The Best Cellar

It’s been 15 – 18 years since we stepped into the best cellar but it didn’t disappoint. We split the steak au poivre and I had the stuffed squash and my husband had the spinach. The meal was excellent. The service was excellent. We would definitely go back.

Over the weekend a set of circumstances resulting from another restaurant reservation mishap left us with no place to dine. Having never been to The Best Cellar, I was intrigued by the offerings and the setting. When I called at the last minute, a very pleasant woman informed me that she would be happy to make accommodations for us at 7:30.
We arrived to a kind valet who took care of our parking and we walked toward the port-​cochere and the entrance to the inn and restaurant. The dark wood, hammered steel and warmth of fire lured us into a comforting setting from the cool night air.
We confirmed our arrival with the hostess and order drinks from the bar. We wandered into the lounge and enjoyed conversation with other guests beside the glowing fire. Laughing and drinking lead to increased hunger as we informed our hostess we were ready at any time.
A smiling gentleman asked us to follow him down the stairs with twisted wrought iron. With each step a rustic charm emerged with hints of necessary modern conveniences; like the dimmed lights and the glass doors leading to the expansive wine cellar. Around a corner we entered hand hewn rock room with a barrel ceiling and polished concrete floor and a plush area rug. Set around the perimeter were tables lit with candlelight. We were shown our table nestled in the corner of the stone basement.
Our server began to share the night’s specials as our mouths began to salivate. It was determined we would start with the appetizer sampler of calamari, perfectly crisp, shrimp cocktail with nice sized prawns and a s spicy dip along with Oyster Rockefeller. We combined this with the muscles in a butter sauce sautéed with tomatoes, garlic, capers and shallots. Needless to say our pupils dilated with delight after each bite.
Within moments of our appetizer dishes being removed, out wine and scotch glasses refreshed, our salads arrived, fresh, crisp and with the house dressing adding a flavorful finish. Then the main courses arrived: a very large piece of Best Cellar’s Tuna Marinade, the Sterling Silver Fillet Mignon served Au Poivre and medium rare, the nights special of a bone in porch chop finished in a marinara and mozzarella sauce, finally a large portion of Chicken Milanese. All of these savory delights were accompanied by wild rice, zucchini boats, baked acorn squash and roasted potatoes. Our conversation subsided as our mouths were busy enjoying every delectable morsel. Nibbles were shared around the table and everyone raved about the other dishes. The presentation, portions and taste were as incredible as the setting.
Our plates sufficiently cleaned with nary a scrap remaining, we were tempted with a sweet ending. Who were we to deny ourselves a special night out with friends? Moderation was agreed upon and a sharing of the Banana Crème Pie and Sweet Street Chocolate Lovin Spoonful Cake elicited moans and smiles to complete our night.
We were never so grateful for a reservation mishap before. If it were not for that we would not have had an amazing meal, decadent desert, flavorful drink and laughter in an incredible setting and delightful staff. It is without doubt we will think ahead and always plan to dine here!

Wonderful dinner. The New Zealand lamb was as good as the lamb I enjoyed in New Zealand! The Filet Au Provire was utterly delicious. chateneau de pape was a wonderful finish. Enjoy!

Overall, a very good experience. As always, the grounds were absolutely beautiful. We had reservations on the porch on a Friday evening for their weekly live music on the front lawn. The server was very pleasant and accommodating. The food was quite good, much better than I remember in the past. The music was a bit loud, but it seems hypocritical to complain about what we came there for, so I’ll just state that you would be best served to sit inside if there’s live music on the lawn and you want to be able to hear your server and/​or your dining companions. If you really don’t want to struggle with conversation with your dining companions, the porch seating would be perfect!

Steak au poivre was cooked perfectly. Save room for the banana cream pie, their specialty! Wait staff was extremely polite and well trained on proper serving etiquette.

