I’ll be honest. I never once went into Cellars, the dive-ish bar on DeKalb across from Tillie’s. Yet all of a sudden, I’ve noticed it’s closed!
I’m pretty sure the place has some interesting history, at least among neighborhood locals. In fact, my neighbor met his (now ex-) wife here for the first time, back in the day. (I wanted to insert a photo of them on the night they met, but the neighbor still hasn’t given it to me to scan.)
Anyone know what’s to become of this place?
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28 Comments
I don’t know what happened to Cellars but I miss the place. I moved into CH in 2002 and Cellars rapidly became my favorite bar. It was not a dive at all, in fact, Mr. Cellars would turn people away who weren’t dressed appropriately. They always had food, good stories and open arms. I’ll miss it.
Back in the day, my girlfriend and I had some of the best times there – very fond memories……..
i always meant to get over there, apparently they had really good food, as well?
it’s been closed for a long time now — i think i first noticed it was shut down back last summer. and i think it was closed on and off before that.
I tried that place a few times when we first moved in. It always just seemed kind of empty. Its a great location I hope someone one does something with it. A bar with good food would be nice.
I just wanted to say thanks for this blog. I don’t live in Clinton Hill, but I’m moving to Brooklyn when I graduate this May and have been trying to decide which neighborhood I’d prefer–your blog is definitely encouraging me to check out CH!
Cool- thanks for the props.
Come join us in CH! The streets are paved in gold.
I went to Cellars a bunch of times. They had a pretty good jukebox and were always very friendly. The owner, Mr. Cellars I presume, would always ask if I wanted anything to eat. He basically offered whatever was in the kitchen for the price of your drink. I had pork chops there that were pretty good. Definitely a place that had that “old time” charm. It will be missed.
my friends once were served hamburgers on raisin bread there
i bet he’s gonna hang onto the property, it’s always had odd hours. i shudder to think what would take its place at this point.
It’s been closed for about a year. Initially, there was an issue with the health department, then Mr. Cellars got sick. My understanding is that it is his health that is preventing him from re-opening.
Not sure when or why it closed, but Cellars, along with the Two Steps Down and The Alibi Club were among the few restaurants/bars in the neighborhood when I moved there in 1986. Sad to see it close.
I’m not sure what happened to Cellars, i believe they live upstairs. But his son’s place – diagonal across DeKalb – next to the Diner, just sold at auction. The guys at the diner still weren’t sure what was happening but glad to see some movement. There has been a LONG ongoing fight to get the fronts of the buildings repaired. Since they are landmarked, they had to be restored not repaired (ie MONEY!) hopefully after 8 years the scaffolding will come down!
Geralyn, that’s some great news. I wondered why there has been scaffolding there forever.
wow, that scaffolding’s been there 8 years? wow.
i have to say i was really shocked to see Bonito open up on that block, as i’d heard it was one of the last gentrification holdouts due to the drama going on.
is the property that sold the newsstand? as long as the pharmacy at the other end of the block doesn’t close (love those guys!), it’s alright by me, i guess.
I was wondering why that scaffolding has been there that long. It looks like its about to collapse (the scaffolding, and the building).
the scaffolding has been there a long time, but not 8 years. still it is amazing how long those buildings have remained stagnant considering what’s been happening all around it. hell, even the Alibi got a makeover in the last couple of years!
blog note: when i view the individual blog posts, i’m not seeing the comments, they only seem to display on the main page.
My husband spoke to “Mr. Cellars” about two months ago, and he said he was going to be revamping Cellars and reopening! Of course, that would depend on his health. We’ve spent quite a few nights in there over the years enjoying the food and jukebox. They used to have a door guy and a sign on the door that said “Proper Attire is Required.” I noticed that as the neighborhood changed over the past decade, the sign and doorman went away.
