The Root Cellar Cafe and Catering

Really great spot to use internet, study, hang out for awhile. Lots of seating, large tables, good light.
Breakfast is hit or miss, and expensive for what they give you.
All other foods (pre-​made sandwiches, prepared foods bar) are completely unpalatable, to the point that people I know who happily eat out of dumpsters can’t finish meals they ordered here. Food is too salty, undercooked, bland, and has given me bad stomach aches a few times.
Grocery items are overpriced and veer toward gourmet candies, nothing that nutritious.
I keep going back because my boo lives 5 minutes away, but each time I remember how disappointing all their (post-​breakfast) foods are.

I was here for Saturday brunch with my friends. I like the atmosphere in general but I wish there was more order to the place I think that was one of the reasons it took them a while to get our orders ready. I was the last one to get my food and by last I mean even the people who were just before me were finished by the time I got my farm plate. I loved it though the cheesy grit was so tasty and the poached eggs were perfect but what I liked the most was the delicious biscuit that came with it all. It was crispy and the outside and tasty inside.

I really do like this place the food is very tasty and it’s not too crowded. The only downside I would say is their very limited selection in organic or natural foods.

Ah, Root Cellar, I miss you so much!
I was so excited to try all my old favorites on a work trip back to Chapel Hill, and Root Cellar was definitely on the list. Since this place (formerly Foster’s) was re-​branded as Root Cellar, I noticed they also expanded their food options. Their menu covers almost everything — from salad and pizza to sandwiches/​wraps to dinner entrees to scones, coffee, warm breakfast and smoothies.
Just as I remembered, though, this place got crowded… like really, really crowded. Like, standing there with your food and nowhere to sit crowded. (Granted, this particular Sunday was during UNC’s homecoming weekend, but I’ve had to deal with big crowds here other times as well.) I choose to take that as a sign that I picked a good restaurant, no?
Here’s a tip: Don’t forget to check out the «day old» fridge and basket for discounted fruit and baked goods.

This place is awful!
The way you order is completely unorganized, hubby and I both agreed that the food was dry and disgusting! The potato patty they call hashbrowns looked like something was thrown up onto the plate, it was literally grey. We ordered bagels with our breakfast and were given FROZEN BAGELS!!! The food was so gross we couldn’t even finish eating. On top of all this it was also pricey. I paid over $ 40 for two plates, two bagels and two drinks. WTF
The only thing to warrant a star at all was the cute little shop that the restaurant was placed into. However, just like the food, the items were very pricey. Cracker Barrel is cheaper than this place.
What a complete waste of time and money. I wish there was a way I could get either back.

I absolutely love the barbeque pizza and their cold salads. The service is fast, the selection of packaged foods is great, and the menu is delicious. I love buying the baked goods in the afternoon, sometimes they discount the prices so you can get really affordable seasonal scones and muffins. The store also has an extensive selection of wine bottles available for purchase, which I love looking at while I’m waiting for my order to come up. It’s a nice place to study, and right next door to Flyleaf books, which is where I usually go to check out the books afterwards. Really a great place to spend a relaxing afternoon on a lazy Saturday.

Cute spot! I was looking for somewhere to get work done while on the road and stumbled upon Root Cellar. It seemed to be that many others felt the same way!
There is plenty of working space to spread out or meet with colleagues. There is also a full menu including food, drinks, coffees, bakery items and an an entire rack of local wines to take home with you.
I am so impressed with this discovery! I will definitely be back.

If you are visiting for the first time, give yourself some time. There is a lot to take in and choose from. Not to mention lunch lines are LONG and while staff is friendly they are a bit slow.
I had the bbq chicken sandwich and mac’n cheese casserole. Sandwich was okay but the mac’n cheese was over salted. However, I am going to return. I have a feeling I just did not select the item I would like.

We went to dinner last night and we loved it! I got a chicken pesto sandwich! They gave generous amounts of chicken, and the sandwich also had lots of flavorful pesto. It was also surprisingly filling. My husband ordered a dinner special of shrimp and grits which was also good — lots of cheese and butter, and a good amount of shrimp, though maybe a little too much quantity of grits. We also got a slice of Oreo pie with a thick layer of fudgey icing. It was good, though the layer of fudge was maybe a bit too much and too rich. They had a good variety of drinks and beers, and also lots of other local goodies to peruse. It’s decorated in a rustic way but quite spacious. We are looking forward to coming back and trying more things!

