Cellar Bar & Grill

Started with the onion rings… recommended…well, I never knew onion rings could be so tough… they are different… like chewing cardboard… oily, hot, but tough as nails… made your teeth hurt… second order to replace the first was no better…
Prime rib for me… king cut, prime rib shaved sliders for the lady… nothing exceptional especially when we waited almost an hour for our food… sorry, I dont care if it was crab night and there were large groups to be waited on… you have to act like a restaurant that has been there before…

Good local restaurant. Wide range of food options and the atmosphere works for a business lunch or a casual dinner. Haven’t had a bad meal there.

Brought out of town friends to the Cellar because they wanted to try something local. They said they wish they had something this good in their locale.

This place was pretty good. We each got a different kind of burger, and they were good but not great. Service was great, the wait staff is friendly. I’d come back; I might try something different next time, though.

This is one of primary lunch and watering holes in our community for many business people. Always very good food and drinks with service to match. Come early for lunch. Gets busy.

Grew up in Kearney and even worked here for a short time and always remembered how good their burgers are. Came back to town for a visit and was disappointed in their burger. It was dry and bland with no flavor. There is the competition between The Cellar and Stella’s for Nebraska’s best burger and there is no competition. Stella’s is the best burger hands down. However The Cellar does have the best onion rings!

If you come here you HAVE to get their onion rings. Probably not the most healthy thing for your body, but it sure does satisfy your taste buds! The cheeseballs are great too.

Absolutely disgusting. Several years ago this place received some award for having Nebraska’s best burger – how that happened was by miracle. When we ate here, the staff was rude and the food looked and tasted like it was dropped on the ground and stepped on. I will never ever be back there.

I have read and heard very good things about this place. We go to Kearney often but always eat at the chain places. So we wanted to finally try this place out. They are closed Sunday evenings so we stopped on a Monday for lunch. Place was very busy and smelled great like steak. Very nice large menu but not overwhelming. Very impressed with how clean the restaurant. Even the salt and pepper shakers were very clean. Don’t see that alot of places that keep those as clean as they should. Okay first off about Onion Rings. Everyone raves about them so we wanted to try them. Not good at all. The batter is very thick and chewy. Almost like they use the same flour they use for pizza crusts which would explain why it was so thick and chewy. The were under cooked for as much batter was on them. The ranch dressing was great but not much onion to it. 90% was batter. Wouldnt ever order these again and we eat alot of Onion Rings. Kids had cheese pizza. It seems like crust was homemade. Kids were happy with taste but half crust was burnt. Alot of sauce and very little cheese. My prime rib wrap not very good. It had way to much lettuce. Didn’t ever taste any onions in it like menu said and it was soggy from the Au Ju. Not sure if it just spilled onto plate or if they intentionally poured into over it before serving. Overall the food was just very average at best. However i do plan to go back again but hope to do it to try their steaks. So not so bad that I would not go back. So giving it 2 stars on cleanliness snd wait staff and 0 stars for food quality vs price paid.

This place is awesome. Especially the bar. The drink are legit delicious and environment is cool and chill. I had the bacon and cheese burger I was hoping have juicy burger but it was just a good burger but a little dry. The fries were bomb though. I would definitely return to try something else and maybe get the burger again

We stopped here based on Unilocal reviews and were impressed by the amount of people waiting to get seated thinking this would be a good place to go. We were seated quickly. The pop tasted a little funky. The loaded onion rings were good. We both got the burgers on special, my mushroom Swiss with an onion ring was not that good. The mushrooms were cold the bun was too much for the burger and there wasn’t enough sauce so it was pretty dry. I didn’t finish it. I took a bite of the other burger to try it and pulled out a piece of wax paper! We tried to get the waitress’s attention but to no avail. Finally when she came to give us the check we told her and they did comp the burger which was good. Unfortunately later that night i got violently sick. So not the best experience.

This restaurant didn’t strike me as a «bar and grill» as it only had a tiny bar area. It was dark (hence the «Cellar» name) and quite a bit dated as far as décor goes. HOWEVER, the service was awesome! We let our server know that it was our first time there and she brought us a complimentary basket of their onion rings. They were amazing! My husband had the Bacon Cheeseburger and really enjoyed it. I had the Peanut Butter and Jelly Burger, and I’m not kidding when I say it was the best burger I’ve ever had in my life. All other burgers from here on out will be compared to that one! (My husband had entrée envy!) So awesome, I’m glad I tried it and I can’t wait to go back for another! We each had a couple of cocktails from the bar. When we got our ticket, I remember thinking that I’ve paid twice as much for way less at other restaurants. Very reasonable! If you are in the Kearney area, GO TO THE CELLAR!!!

