venture in to other varieties if we are cooking freaking risotto? Especially if I’m paying sixteen bucks. The mussels were bland and disappointing, the fish board was nothing to write home about. I had a similar experience at the Lighthouse on South 1^st and Keap– same old overpriced trendy blah blah blah. Our service was very nice so we tipped accordingly, but it didn’t make up for what ever they were doing to our food in the kitchen (We were the only ones there???).
I would like to note that we happened upon this place on Unilocal– the environment from the pictures seemed great and the reviews were great (almost all five stars). We were looking for an easy date night. This is not your place if you are willing to drop a dime on some amazing food. Go to Diner instead.

Five stars! You can believe where you are going to have dinner. The restaurant below the bar is a cellar, cozy and warm, with wine bottles everywhere.
The menu is not big, with few special of the day, but all is delicious and perfect. Option for vegetarian too. Don’t miss the desserts!
Perfect for date or friends special events.

In love with this basement speakeasy. Give your eyes a little time to adjust to fully appreciate the simple yet detailed atmosphere, from the squeaky wooden floors to the chicken wire fenced dusty wine. Of the dates on «How About We» we chose this one to explore for two free cocktails, I’m sure glad we did though. The cocktails were phenomenal and the Fish Board was out of this world. Have definitely hyped this place up for friends in WillyB to visit.

I did not have the heart to give it 4 stars and ruin the perfect rating on Unilocal… and I don’t feel bad about it.
It’s a cellar, exposed pipes, cement floors, is that asbestos… rickety tables, unsteady chairs, yet somehow, with lighting and the hum of bluesgrass music, they made it sexy. It reminded me of Lafitte’s in New Orleans, and it was absolutely elevated by the food. The house wine is always budget friendly and a perfect pairing. The shortrib was excellent, tender, smokey, fall off the bone savory awesome. Comes with a butter popover and you dont want to share, but you must or risk an argument in the small space. I had the rissotto, and yes, it was a TRUE rissotto, technique down, flavors perfect. Loose and creamy and firm, yet not mushy, beautiful gloss. The desserts were collossal. My one complaint was the salted caramel on a slice of chocolate cake dessert. Way too sweet, almost syrupy, and it had a faux taste that I don’t enjoy. All the rest? Do share… the cookies are warm and gooey, as if just out of the oven.

If you are looking for wonderful food, charming atmosphere and great service, go to St Charles Cellar. Our party had the short ribs wtih Yorkshire pudding, penne pasta wtih red pepper sauce and feta cheese, the shortbread cake and wonderful drinks. I felt as though I was someone’s dining room across the pond.
The drinks were perfectly made, and a special request for an Irish Coffee for my Irish husband on our anniversary topped off the night just perfect! Thank you all, and thank you St Mazie bartender too!