Cellar Cat

Finally took the family in to try Cellar Cat. Very pleasant. Staff was nice. I, too can vouch for the fried chicken. I took the advice and ordered the gastrique on the side. It was spicy but sooo good! Likewise the bread pudding and the greens. I tried a bite of my daughter’s meatloaf and I think I will order it for myself next time. Very nice new takes on two great comfort foods.

We were sadly disappointed as the reviews lead us to believe this would be a great experience. What we found were the drinks weak (the table next us also stating their were also made poorly) the food was good but very overpriced, our server did not check on either of our tables until we were almost done with our food. And we then sat another long while with empty plates in front of us as we impatiently waited to get our bill. For a special night out this was extremely disappointing.

Fabulous service. Amazing appetizer of grits and shrimp. A joy to my palate! SO had fried chicken –delish with bread pudding. Would love to try meatloaf and mashed potatoes! Apple crumble for dessert. Tasty but not delicate. I don’t recommend the coffee would call the pairings fun! and to think we found this on a drive by holiday. Definitely a return trip is in order!

We ate here last night on Christmas! They appeared to be the only restaurant open downtown and they were quite busy. Before I get to the food (because I won’t be able to stop about that), the atmosphere was lovely, we were lucky enough to sit in the window seat that had nice comfy pillows and you could look out onto the street through the window that has the etched glass with a cat party happening. I am really impressed by the way they are able to have a cat themed place, but it doesn’t feel hokey, but classy. The staff was fantastic, Cole was our server and he was just great! Polite and efficient and very sweet. One of the owners, Holly, came by and chatted with us and she was as nice as having a friend visiting with you. But to the food!
They had a pre fixe menu available and everything looked amazing. I started with the «bourbon refresher» cocktail that had the perfect balance of tart from the lemon and sweet from the Cointreau. My first course was a chèvre baklava with honey and it was outstanding! My next course was a roasted tomato bisque that was a tiny bit spicy for me, yet somehow I managed to eat it all, the flavor was great. I tried my aunts salad that had this fennel, mint, lemony dressing that was so good and refreshing. My entrée was short ribs on spätzle and wow! The short ribs fell apart and were very tender and the spätzle was fantastic! Lastly I finished off the meal with a toffee cake dessert that was out of this world. It was probably the best toffee sauce I have ever had. Mind you, this was their special pre fixe menu for Christmas, but lucky for me I am going to be in town for a few more days and I can’t wait to see what they have on their regular menu! I highly recommend this restaurant.

OMG! The food was amazing. The service was great… thank you Molly. And the atmosphere was so charming and cozy. The bartender even came to our table and talked to us about their drink menu. I havent been to a restaurant in a long time that when I pay my bill I dont think, «I could have cooked it at home and it would have tasted so much better.
Thank you Jim and partners for finally giving Albany an excellent resturant to dine at. We will be back!

If this is the best Albany has to offer they need some serious help. We dinned on a Saturday night. The menu is limited and what I ordered they were out of. Bummer. I ended up with the NY steak with garlic mashed potatoes. The steak was mediocre and garlic mash potatoes were just plain mashed potatoes. The service was slow even though the restaurant was empty. I can’t in good conscious recommend this place to anyone.

First time eating here. Fabulous. There were three in our party. I had the cheese plate appetizer. Lovely combo of cheese which paired well with my Tamarillo wine. My friends had the stuffed mushrooms –good, and the crab bisque — okay. For entrees I had the scallops which were very very good. My only request would be that it would be nice if there was a green vegetable that could accompany the meal. That could be said for all our meals. My companions had the buttermilk fried chicken and the chicken confit. Both were delicious. A note of caution, if you order the fried chicken make sure to get the Tabasco gastrique on the side. It is over the top spicy, and I’m from NM, and in my opinion if served on the chicken would do it a disservice. For dessert we ordered the ginger cheesecake which was hands down the best cheesecake we’ve ever had, and the Crème Brullee, which was quite disappointing. It was a tad on the runny side. Service at the Cellar Cat is stellar as is the ambience. We can’t wait to come back!