My bride and I were pleased to snag a reservation for New Year’s Eve. We were very disappointed with the food. My braised short ribs were tasteless and not as good as what I get at the cafeteria (although considerably more expensive). The gravy was right out of a jar and bland.
My wife’s pasta with lobster was equally without taste.
To top it off, when I offered my valet ticket to the manager to retrieve my car I was instructed to walk out into the freezing cold parking lot in search of the attendant, then waited in the cold for my car. The valet was the only person who asked how the food was.

We went to the Best Cellar at the Ragged In in December 2013 for a graduation dinner and it was absolutely fantastic. We were seated in the downstairs area of the cellar (not the wine cellar) and it was super cozy. We had a slight issue in that the other table down there had three obnoxious children under the age of 4 whose parents had no control of them; however, the wonderful staff accommodated us nicely. The food was fantastic, as was the service. I would highly recommend making a reservation for the wine cellar as that looked like a private room.
Also, if you have children– be prepared to keep them quiet and behaved as you will be asked to leave if they are not acting appropriately.

I went in with a big group for company dinner and they did a great job. We were accommodated in the Cellar and it was very cool experience. Our server, Lee did a great job with food and service was amazing.
I had the Salmon with baked squash as my side. Squash was a bit too sweet with syrup in it but it was really yummy. I just couldn’t eat a lot due to it’s sweetness. Salmon was cooked to perfection!
Last but not least, the coffee crème brûlée :) I shared it with a colleague but a bite of it — took me to heaven! It was absolutely amazing. Overall, it was a wonderful meal and experience.

I have been going to the Best Cellar since they were up on the hill. I can only say that the service has always been exceptional and the food even better. So if you have to wait for your food a bit as in some of the previous reviews it certainly will be worth the wait. Just as a short note, in all the years myself and family have been going here for dinner not once has there ever been something to complain about. Excellent all the way around.

My wife and I made a res here along with our stay at the associated Ragged Gardens Inn and were lucky enough to be seated down in the basement level (think wine cellar… hence the name). The service was absolutely spot-​on and very prompt; our waitress was simply charming! The food was masterfully prepared and the menu itself is ample but not overwhelming; excellent wine selections as well. For myself, I always appreciate a good choice of Scotch and they have several… um…I had 2 despite my darling’s cross look :)
Wonderful place… excellent service… superb food… great wine!

My wife and i had an excellent meal here 3 years ago and decided to go back this past weekend. It was a poor decision. We sat in the bar area with friends hoping the service would be a little quicker however it was quite the opposite.
We initially waited 25 minutes to be ushered to our table that was open for just as long right in front of us, from there it just got worse. For sake of saving time and the use of my thumbs ill make the rest of this quick. Very slow service, 30 mins for drinks to arrive much less get water refills, food was slow to arrive as well and overcooked, waiter was a college student who didnt seem to know where he was much less what he was doing and manager didnt show up to ask us how we were doing until the end of the meal after we had paid and were leaving. She did offer to comp the bill but we denied out of principle. Dont waste your time or money here. Try the gamekeeper in boone instead. Much less touristy, better service, and better food.

We can’t wait to return to the Best Cellar. Our dining experience was perfect– service, delicious entrees and a great bottle of pinot noir with great pleasant service. We shared veal oscar, duck, and scallops– all were wonderfully presented and tasty. The atmosphere was old innish with great grounds for walking and a pleasant fireplace setting. I had no complaints when finished, a rare full satisfaction.

If you choose to dine here expect to pay a premium price. Likewise, expect the food, the service and the ambiance to reflect that price. This is a dining experience!
We were seated in the dining room and found it to be warm, cozy and romantic. There is also dining in the wine cellar below that we will certainly reserve on our next visit.
We started with Oysters Rockefeller. Very enjoyable!
I had the rack of lamb. It was served medium rare with mashed red skinned potatoes and butternut squash. Delicious!
My wife ordered the veal and loved it!
Great wines as well.
Yes, the check for two can rapidly break triple digits, However, if you enjoy the experience of dining as well as the food, you will pay the check with a smile.

