The Root Cellar Organic Cafe

I came back here with a colleague for lunch, and I ordered a Shroom Wrap instead of the Local Water Buffalo burger I ordered previously.
I enjoyed the shroom wrap much more than my previous order and the portion size was filling and allowed me to not feel weighed down with a lot of meat or fat in the meal. I got an order of plain cellar fries as a side and was happy with the meal. The shroom wrap has some greens, mushrooms, and cheese. It was grilled slightly giving it a crunch and keeping the whole thing together.
I’m not sure if we came during a slow period, or they may have been short staffed, but we were asked to place our order at the bar. The food was brought over by someone, but it almost seems like this place could find great use in securing an iPad/​tablet to each table (or on an arm that swings/​slides out from under the table) for customers to place their orders upon, call over a waiter for meal questions, or whatever else.

My first time there was awesome loved it. Today was not so good. Seems they drop the ball when busy. A 30 minute wait for a burger and have it delivered after it was clearly sitting on the kitchen pick up counter for a while was a disappointment. BTW when serving Water Buffalo Burgers it would be nice to ask the customer how you would like it done rather than assume we all like it cooked to charcoal. Shame the potential is there, however not with current staffing choices.

I love the food here! I have had their vegan breakfast and poutine! Im not a vegan but I loved it. It’s kinda pricey food though.

I love this place! It is a great spot to visit when you have a specific set of dietary needs or wants. The Captain Planet salad bowl with goat cheese added and a side of truffle fries is my regular order. It is a busy place often– it’s not a bad idea to make a reservation. Service can be a little slow at times, but is always warm and friendly.

It’s just dam good food in a super cool location. For lunch or dinner or brunch on the weekend, this place is one of the many gems in Old East Village, if not the crowning jewel. The vibe is most certainly hip and funky and the food is fresh and modern (and pretty darn healthy to boot). If you just want to rock an awesome caffeine bevy or chill over a beer, this place has it all. It sets the gold standard in the area for food, service and uniqueness of menu items to satisfy whatever craving you have. There is no «out of place» in this emporium of relaxed and chill dining nirvana. Not sure who would have a bad experience here, but hey, nothing surprises me anymore. Local, inventive, imaginative and just plain cool and funky (in a good way not like the smell bad way) this place has maintained and raised the bar on good food for a reasonably fair price with heaps of ambience to boot. It earns every star IMHO.

I’ve been meaning to try this place for ever, and I wish I would’ve made it sooner. I had the avocado wrap and the beet and goat cheese salad. Both were phenomenal, and I was surprised by the quantity of quality ingredients in each dish. I also ordered one of their draughts (London Brewing Coop) and a beet based juice. Both were very good and reasonably priced. The service was efficient, friendly and casual. Sitting at the bar I could see all the plates coming out of the kitchen, and everything looked amazing. I can’t wait to get back. This eatery is such a good addition to the rebirth of old east village, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I took my girlfriend because I heard there were good vegan options. My coconut smoothie good and the samosas were okay, definitely NOT worth $ 9 for TWO!
We got a $ 16 risotto which was absolutely vile! Also a veggie burger which was tasteless and horribly textured and a side soup which was also very bland.
The people beside us got up and left their food after barely touching it, I wish we had thought of that.

This is some of the worst food I have ever eaten in my entire life. I can’t believe that people have eaten here would ever go back. I would prefer to go to Burger King, which I never do, over this place any day. They wouldn’t know a salt shaker if it hit them upside the head — talk about bland. I’m not a huge salt person in general but WOW, this was bad. There is no spice or flavoring to anything that you pay 16+$ for. We started out with a beer, smoothie, and the samosas which were pretty good. You get 2 small samosas for 9 $ though so it was a total rip off — they are thrown onto a huge pile of raw kale so I guess they think that is why they can overcharge. The local beer tasted a bit like body odor smells so that was very disappointing. The smoothie was decent though it was less like a smoothie and more like banana flavored milk, there was hardly any «smoothie» quality to it at all.
We ordered the vegan burger with a side of the butternut squash soup and an order of risotto to share. They brought it out and it looked pretty good at first but after the first bite I knew we had made a huge mistake coming there. The risotto tasted like mushroom slime with bitter pea sprouts added to it and a ton of raw kale shoveled on top of it. It was beyond vile. After piling a ton of salt on it and pepper it resembled a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup that had sat out on the counter for a few days. The butternut squash soup was so gross that even salt didn’t help it. We took one bite each and left it at the table when we left. The veggie burger also tasted like a bland pile of lentils that had no flavor whatsoever. They piled it with Daiya cheese and onions on it but even ketchup & salt couldn’t help the bland pile of disgustingness that was this «burger». I took maybe 2 bites and left the rest for them to throw away. The waitress asked us if everything was ok and I told her how bad it was so they took 10 $ off the bill, which still came to 60 $ after the tip. *It wasn’t her fault so I still tipped well.
The people that sat down next to us while we were eating ordered 2 things of vegan poutine and took one bite and both got up and left without paying them anything. They ran out of there like they had never tried anything so gross in their life. I wish we could have done the same and just paid for our appetizer and drinks. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 16 years and a vegan for around 3 and I have never had anything so revolting. Avoid this place like the plague.