Currently the best restaurant in town! Bravo Cat Cellar, thank you for opening your restaurant in Albany

Everything is done right here. Honestly, an unexpectedly excellent restaurant experience.
Atmosphere is important for me and Cellar Cat delivers with a quiet but casual elegance from its historic brick walls and wooden interior with its artistic «cat» motif — somewhat European in feel.
I’ve eaten there three times. Salmon medallions, burger, and fried chicken. All are top shelf dishes, unique in flavor, five-​star chef creations. For example, the beet croquettes are simply yumm!
The «little cat» salad is full of fresh dark greens, and tossed lightly a dressing that has some wonderful and unexpected flavors.
I won’t spoil the surprise with detailed dish descriptions; I encourage you to enjoy exploring the menu safely knowing how well the meals are prepared.
The Pinot Noir was superb as well.
All the staff I’ve encountered are personable, professional, competent and friendly.
If you come once, you will be back again.

Try the Diabolical Kitty if you like a fruity cocktail with a bit of spice! It’s amazing.
It’s the ambience that draws you in, and the friendly staff that keeps you there, with the help of the delicious food and drinks of course.
Great new little spot in town. You could say it’s the cats meow. Or even the cats pajamas. ;)

One of those long skinny deep restaurants with balcony seating. Cat lovers will totally dig the classy feline décor. I only had a glass of wine (decent Merlot), so can’t comment on the food, but the plates I saw going by looked yummy. Friendly staff and the HIGHEST MARKS because they have live JAZZ!!! LIVE JAZZ is what gets this reviewer in the door. Minor pecadillos (if any) are forgiven if there is JAZZ!

We were drawn here by excellent reviews and will return.
The dining room is on two levels, in a narrow space. The upper area is half as wide, the lower level shares bar space with tables. Although not quiet, it was quiet enough for a pleasant conversation: A definite plus. The glass of ice water was straight from the tap, with a distinct «city water» odor and flavor.
We each had the Little Kitten Salad: Very good, with fresh crisp vegetables, no croutons, thin-​shaved radishes and thinly sliced cukes; the dressing was nicely balanced and not excessive. Each of these points is a plus for us. There was quite a lot of strong pickled onion bits, acceptable only because we could easily remove them.
One of us had crab-​stuffed mushrooms (an appetizer) which were very tasty with a nice mix of flavors including noticeable crab texture and flavor. They were served just warm but a bit hotter would have been welcome.
One of us had the appetizer size seared scallops. The scallops were good, with a nice sear, served properly rare. They were accompanied by roasted brussels sprouts which were among the best we’ve ever had: Excellent flavor, nicely crisp, cooked to perfection inside, and accented perfectly by the crisp prosciutto bits and mostarda sauce shared with the scallops.
We shared an upside down pear brownie. It was very rich in chocolate flavor, not overly sweet, topped with some marshmallow crème that had been nicely torched and accented by the pear. Unfortunately, though it was warm at the edges it was still cool in the middle, a disappointment.

Chicken and Waffles is refined into it’s ultimate form with their Buttermilk Fried Chicken over a waffle bread pudding with a Tabasco gastrique. My wife’s Beet salad was excellent as was a scallop appetizer. Fantastic all the way around.

I have been now four times. The cocktails have been smooth and well thought out. As well, they are always able to make a pairing suggestion for the wine and have hit the mark when we have asked for a suggestion.
I am a fan of Port and Sherry too. They have a few that are quite smooth, tasty, and can pair with the cheese plate for desert.
Recently they had stuffed jalapenos wrapped with bacon. The first time I had them, they were too hot. The second time, perfect. The cheese offsets the heat of the pepper, and all flavors (pepper, cheese, roast, and bacon) play well together.
I ordered a steak there that was a NY but seemed more like a fillet when it came out. It was thick, tender and flavorful. They cooked it as I ordered.
I am seeing the menu continue to evolve and shift which is fun for going back because I can have something new each time. Yet, they keep the house favorites on the menu so you can count of have something familiar if you like.
The feel of the place is better since they got rid of the large dining room. The atmosphere is more personal and comfortable.

My friend and I had drinks, appetizers, and dessert. After one taste of the drink, I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth fast enough. It was horrible! We ordered the croquettes for our app. They tasted like they weren’t seasoned at all. For our dessert, we chose a cheese plate. It was nothing exciting. A pile of chunks of cheese, a pile of chunks of brittle, and a pool of honey. The cat theme is way too overdone bordering on creepy. We won’t rush back.