Onion rings are sooooooo yummy; definitely get this if you come. I got the small ($ 7) and it was very filling and delicious. I didn’t finish it all while at the restaurant, but boxed them and ate em all pretty much the second I got home. I also got the Western burger ($ 10), considered by Zagat Magazine to be the best in Nebraska. I thought the beef was a little dry (probably should have asked for it to be more rare) but otherwise delicious especially with the cheese and their amazing barbeque sauce. Great food for the money. Superb wait staff and super friendly. I went in around noon on a weekday, busy but no wait time.

We stopped here on our way traveling to Wisconsin. We came across this place via Unilocal and boy did it live up to the reviews! We walked in and were seated by a very friendly waitress named Janie. After looking at the menu we decided on the onion rings appetizers which she suggested! OMG by far the best onions rings we have ever had! Crispy, no grease, not your usual onion rings, with a side of amazing ranch dressing, the onion rings alone are 5 star. I had their famous Western Burger, amazing and huge, hubby had the bacon cheese burger, just as fantastic! After talking to Janie, she’s so friendly, we were about ready to leave and they gave us our appetizers free just for stopping in and checking them out! By far the best food we’ve had so far on our road trip! Don’t let the looks of the outside fool you, go in and try the food!!!

Awesome. service for weary travelers! My dad had the hot roast beef and enjoyed every bite!

The onion rings alone were worth the 5 stars. I had the Western Burger which was lights out (it had two onion rings). Seriously, come for the onion rings.

Ordered the Ribeye (medium rare) with mashed potatoes and the vegetable medley.
The mashed potatoes were passable and the vegetable medley tasted like they were frozen. A shame really, it isn’t difficult to cook up some fresh vegetables.
The first bite of the ribeye was good and then it was all downhill from there. The rest of the steak was cooked well done. Not sure how they pulled that off. The waitress was apologetic and had it replaced immediately. I held out hope the new one would be better… it was somehow worse. Cutting through, I could tell that whoever cooked the steak adjusted his times correctly but yet, the inside of the steak was all brown. Looked like an old piece of meat.
The waitress was thoroughly embarrassed by the situation and I felt bad for her. However, if I’m going to pay $ 21 for a steak, I want it to be done correctly. When she brought it back to the kitchen, I heard the cook yell at her, not good.
Instead of trying my luck on a third steak, I asked to get a French Dip sandwich which the waitress happily obliged. The sandwich was okay. Not great, not terrible, just okay.
If I could, I would give the service five stars and the food one star.

I had the best onion rings here! Their burgers are in «my last meal before I die» list!
I should not be legal to serve such good food!

My wife, son, and I went here for dinner on our way home to Chicago from Colorado. We stopped in based on previous Unilocal reviews and the recommendation of the front desk staff at The Holiday Inn Express.
I’ll preface this by saying I travel, extensively, and have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world. We also eat out, a lot, and so this serves as my basis for comparison.
I ordered the garden salad to start which was iceberg lettuce, ¼ of a tomato, and two slices of cucumber. But at least it was fresh.
For dinner I ordered the chicken enchiladas with their green chile sauce and they were fine, not great, not awful, fine. They were topped with tortilla chips which was interesting but also annoying. The kitchen didn’t overdo the cheese on them, for which I was thankful.
My wife had the chef salad, which, again, was just iceberg lettuce, ham, bacon, turkey, eggs, the usual. It too, was just fine.
My son, a picky teenage eater, ordered the fried catfish which they served on, you guessed it, iceberg lettuce. Claiming that the lettuce flavor had infused the fried fish, he refused to eat more than a couple of bites. I tasted it and it was quite peppery.
Beer list was absolutely nothing to write home about. The most exotic beer was a Sam Adams seasonal.
Wine selection was nonexistent.
All in all, it was what I expected: Decent food at a decent price in the middle of nowhere. Next time we drive through Kearney, we’ll eat somewhere else.

Can’t imagine that there’s a better place to eat in Kearney.
We were seated immediately for lunch on a Monday, at a trendy table with these comfortable rolling chairs. I was a little disappointed to find out that literally the only thing on the menu without meat was a garden salad… but I could get into the idea of the create-​your-​own combo, with the chili and the half-​grilled cheese. Both were amazing, and the portions were gargantuan, for about $ 8. The grilled cheese was garlicky and buttery, and the chili was packed with quality beef and hearty beans– topped with a load of cheddar cheese and some jalapenos. There was just the right amount of heat, and it filled me up easily until dinner.
My mom got the western burger, their award-​winning burger, and said it completely deserved the title of best burger in Nebraska– but really raved about the barbecue sauce.
Our poor waitress had her hands full, but some of the other servers stepped in to help her with our table, each introducing herself and each so attentive and friendly. A refreshingly great experience after our beyond-​disappointing lunch yesterday in Iowa!