The service was terrible, the two female at the bar were so incredibly rude and unfriendly. My finance and I have been working out of town this week and we saw wonderful reviews at this café so we decided to drop in and have coffee… My fiancé is a regional sales manager for Ontario and I myself am a realtor, therefore we know good customer service when we see it bc we ourselves are in the industry. The drinks were terrific and delicious, wish we could say the same about their service. The lady who took our order didn’t even greet us or even offer us a menu… She just stood there with this look on her face like «what the fuck you want»? I stood there looking around for a menu and then back at her… Hinting to her that I need a menu or anything to place my order. Anyhow, we finally ordered, paid and waited… Mind you, when we paid there was no «thank you» at all. We then got our drinks and then remembered we need our receipt For tax purposes (self employment claims). We kindly asked for our receipt with the same female who rudely took our order and charged us… She goes «ummmmm ok…» With a stupid look on her face. 5 mins later the other female approached us and goes «you paid with MasterCard»? We responded kindly and she whips the receipt on to the counter and walks away.
Like wtf is this? Never again. So happy to be back at home in Toronto…

Disappointing all around. We ordered the dip duo as an appetizer. The hummus was so thick and chunky it broke the crackers served with it. You had to shove the hummus on the cracker as it was not budging. The beet dip was pretty good. For entrée I ordered the autumn vegetable korma. I had such a hard time deciding because the menu looked so good but I made the wrong choice. This dish was SO BLAND. I noticed one of the other dishes came with a hot sauce so I ordered that. I dumped the entire thing in and that made it somewhat palatable.

Food is extremely fresh and locally grown. Lots of vegetarian options including a poutine that will ruin meat gravied poutines for you forever. They use Patrick’s beans for coffee and also promote local small batch brewed beer.

The Root Cellar is by far my favourite restaurant in London! We make every effort to eat here as often as possible. I am not vegan, nor vegetarian, so don’t think that you have to be to enjoy eating here! They source seriously amazing local ingredients and cook with more passion than anyone around. The owners are wonderful people who truly care about their customers and their community. The atmosphere in the restaurant is always friendly and warm. They also serve locally brewed beer from Ontario’s first co-​op brewery, founded inside the restaurant!
Do yourself a favour and go for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

This place is very good. The service is great, the restaurant has good atmosphere and, most importantly, the food is very good.
The two things I ordered were the charcuterie plate and miso poutine.
The Charcuterie plate featured: pickles, baba ganoush, a beet pâté, prepared mustard, tandoori cashews, croustinis, various types of cheese (I forget exactly what types of cheese there were but I remember there was goat cheese), and salami. Everything on the plate was quite well prepared and very tasty– I especially enjoyed the beet pâté and the mustard.
The miso poutine was a very pleasant surprise– I didn’t know what to expect, but it actually worked out really well– the gravy was very tasty and the fries were good.
This place doesn’t serve the best food I’ve ever eaten, but they prepare some very good food here. I like how it strives to be a «force for good» in the world of food and I think the food is well prepared. Give this place a try, you will probably like it.

First off… these are the absolutely loveliest people you will ever meet. Incredibly passionate about delicious, organic food (and beer!)
Next…JUICE! Holy mother. Every single one of their juices and smoothies are so so fresh and yummy and instantly make you feel alive.
Last…the food is great. Simple, tasty, all organic, some vegan, and I will leave you with a my final say: truffle fries.
Eat/​drink here.
The end.

