The Root Cellar is a gourmet restaurant, catering company, bakery, & cafe.
We specialize in scratch-made sandwiches, salads, pizzas, soups, and desserts, as well as locally roasted coffees. Although we offer a casual dining experience for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we’re serious about the food we serve.
Quality matters to us because we know it matters to our customers. We believe the best food comes from within our own community, and we strive to use seasonal ingredients from North Carolina farmers and local producers when possible. Everything we serve is prepared fresh daily. We take great pride in:
- Roasting in-house all of our turkeys, chickens, and pork
- Grinding our own hamburger and sausage meats
- Using seasonal vegetables from local farmer’s markets, when possible, in all of our signature dishes
- Crafting our own dressings, mayos, jams, salsas, and pickles
You can also find an assortment of gourmet gifts at The Root Cellar, including locally produced BBQ-sauces, peanut butters, jams, and salsas. In addition, we sell N.C.-crafted beers and more than 300 varieties of wines, most of which are produced from small-family owned wineries.
Our History
Although our name is new, The Root Cellar has been firmly anchored within the Chapel Hill community since 1998 when Chef and Cookbook Author Sara Foster first opened the restaurant as Foster’s Market, an expansion of her original Durham location. From the beginning, Foster’s set the tone for success: Delicious food that emphasizes quality local ingredients and creativity, served up in a welcoming space that appeals to all. (Read more about the Root Cellar owners and the name change.)
We’re proud of our history and are committed to preserving The Root Cellar as a place to savor comforting scratch-made food and as a community that celebrates fellowship with family and friends.