Great spacing between tables so you wouldn’t be in your neighbors lap. Also, if you are a fan of cats they played the theme well with cat art everywhere.
One of the biggest cons was the amount of time it took to receive dishes. It took a little more than 30 minutes to get appetizers and another 20 minutes afterwards to get entrees.
The appetizers were quite small for the price. 3 shrimp for $ 8 was pricey. The crab stuffed mushroom was overwhelmingly mushroom and little crab. They were out of the pork tenderloin which was disappointing because a I and a few members in my party wanted the dish. It’s not so great for a new business to be out of product on a Wednesday. I went with the crab tortellini. The presentation for all of our dishes was expert including my tortellini.
Although the flavor of the crab tortellini was not to par. The crab was stuffed in the pasta which is OK. But, there was little crab and extreme pasta. It needs to be more ⁶⁰⁄₄₀ ratio pasta to crab ratio. Tried another party members buttermilk fried chicken. It was top of the list of all 3 dishes. Good spice and worth coming back for. Dessert won the round. The special chocolate peanut butter Cheesecake was the best. Perfect softness and splendid flavor. Hazelnut torte was also as expected.
Overall: There is work to be done, but I can see this being a good given some time.

10 years ago, I met my wife in the parking lot of this place. At the time, it was known as Wyatt’s. When we realized it was our 10 year anniversary of our first date we decided to come up and give a Cellar Cat a try. We were not disappointed! In fact, we were very pleasantly surprised. The fried chicken was to die for! It was a very unique and excellently executed take on chicken and waffles. However, to call it chicken and waffles is a huge understatement. The ale brined chicken over rissotto was very good as well, however, the breast meat was a little bit dry. We will definitely be back again.

Came in to try this new Bistro and Bar that was heard of by word of mouth. Had some wonderful drinks and deviled eggs starters, so decided to stay for dinner! Wonderful staff and so friendly. Got to meet a couple of owners and had great conversations! Already love the place!

We ate at the Cellar Cat last week and the food was absolutely fantastic! I am a bit of a deviled egg snob, so I ordered some as an appetizer. Three different types came on the plate, each more delicious than the previous. My friend Eric got the fried chicken for his dinner. Since I grew up in Georgia, and have eaten fried chicken many times, Eric gave me a taste and asked me what I thought. It was so moist and flavorful, I am definitely getting the next time we go. Really great spot in downtown Albany, OR.

Husband and I were on our way to Portland, were going to have dinner at Veritable Quandry (our favorite PDX restaurant), when we decided to stop by the Albany Carousel project. Was a beautiful day out so walked up and down First street, surprised to see the pretty old town coming alive. Was shocked to see Cellar Cat (!!) in Albany! We ate at this restaurant when it was in Glen Ellen (EVERY time we ate there we sat next to a celebrity, rock stars, golf pros, winery owners — the cats have this crazy ambiance that makes everyone relax — and even though it’s not an expensive place, it’s attractive to people needing to be left alone to chill out).
In Glen Ellen the cats did live jazz — very cool, even had some famous performers — and am told they will do it again. This new venue is gorgeous, even better than the Glen Ellen one (though doesn’t have the beautiful outdoor patios). The last Cellar Cat had great food and a staff that never changed so we were always welcomed as regulars (we live a half day away, so only could get up there about once a month — but that didn’t stop the cats from recognizing us).
The biggest change — other than it being in Oregon (!!) — is that the food is unbelievable. We decided to just have a drink at the bar and then head up to Portland, but once we had the beet croquettes (I know, it sounds strange but is anything but), we had to try the mussels, and wow. Wow. So then we just gave up and took a table and had dinner. The husband had house-​made tortellini that was amazing. I had the pork three ways (tad trendy, but have never had it taste like THIS). Could not believe how delicious.
Crab bisque. So rich. At first thought serving sort of small but once dipped in to it knew it was just right.
The servers are super young, but sweet, and will likely improve. Holly, the owner, is known for taking raw talent and developing it to her specifications. She’s a bit of a do-​gooder, but the results in Glen Ellen were amazing. I met Holly when she was managing wineries and she has great taste in wine and food and people. Her «wait cats» will soon likely be all-​pro.
We had this fantastic chocolate crème brûlée for dessert and the single best cheese course ever. One, perfect, cheese sided with house made SHORTBREAD.
We didn’t want to go to Portland after all this. I’m not sure Portland can compete with it. For the ambiance and the level of food and wine the prices are probably too low, I mean; everything made in-​house? Really?
Can’t wait to return. Makes me almost want to move to Albany!