So excited to have found Root Cellar on our drive through London. Our waitress was attentive and helpful-​especially with my daughter who doesn’t like vegetables, which most dishes contain. Pricing is fair, considering you’re getting locally grown food. You’ll enjoy the warm, homey feel of the restaurant. The ambience is wonderful, with brick walls, an old dark oval doorway framed by bricks, comfy, classy chairs, an assortment of wood tables, and a separate bar seating area.
The captain’s bowl is enough for two (or three if you’re not super hungry). It’s jam-​packed with greens, cashews, sprouts and more. It’s healthy living in a bowl. The vegetable crepes were tasty, with the flavor of mushrooms in every bite. If you aren’t a mushroom fan, you won’t be a fan of this crêpe. The buffalo burger, because it is let in fat than traditional hamburger meat, lacks a little flavor. However, as far as buffalo burgers go, the Root Cellar did a great job with theirs. The food and service make this establishment worth a visit.

This is such a great little restaurant! I had lunch there yesterday and it was so good I made sure to get a take-​out menu so I could swing by and pick up lunch or dinner another time. I had the Captain Planet Bowl: quinoa, chickpeas, greens, sprouts, toasted cahsews, cucumber, mango, pickled red onion and curried apple cider vinaigrette with goat cheese. It was absolutely delicious and so big, I took half home. My take out menu is starred with all the dishes I want to try next. Tons of vegan options but chicken, pork and water buffalo are also featured on the menu.

I’m still trying to rationalize spending more money on food that is organic simply because I’m cheap. In a world where one can get a decent breakfast for under $ 10, coming here for $ 15 crepes seemed extravagant. However they were mighty mighty tasty. Very fluffy and filled with just the right amount of scrambled eggs and roasted vegetables. I tasted broccoli, zucchini and carrot for sure. Excellent home fries and bacon as well. My mom had cinnamon french toast made with thick cut honey whole wheat and it came with maple syrup and a fruity compote. Heavy on the cinnamon for me but a solid dish. The coffee was strong and I do believe a custom Patrick’s Beans blend which is a great local supplier.
I knocked off half a star for a server whose bad day was clearly all over her abrupt attitude. And I want to go back for lunch/​dinner before locking down a true review. But I expect amazing because it’s like a diamond in the rough OEV.

I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while. It’s one of only a few organic restaurants in the downtown core and I want to support this as much as possible. The food was fantastic; the menu changes often, so you may not be able to get that thing that you loved the next time you’re there, but you will inevitably find another favourite.
The only reason this review gets 4 stars instead of 5 was the service. We were seated promptly and provided a bottle of water; our order was taken and then left to our own for the next 20 minutes or so.

This place already sets itself apart by being exclusively organic. The Root Cellar also offers vegan and gluten-​free (gf) options. There are three menus you can order from, depending on the time of day you pop in. Breakfast, lunch, & dinner. My friends and I popped in for lunch on a Thursday early afternoon. It wasn’t too busy — there was a small crowd. We ordered from their organic burgers section of the menu: the local water buffalo burger ($ 12.95) and the paleo burger (gf, & $ 13.95) and the organic sandwiches and wraps section: the cellar sausage melt ($ 8.95). For drinks — freshly squeezed juices and a gingersnaps latte.
The local water buffalo burger was really good — packed with fresh and organic ingredients, the flavours and textures really complimented each other well. The patty itself wasn’t dry nor over-​seasoned. It was cooked well and, we got it served on a whole wheat bun (or available on a bed of greens), having it on the bun balanced the juiciness of the patty.
The paleo burger (local water buffalo patty on grilled portabello mushroom and garnished with red onion, black radishes, beets, greens, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds & served with pickled veggies) was delicious — because it was served on a portabello mushroom, its texture is more chewy and moist but overall it worked well.
The cellar sausage melt (pork and buffalo sausage) was really good (served in a cute heart shape!) and garnished with fresh greens.
The juices were delicious — you have a choice of drinking them with cold tea or lemonade mixed in (we ordered them to be mixed with cold tea) — very fresh, they’re a great way to energize. The gingersnaps latte was delicious with a perfect cinammon and nutmeg flavour added to it. The size I ordered was a large for about $ 5 (the small is about $ 3.50-$ 4).
I would definitely recommend this place. More than a coffee place though, it’s a general great (study) place to eat fresh, local, and healthy!

Incredible atmosphere and staff. It was very nice eating here and I just recently discovered their existence. The menu has loads of options for a Vegan like myself, it clearly states on most options «Ask to make it Vegan» and they will accommodate happily.
They make a poutine out of potato wedges and a specially formulated Miso blend of gravy with Daiya on it that is amazing! Very filling as well for a standard poutine price.
I look forward to eating here in the future more often and trying out other Vegan items on the menu and am hopeful that in the future they convert to an all Organic, All Vegan establishment. :) Amazing experience.