I can only vouch for the Paleo family dinners that are offered here.
I ordered one week of a Paleo dinner for two. I picked it up Tuesday night. It’s just me, so it ended up being way more food than necessary, but even with that said, the meals can be easily divided amongst three people.
And the variety is great. One day I had Asian meatballs with a sriracha slaw, next I had a turkey and sweet potato salad with a dill ranch dressing, next day I had grilled tilapia with cauliflower rice. Plenty of delicious entrees. They also provide a dessert every week as well. Their website is updated monthly, so you can see the available menu for the upcoming month.
If you’re trying out the Paleo diet or a weathered veteran, the Paleo dinners offered are quick, delicious and easy for a busy lifestyle. On the other hand, if you want to cheat a little, they have absolutely delicious desserts available ranging from banana pudding (my favorite) to lemon bars to key lime pie. Just yum!

Delicious fresh meals. Amazing atmosphere, great service, excellent menu for all kind of diets. Very healthy and clean! Love it!

I’ve been here when it was Foster’s and personally, I don’t see much of a difference in the interior decorating. However, the food as definitely stepped up! I’ve had the food in the actual restaurant and when it was catered for a friend’s engagement party and both experiences were great! My favorite sandwich is the Fresh Mozzarella — their mozzarella is very fresh. Their cookies are huge and delicious — the Chocolate Whopper is heavenly! All their ingredients seemed very fresh and clean, even when the food was catered and sitting there for some time.
One thing to note is that this place super busy, especially during lunch time and since there are many students who are eating and studying at the same time, it might be hard to find a seat if you’re with a big party. Also, the day that I went, the café service was really slow and I found myself waiting for a latte for almost about 10 – 15 minutes.

I love this place! The atmosphere is cheery and laid-​back. They have a great selection of tasty southern inspired breakfast foods and great looking sandwiches (and more). I’ve heard their carrot cake is killer, which is very important in my book. And, most importantly, the coffee is good too. I waited about 20 minutes for my food at the peak Saturday brunch hour which was okay. They were absolutely packed with big families and students. The prices are normal – that is – slightly too high for my grad student budget– but I don’t mind because of the charming atmosphere/​people watching/​tasty food. All the staff were super friendly as well.
I had an orange juice, a coffee, and French toast with fruit on the side. It was totally awesome.

Very solid four star café. I stumbled upon The Root Cellar while browsing Unilocal one day and decided to stop by on my quest to try all of the coffee shops in Chapel Hill. Upon walking in, The Root Cellar was definitely unlike most cafés that I’ve been to — very glaring, warehouse-​like lighting and extremely spacious and open floor plan in contrast to the typical quaint and cozy coffee shop atmosphere. The selection of baked goods and drinks is quite overwhelming at first, and everything just sounded so good!
After some browsing, my boyfriend and I settled on sharing a slice of apple pie, which was on sale for only $ 1 — amazing deal, must I say. (Definitely try looking into the side fridge for to-​go containers of pies and cakes, some of which may be day-​old and may be super on sale!) We also tried the Paleo Cookie, which seemed like a unique and healthier option. Let’s start with the apple pie — it was cold (since it was from the refrigerator), but it was still very tasty and delicious! I could 100% taste the freshness in the apples and the crust, which is refreshing, especially compared to the typical gooey and sickly sweet apple pie filling. I wish the pie could have been heated up in some way, but regardless, the tartness of the apples was balanced perfectly with the not-​too-​sweet crust, making for a delicious bite after bite. The Paleo. Cookie definitely had good flavors — it was made with nuts and seeds (hence the Paleo), so it tasted much heavier and (obviously) nuttier than the average cookie. I don’t know if I would really consider it a «cookie»… maybe more like a circular granola bar? The taste and texture confused me a little bit and wasn’t completely in line with what I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong; it was still good, just different from what I had originally thought when I ordered.
The café’s open space makes it a great working environment. There is free WiFi and electrical outlets all along the wall. If I went to school here, The Root Cellar would be a prime study spot for me!
So after staying for a little while, we got hungry and decided to go deeper into the café to look at their lunch/​dinner options. They have a wide assortment of sandwiches, wraps, and pizzas, and there is also a glass window filled with pre-​made salads and other vegetable medleys to choose from. You can pay for these either by the pound or as a sampler, which is what I wound up doing. I chose to sample the Caesar Salad, the Potato Salad, and the Mixed Vegetables (with red peppers, sweet potato, and broccoli), and I found the combination of dishes to be really enjoyable! The Caesar Salad honestly looked over-​dressed, but after tasting it, it was the perfect amount of flavor! And the dressing was just divine. The potato salad had extremely large pieces of potato and was on the richer side… but still very yummy. And the roasted vegetables… I thought that the sweet potato could have been cooked a little longer since they were still hard in the middle, but the flavors (since the veggies seemed to be tossed in a light dressing) were really delightful and light. The portions were also really large, so I thought that the sampler was well worth the money.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here at the Root Cellar. Very cute marketplace in the middle of being a café suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Will definitely be coming back when I’m in the area! :)

