Review: Cellar Door Café

After East Lawrence staple Decade Coffee Shop temporarily closed in early 2020, Lawrence native and Seabury graduate Louis Wigen-Toccalino opened his second restaurant, Cellar Door Cafe. The cafe is located at 7 W 11th Street in downtown Lawrence, just around the corner from Sylas and Maddy’s. The café’s window is decorated with intricate pastries: Cellar Door Café offers a variety of baked goods including French financiers, canéles, blood orange tarts and a delicious seven layer honey cake. In addition to these, Cellar Door’s menu also includes simpler desserts like chocolate chip cookies and a twist on snickerdoodle cookies.

Although only baked goods are displayed in the windows, Cellar Door has a wide selection of options on its menu. Lunch ranges from an avocado rice bowl to fried chicken and French fries. Cellar Door’s array of choices distinguishes it from other downtown restaurants, although some menu items are borrowed from Decade, such as Decade’s chai tea, which is also popular at other downtown businesses.

Cellar Door’s location on 11th Street makes it easily accessible, although the space is small. The restaurant requires masks indoors at all times, making it one of the more Covid-safe businesses downtown. However, that means that indoor eating is not allowed. Chairs and tables are set up inside in preparation for post-pandemic service, but, at the moment, Cellar Door is strictly offering to-go and carryout. This setup, although sometimes inconvenient, does not seem to affect the quality of the food.

With its variety of foods from tacos to French pastries to rice bowls, Cellar Door provides a great new option for downtown Lawrence diners despite its small size.