The Root Cellar Café And Brewery

Good beer, food is real tasty. Especially for San Marcos highly recommended.

On business in the area and searched breakfast on Unilocal.This ‘Café and Brewery’ showed up. Had to try it and was amazed. Skillet eggs & red potatoes with a side of bacon and English muffin. Everything was perfect including the jelly which I found out was made in house. Server Brian was great.

Great, very high quality combine. I’ve always had good service.
My g/​f and I wanted to try brunch, but their coffee was so terrible we left.
Everything else is wonderful, though.

The Root Cellar is delicious and fresh and certainly has the best brunch menu in San Marcos. However, the wait to get a table and then the longer wait to get your food may have you wishing you had brought a snack along. The service is good and then it’s bad — not much consistency there. Long story short, come for the great food but be prepared for the wait.

I have been going to The Root Cellar for over 8 years now and have turned friends/​people I have dated onto it. The food is always stellar, the staff have been consistently friendly and helpful when questions are asked about the food, and it’s one of my favorite go-​to places for dates with my husband or lunches with friends. The Root Cellar is a great little San Marcos gem — hell, when I moved from San Marcos to Austin and Round Rock, I continued making the trek down to eat there — it’s that awesome. I recently moved back to San Marcos and I am stoked to be so close to one of my favorite spots.

Lovely food! Everything here tastes very fresh and is always delicious! The atmosphere is really nice and the service I’ve had here has always been friendly and great. You may have to wait a little bit, as it gets crowded. But I’ve never had to wait extremely long and it’s worth it for the great food!

The drink selection is good! The food is slightly overpriced. If you enjoy small portions and spending $$$ then this place is for you. This is not a college student’s casual hangout spot.

Always a great place to go. Everything on their menu is delicious, this place gets it right even on the plating.

Great food, great service, and we only had wait about 5 min for a table at Sunday brunch! Will definitely be back!

Good to greatv food and atmosphere. Beer is good. Service is hit or miss. Outside dining area could use some work.

Ambiance was good. Food was better. Definitely worth your time & money to check this place out. Very locally sourced items, if you care about that sort of thing. Fresh & delicious.

Stopped in for breakfast, it was excellent! I will suggest the Brazilian French toast with fruit and homemade whip cream and the coffee, service was great with awesome atmosphere! We will return again!

Food selection was fantastic and the restaurant is very charming! Great place to go if you have to please many pallet!

I came in this weekend to grab lunch as I was in San Marcos to tour off campus housing for Texas State. My family and I (the three of us) were told there would be a 30 minute wait. We decided to hang out at the bar until our names were called. The bartenders were lovely, especially being they were working as hosts as well. 10 minutes went by and our table was already ready. I ordered the Brazilian french toast (served until 4 pm). Highly recommend! The service was also very attentive & the ambience made for a very homey feeling. Great local restaurant. I’ll definitely be back once I move to San Marcos.

Dinner for 4.
Very nice atmosphere.
Our server was top notch.
Asparagus fries were great.
Cilantro shrimp had some kind of strange spice in it I didn’t like and it was very spicy.
Over priced pie and coffee.
Yes, I would go back and give it one more try

The boyfriend, dog and I went on a day trip to San Marcos and ended up here for breakfast. The restaurant is housed in a cute old building in the historic downtown area. For sitting with the pup, they offer seating out front and a great side patio. I only noticed one single stall bathroom, which although it wasn’t a problem for me, I could see how this could be a nightmare during peak hours.
As for the food, not much to brag about. Honestly, as soon as I asked if the orange juice in the mimosas was fresh squeezed and the server laughed and said «NO», I knew this wasn’t going to be a memorable meal. I had the Rae Sandwich (fried egg, pickles, tomato, mayo and bacon on bread). I guess you can’t expect much when ordering a breakfast sandwich, but considering it was a «house favorite» and the fact that Root Cellar also has a bakery, I hope for a bit more, like baked artisan bread (not just store bought white bread) and fresher ingredients.
My boyfriend ordered the Brazilian French toast. Who can resist French toast soaked in a vanilla rum sauce? Unfortunately, the vanilla rum sauce was undetectable. In fact, the bread didn’t seem soaked at all. If not for the syrup, which tasted cheap and store bought, it would have tasted like we were eating soft toast.
The plus is that the service was great and accommodating, and their house cocoa and coffee were wonderful.

Never disappointed with a visit to the Root Cellar! A trip to San Marcos isn’t complete until I’ve had my fix. Choosing just one plate is always the most difficult part.

Service was really great here. Iced chai latte was pretty good, a touch too sweet. Side salad was a perfect size with a nice dressing selection. The beet burger was SOOOOOO good, not too beety haha. I would definitely eat that burger again, but almost everything on the menu at Root Cellar looks bomb. Definitely recommend this place. Very fair prices considering the quality and quantity of food you are served. Great atmosphere.

I would have rated no stars but it made me choose at least one star. I was having lunch with my disabled mother and my sister and decided to Google a new spot to try for lunch. Since my mom uses a walker I let them out of the car by the frint door whole I parked the car. My mom and sister walked in first and they refused to put us on the wait to be seated list until after I walked in. It’s not like we were a large party, only 3 and there was plenty of empty tables. My mom uses a walker but is self sufficient, 2^nd of all u should want to accommodate persons with special needs as a business, period. When I parked car and walked in we finally were put on the to be seated list, so we thought at least. Now, while sitting for 20 minutes we watched multiple persons enter and be seated. Oh, did I mention everyone else was greeted when they entered and I had to stand and wait while number of staff walked by without acknowledgement. THEN I was told now I’m next because they failed to move me to waiting for seating in the system… yes, technology must be used over a customer’s satisfaction.
Now I’m not one to automatically throw the race card out there but I had to wonder as I sat back down and looked around… no ’ minorities’ or persons of ethnic origin that I could see. THEN YET ANOTHER party of 3 walked in and was immediately seated. With that I asked my mom and sister if they wanted to eat elsewhere… we opted for Red Lobster.

