The Cellar 3/29/08.

The Cellar is a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Blacksburg, VA. The restaurant has 2 floors, an upstairs area and a lower basement area (for which the bar is named). Both floors have a bar, but the upstairs is geared more towards a classier restaurant type. The downstairs has more of a feel of a tavern. They usually close down the upper floor of the bar around 11 or 12 and funnel the remaining people to the cellar for drinks.

I've been visiting this restaurant every once in a while for the past 2 years . Everything I've gotten there has been very good. Their bartenders are usually awesome. Although on my first few visits to the cellar, the crowd was not what i would typically associate with... for example, the crowd seemed a little too coffee shop, intellectual, reading a Henry Thoreau novel type people. I later found out (via Jessy) that the Cellar was the regular meeting place for the French table. Over the course of visiting the place more over the years, i have grown to love it.

Saturday's Visit.
Jessy and I got together with one of her Greece buddies and her boyfriend for a dinner and a dance on saturday. We decided to go back to the Cellar (like we did the previous year). About an hour after we all ordered our meals, we called the service over and asked about where our food was. She went back and investigated, and apparently our order got lost by the cooks. After they told us, every one of the bartenders/waitresses took great care of us to make up for the mistake, and our bill also reflected how sorry they were about the mistake. Since we had drinks the whole time, all 4 of us didn't really mind all that much, and everyone ended up happy when our food came out shortly thereafter.

I ordered Linguine Alfredo with Shrimp. When they set my plate in front of me, i was astounded at how much food was in front of me. Just a big honkin plate of alfredo. On top of that was 10 grilled shrimp (you could also get grilled chicken or filet mignon). On the side i also got 2 pieces of delicious garlic bread. And after 2 pitchers of beer shared with Andrew, i ate a little less than a quarter of my plate, and a piece of garlic bread before i was completely full. Needless to say, i had plenty of leftovers for tonight.

As for taste, it was fantastic. The house made alfredo was fairly thick but perfect for the type of meal they were serving. The shrimp was also delicious. It wasn't rubbery or overcooked, and it went perfectly with the alfredo. The topper to the whole plate was that they put a thin layer of parmesan cheese over the top of the whole plate, and that just topped off the whole meal.

Overall: (9/10) With the exception of the long wait, everything was pretty damn good. And with the amount of food that they gave me, i haven't finished it after 2 sittings. Jessy's going to finish it tomorrow. It was really a great combination of the service and the food working together to give a positive dining experience.

*NEW*
What I plan on getting next time: The Pita Pizza with pepperoni, sausage and bacon (it's what andrew ordered and it looked fantastic).

Jessy Says ( i should order): Roasted Chicken Ravioli.