We decided to give this place a shot after reading some of the better reviews. At first glance this was indeed a nice place, however the main course was extremely lacking. We started off with the brie and and bottle of white wine from their reserve selection. The brie was very delicious and set us up for some great expectations. However the wine took about 20 minutes to finally chill, which made me question if they had a chiller or just utilized a bucket of regular old ice. The wine was pretty decent, but not quite on my selection for a reserve bottle.
Next came the main course. I had the Lamb and my wife had the Shrimp Concasse. They both came out in a decent timing and pretty warm. However the flavor completely ruined all expectations. We agreed that both dishes were extremely bland and lacked both flavor and creativity. This was my ultimate disappointment as we were hoping for this to be our splurge dinner for our weekend.
The service was nice, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the location is very nice as well, with adequate parking. Perhaps they were on an off night with the entrees, but we certainly would not return.

My wife and I had a great dinner here. The lamb and steak were cooked to perfection.

My wife and I were looking for a really good local spot for a romantic dinner, and we found it in The Best Cellar. Authentic atmosphere in a small inn in blowing rock, the best cellar offers an extensive menu of fresh local food. Service was good and the overall experience classic including the valet that worked the front due to the bad weather.

We had a quiet dinner there. Excellent service and great food. The scallops were among the best we’ve ever had anywhere. The steak was great. The atmosphere was casual but elegant. We drove over 2 hours to eat there and will do it again.

Ugh!!! I cannot believe this restaurant’s guts to charge the prices they do. Yes, the area is high fallutin, but cut me some slack. I made reservations here for date night with my husband after we received gift certificates through the army. The atmosphere seemed great, we got seated rather quickly. Our waitress came by and introduced herslf.
Since it was an army contracted event, we had a limited menu. Waitress told us that they had a sampler appetizer of oysters, calamari, shrimp and crab cake, so we jump on this… The calamari was unseasoned, the oysters were so tiny, that even after using my cocktail fork, there was barely anything on it. The crab cake was dry and the shrimp was cooked perfectly.
We ordered dinner, I had the glazed salmon and my husband had the trout. The food took a while to get to the table, however, my disappointment and disgust was taken to another level. My salmon was bland as hospital salmon could taste. My husbands trout was nothing worth getting excited over. Infact, the most amazing thing we had in this egregious restaurant was the baked acorn squash with a brown sugar cinnamon reduction!
We asked the waitress for our bill, and boy were we in for a surprise. The appetizer sampler was 24 $! The waitress then took it upon herself to calculate her 20% gratuity into our bill. She tipped herself for shitty service and then took 20 mins to bring me back my change.
My suggestion to the best cellar, stick to wines as that is the only thing you can brag about!!! Make sure signs are posted letting your customers know about your «gratuity included» policy as if I’m going to tip a waitress 22 $, I’d like to feel as welcome as possible!
Just ugh!!!

Best Cellar is overrated — Storie Street, Bistro Roca, and Gamekeeper are all much better. Only two salads, an $ 8 Caesar and a $ 10 Spinach. The Caesar is fair and the spinach is very nice with fried oysters and warm dressing. The almond-​crusted grouper is okay (my wife liked it better than I) and the oysters rockefeller and baked Brie are average. With a run-​down and outdated interior, entrees at $ 20 — $ 40 are no value.

Came here for a business luncheon. A beautiful inn with dining space in a wine cellar downstairs, a cozy alcove upstairs, and the front porch. The Inn is small on a side street in old downtown. It looks small, but it is not and it is simply gorgeous. Dark wood throughout, stone outside, beautiful gardens.
I had a fantastic open face portobello burger. Everything was fresh, cheesey, and tasty. The fries were shoestring style but overly crunchy. Great strong coffee. Great waitstaff forourgruop of about 30. Highly recommended for a luncheon. The restaurant manager was fantastic and friendly. Took us around the place gave us dinner menus to go. The menu has a ton on it. Pricey but the food looks lavish. I worry that they may have too many dishes to do it all well… Based on my lunch I’m thrilled to come back and see.