Also, the scafffolding over his son’s social club has indeed been up since at least 1997, the year we moved to CH.
yes the scaffolding…forever! They removed the limestone fronts on those buildings after they started to fall off and when the city told them they had to be replaced in the “correct order” things came to a standstill. It was okay that they were falling down all by themselves but soon as you go to repair… the hysterical society comes running. I imagine it’s got to be hard. and hey, it’s nice to have a dry place to stand waiting for the b38 to come! trying to look at the bright side on a COLD day! The social club used to have a pool tournament and dance nights. Not sure what happened, but as the neighborhood changed, he wasn’t open very often, then just dissappeared.-g
What I’ve been hearing is that Tommy (“Mr. Cellars”) has had some problems with his hip, and that’s why they’ve been closed for a good while now.
It would indeed be great news if Tommy was indeed fixing to renovate and reopen. I’ve only been living in the neighborhood going on three years, but I spied Cellars on one of my very first walks up from the G-train, and knew I’d spend some time in there on the weekends.
Cellars did for sure have an awesome jukebox, and Tommy and his hospitality was a welcome respite in New York City, especially after I spent 15 years living down in New Orleans.
I’m told that Cellars used to be quite the hotspot back in the day, and I would assume so, given the layout, the pool table, and the large party room in the back. As things change in a neighborhood, so, too, do the crowds and they move to other spots they like to hang out in.
Still, it was always an enjoyable night or Sunday afternoon sitting at the bar to watch a game with Tommy, and he did indeed make great food (burgers in particular), always had kind words and good stories, and never tried to chisel folks on drinks.
Here’s hoping Tommy is doing well and on the mend, and will be back behind the bar with a friendly smile real soon.
Well. after reading all these positive comments, I guess our experience was an isolated one.
We went into Cellars one evening shortly after moving here- Autumn of ’03 – and got the chilliest reception from both the patrons AND the gentleman behind the counter that we were compelled to leave.
We walked in and it was as if we’d walked into a stranger’s living room, naked and uninvited. Incredibly uncomfortable. We sat at the bar and asked if they indeed served food (as we’d been told). After a rather long pause, the barkeep sighed and said simply “cheeseburgers’. Then turned his back on us and fiddled with something on the bar, then walked away.
Usually when treated this way I’ll go into a defiant mode and refuse to be chased away, but I was hungry and uninterested in being treated like shit on that particular evening. We split and never returned and I felt a real sense of satisfaction when I saw this joint go belly up.
MAybe we showed up on a bad night, I guess any number of things might have led up to it and we were just caught off guard. If Cellar’s was in fact the great neighborhood institution that the previous posters remember, than I’m sorry I never got the chance to experience it.
I love that place. We used to go there all the time when we lived in Clinton Hill… Free food, great hospitality. A pool table and some free wings and macaroni and cheese, can’t beat that. I actually planned a surprise birthday party for my husband there in 2001, but it got cancelled due to the fact that my husband’s birthday is September 11th…
I hope Mr Cellars is doing well and that they re-open soon.
Does anyone know how to reach Tommy?
i had a similar experience to houseowax on my only visit to Cellars. my friend and i were made to feel as if our visit was a total imposition by both those behind the bar and those sitting at it. i was initially excited by the great jukebox until my browsing was abruptly interrupted by the barkeep telling me that they were listening what they were listening to and the jukebox was not to be used. my friend and i ate our cheeseburgers on white bread (not exceptional) and left. i never went back.
Tommy Cellars passed away recently. They had a viewing this past Tuesday @ Cranfords Funeral home.
Tommy Cellars rest in peace my dear friend. As I just recently heard of his passing. Cellars and Eric’s was the spot back in the day. I will surely miss him say How are you doing tonight Glamour in his robust voice.He always made you feel welcome no matter what. Always warm and friendly.
Does anyone know what is going on in that space now? I loved it in it’s historic incarnation, but I also have my eye on it. Great bar with great food, as someone mentioned before…that’s me all over.
The Kitchen Witch
Does anyone know how to get in touch with Thomas Cellars Jr. I went to school with him and would love to get back in touch.
I hate to talk bad about the dead, but my father, Thomas Herman Sellers aka Tommy Sellers Sr. was a selfish manipulative man who had no respect or regard for the many innocent children that he fathered. His years and years of lies and deception left a lot of unanswered questions, broken hearts, and anger. I never got the chance to really know him but based on the little that I do know about him, I can now thank God for sparing me & my siblings the trauma of actually experiencing life with him.
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