I love the Root Cellar for its delicious fresh veggies, vegan options, and great customer service!
The last two times I’ve visited, I got the Banh Mi and a peanut butter and jelly smoothie. The Banh Mi is easily made vegan and tastes amazing! The smoothie is not normally made vegan but the staff both times were able to make it vegan and both times it tasted perfect! I just requested to substitute yogurt and honey with soy milk. I dont know of anywhere else in town that has smoothies other than Whole Foods (which are not near as good and are not consistently made the same). Stick to The Root Cellar for good smoothies!

I’ve eaten at this location many times when it was Foster’s many years ago. I found the space a bit different now that it is the Root.
The food counters are still a bit confusing if you’re new to the shop. You have to go to different counters depending on why you’re there. We made our way to the back and ordered an assortment of foods… the daily special, some daily soup, a pizza and a sandwich. All the food was good and very tasty. The tables are communal for the most part so be prepared to share.
The baked goods looked very tempting but we were too full from lunch. I did peruse the grocery items but didn’t see anything that I had to have.
Still a solid choice in my friends’ neighborhood.

I came in here on a slow Sunday afternoon a week ago. I used to visit this location frequently under its old name, Foster’s Market. Though surprised to find the new name, almost everything looked rebranded but the same, so I proceeded to order a ½lb of fruit salad and one hot sandwich off the menu to go, as I had sleeping kids waiting in the car with relatives.
THIRTY MINUTES later, we discovered that my order ticket had been lost and my sandwich was finally made. They apologized once, with a nonchalance like they could care less that they served customers food at all. The sandwich turned out to be only okay, nothing worth making my kids scream and cry while waiting for the food to finish.
Ordinarily we eat at this location several times during a visit back home. This experience has made me hesitant to return.

Definitely a step up from Fosters. First, appearance wide, it feels more open and bright. While Fosters wasn’t dirty, this seemed immaculate.
The real improvement was the food. I always struggled to find something I liked at Fosters. This was the opposite, struggled to narrow my choices. I ended up going with a pizza with sausage (felt fresh) and pepperoni (also not the typical pre-​sliced stuff). Particularly liked the crust, thin and crispy.
My wife had the Cubano sandwich and loved it. son had two slices of pizza (nice that you can order individually) and my daughter had a grilled cheese on gluten free bread (good option even though she did not care for the bread).
Great selection of beverages. Also had a ginger white chocolate cookie that was great, almost like a piece of cake.
Anyway, great lunch option and big improvement over Fosters.

This review is mostly about their catering, although I’ve visited and have enjoyed my experience as well. The catering is simply the best in the area. They use fresh and interesting ingredients to create tasty dishes. We’ve done an assortment of sandwiches and let me just tell you, you need some of that pesto mayo in your life.
Their baked goods are really yummy too — the best macaroon I’ve tasted with the crunchy outside and chewy, gooey inside — nom!
We’ve had great experiences with their catering staff and would highly recommend them!

I’ve never been to the Foster’s Market that this place used to be, but regardless, this is my review on The Root Cellar Café and Catering.
For brunch, I recommend the farmers plate! For about $ 9 you get:
2 eggs cooked however you want
your choice of meat (and if you choose bacon, you get like 4 strips!)
a GIANT, fluffy, buttery, cheddar biscuit (it’s larger than my fist)
either cheese grits or crispy potatoes (relish café’s cheese grits are still better)
and fresh fruit (a few pieces but they’re ripe and you can actually eat them, unlike most other places where they’re practically inedible)
After you order, they give you a number so you can take a seat, and they will bring you your food. I came past regular breakfast/​brunch hours, closer to 2pm, so there weren’t many people. However, I’m sure during a rush, seating would be kind of difficult.
If you’re not into breakfast food, go further back and they have salad and sandwich options. Oh, this place kind of gave me a cafeteria feel since it’s practically just one open space with high warehouse-​like ceilings. That didn’t deter my ratings. The Root Cellar Café has solid, affordable breakfast food, but in terms of ambiance, I’m not a huge fan.