Went there for breakfast yesterday around 11ish. The wait was 35 minutes and the waiting area is a little tight. The waiting area is adjacent to the bar area which is super tiny but so cozy. Once walking into this place, it’s like walking into another time and another country, almost like walking into a Charles Dickens novel. Its old, vintage feel complete with antique looking (they very well may be antiques!) furniture and bar and shelving and with the beautiful Edison lights, was pure bliss to be in.
I had to use the washroom and again, there was a wait, and the area to wait in again was tight and it’s a one-​person bathroom so the wait was long as there were 3 people ahead of me.
Once we got to the table, we wanted sangria and mimosas. It being Sunday and Texas we had to place an order for food first (oh Texas… haha). The drinks were great and the food was also very good and was well presented even.
Now I did take a peek at the beer list and I will be back for an evening trip to this place. I’ll just have to make sure I bring a catheter because that line to the bathroom will not be fun after a few beers! Kidding about the catheter… maybe some adjust underwear? haha. Again… kidding.
I would say the only minuses to this place is simply the space and the bathroom. Other than that, it’s incredible.

I’m probably here too much for my own good, but I just can’t seem to stay away from their skillet eggs and red potatoes, or coffee! (Fun fact: When you «check in» here, the coffee is free, just make sure you tell your server.) And talking about servers, the Root Cellar has excellent staff members, and they always provide great service!
Oh, and they also brew their own beer! Tried the flight, and it was pretty darn delicious.

Stopped here for lunch on the way to the outlet mall on a Saturday. There was a 30 minute wait. We thought about going somewhere else, but decided to stay and explore shops down the street. They texted when our table was ready and we were seated in the very back facing a window. It took a while for our food to come out and we were starting to get impatient. Oh my. The food was definitely worth the wait! My boyfriend got a Brewhouse Burger and a dark craft beer (brewed in house). I got a grilled turkey and tomato sandwich with mashed potatoes and an iced chai tea latte. The bread they use is really good quality and fresh. Everything just tasted fresh and delicious. Mashed potatoes were on point, homemade. Chai was too sweet for me. Order anything that comes with bread (sandwiches, burgers, etc). It was a nice surprise to find this place. Check it out!

Everything here is wonderful! The staff, the food, the atmosphere. If you are in the area and haven’t visited, do yourself a favor and go have brunch, lunch, dinner, even drinks (they brew their own beer!) cause it’s all delicious.
Root Cellar forever! A million stars!!!

Two people had recommended dining at this restaurant. We went on a weekday around 3 PM not expecting a wait. There was about a 20 minute wait which gave us plenty of time to review the menu.
We opted for the spinach pasta with side salad and the black bean burger with a side of mashed potatoes.
Spinach pasta — Very very bland. Gave a few generous shakes of black pepper and can still say, very bland. The side salad was tasty. Raspberry vinaigrette was refreshing and light.
Black bean burger — Good. Could tell the black bean patty was homemade (a good thing) and the ingredients were all very fresh. Side of mashed potatoes was heavy, needed to be airier by adding more butter, cream and salt/​pepper.
Service was very nice. We did have to «flag» down our waitress for refills of water and to order. Would dine here again if there was no wait.

Always look forward to dining here.
Bar is a nice visual addition.
Great caring service
Food/​menu very good assortment of ingredients
Ambiance-​5 star

This is an excellent little restaurant in San Marcos. Every thing is home made and it tastes wonderful for a reasonable price. The setting is really cool inside the basement of an old building with art on the wall. I highly recommend it. Didn’t try their bakery across the street yet because it’s closed every time I go, but they have excellent desserts, if sometimes a little small.

Charming little café with pleasant and friendly staff. It only took 25 minutes to get a table. There is no central AC, just wall units and ceiling fans. It was 95 °F outside which made it a bit stuffy on the inside. One thing that really annoyed me about the customers here was the great amount of them that would enter/​exit and not shut the door! Very rude and ill-​mannered. I do believe this is my first review to call out customers. But seriously people, SHUT THE DAMN DOOR! Were you raised in a barn?
Sidekick ordered the tuna salad sandwich and I got the Caribbean Stacker. The CS came with turkey, ham, bacon, red onions and a jalapeño pineapple sauce with swiss on ciabatta bread. The jalapeño pineapple sauce did not appeal to me one bit. My waiter assured me it was not very sweet at all and he recommended I add a fried egg. Fried eggs on sandwiches are the shit. I took his recommendation and went for it.
The tuna was a bit on the sweet side, but, sidekick said it was tasty enough. My waiter was spot on with his recommendation and advice on my Stacker. It was not overly pineapple sweet at all. In fact the sauce seemed to blend in perfectly giving the sandwich just the right amount of ummph. It was a very good sandwich. My only complaint is that I would have liked a little more runny on the egg yolk, but, the egg did its job. If you get this sandwich definitely add the fried egg. Yumm.