Celtic Cavern

What a wonderful hidden gem we found! I contemplated not leaving a review because when everyone finds out how great this establishment is, that doesn't already know, I'm afraid I won't be able to find a seat to dine in!
The whole entire staff works in unison along with the owner to deliver you the most unbelievable dining experience. We have tried a good number of items on the menu including daily specials, they are all cooked to literal perfection! The menu items that we have tried more than once are prepared and presented exactly the same way each time consistently. Much care and attention to detail is given to provide such a wonderful experience!
Prices are reasonable in my opinion you get much more than you pay for!
This is our new "go to" place, please save us a seat as we will be anything but "regular" return patrons!

I’m part of a trio of sister-friends and we’ve been close for 25 years. We are now far-flung across CT so we meet up at least 2x a year and Middletown works out best.

We spent 4 hours at Celtic Cavern this afternoon and it was an amazing culinary experience that totally enhanced our meet-up: wide-ranging specials that were excellent, delicious apps (including a shareable Burrata so fresh and creamy), scallops, lobster, halibut, ribs - we were there for the long haul and every dish came out stellar. Great price-point for the quality. Dessert included a chocolate-peanut butter concoction and an amazing mocha creme brûlée that I scraped every bit out of the dish.

And the cocktails!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

A special public thank you to our server for the duration, Sarah, who took care of a trio of women who were laughing, crying, deep in thought, attentively listening to each other…she was an honorary sister-friend for the day. Thank you Sarah for laughing with us and bringing us tissue when we needed it. The bill came with copy of Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey that we were asked to sign like a guest book!!! Talk about memorable.

See photos of food and cocktails below.

I have been eating meals and drinks quite often at Celtic Cavern. The quality of food and drinks is very good. Large selection of food and drinks. Polite service. Strongly recommend.

Um hello. Where have you been all of this time. Deviled eggs on a cobb salad? True story. How are the burgers? Well my buddy couldn't stop talking about it. I may have also gotten one on my Cobb. Our waitress was lovely and got us excited to come back and try dinner also. Well done and so happy that I was referred to y'all.
Please also note one of my pics. They also have a steak salad and as we were chatting with our waitress about what to order I asked what was more popular. Steak salad or cobb. They have a tally board behind the bar. So far it's neck and neck as to which salad will rain supreme. I cannot vote until I've tried the steak salad. Enjoy good food.
Another solid lunch. This time for the squash soup. It was delightful.
The chili is soooo meaty. Omg delicious.
Got another Cobb today. Just too delicious

Everything was delicious, fresh and the service was great. A nice fall evening spent on the patio made it that much better. Strong drinks and a great beer selection!

Great beer on tap, food so good you won't believe how inexpensive it is, and service that makes you feel like you're being served by good friends.

Usually when I'm on the road I'm forced to eat whatever chain restaurant is open late. Plus I'm not someone with high class taste for food. However, when I was showing my buddy who is a foodie what our options were and came across this place, he was like we're going there because that is going to be good.

He was right. We were blown away by this place. We've got 3 more days on this job and we'll definitely be heading here again.

11.26.22 Be ready to wait to be seated as this place is always busy (good sign). The menu is small but has a little of everything. The scallops with pork belly were bursting with flavor and cooked to perfection. The soups were thick and hearty. The Mac n cheese felt like it weighed a ton. The burger was moist and juicy, cooked to perfection. And of course, we had an amazing server who was efficient, friendly, and helpful with the menu selections. This is the place to go for a perfect dining experience. Parking lot across the street or street parking available.

First time here and my husband and I TRULY enjoyed it crystal was AMAZING, and patient and helpful, along with everyone else! Bill the owner was sweet, kind, and humble. We will definitely be coming back for another date night! If I could I'd give 10 stars! The food was also very good! Everyone checked in and offered to help very polite and kind. It's just a happy atmosphere.

My favorite go to for some Shrimp and grits. Manager and Chef were so nice and welcoming. They came to our table especially after we complimented the Chef about the grits. It was my reason for coming back. This meal is amazing. Looking forward to my next visit.

We got take out and the food was very flavorful and good! When we went to pick up the food, the people were nice and the place looked very cool, I would definitely go there again to physically eat there. We got 4 dishes and the Brussels sprouts. The fries were nice and looked home made. I got a carnita wrap thing which was very good! The cheese and other vegetables went very well with the pork. And the boneless short rib was cooked amazingly well, along with the polenta being very creamy and tasty. The Brussels sprouts were fun to eat and went with a nice creamy dipping sauce. I would definitely go here again, the food was great! In the photos the food was already eaten a bit, sorry!

Beyond fun atmosphere and food and drinks were delicious and different. Plus staff actually seems like they LIKE being there...love that feeling... and have been back twice since my wedding dress shopping daughter took us the first time to celebrate finding the dress!

I have been here quite a few times and it is always a consistently fantastic spot to grab a beer and dinner.
The restaurant has a cozy vibe with warm lighting. The staff are quick, accommodating, and delightful.
My friend and ended up having a few food items, which were all delicious. (Pictured is the Burrata)

Loved coming here yesterday for my birthday! Great atmosphere, very clean, friendly servers, AMAZING food, great prices. Gave me cozy little cavern vibes. Absolutely blown away. Definitely check this place out!

Saw all the great reviews online and decided I had to try this place out. I wasn't disappointed. The food was great especially the artisan meat and cheese appetizers. This is THE place to get good beer, and they always have Guinness on draft.
I appreciated the friendly atmosphere and the attentiveness our servers provided us on the evening we went.

This place is such a GREAT Hidden Gem! I love that they have plenty of beers on tap & delicious drink specials. You must give this place a try, and if you do I recommend the dishes shown below!! Shown below is: Sausage and Broccoli, carnitas & mushroom deliciousness!

I love this place so much, the food is incredible, the vibe is cool and the staff very friendly. My favorite food to order is the steak salad. Steak is quite tasty and the salad is a great size portion. I'll keep coming back for sure!

This is a really enjoyable Middletown gastropub. Good beer selection, tasty charcuterie board, and the salads were some of the highlights. Nice that it's open late and has a lively atmosphere. Large portions and very reasonable prices. Will go back!

I can't believe I hadn't eaten here before last night! We had truly delicious food, perfectly cooked, thoughtful seasoning and saucing, and beautifully presented. The staff was so great. I'm already thinking about when we can go back!

My wife and I stopped at the Celtic Cave on our way to the airport. As we followed the entrance signage down a flight of stairs we were met by a pleasant gentleman who turned out to be our waiter. I'm disappointed that I don't remember his name because he is absolutely worthy of a mention in this review. He was the only staff member that we saw during our visit and he did a great job handling his outside and inside responsibilities. We never felt unattended and he brought us menus with glasses of water for each of us. After a few minutes with the menus, he came back and asked us about drinks. I was pleasantly pleased because he brought a pitcher with him and topped off my now empty water glass. I bring this up because he was in and out taking care of the other patrons and still noticed that I drained my water glass in the first two minutes of having it. That level of attention is what separates the rock stars from the rest of the wait staff.

My wife ordered a strawberry lemonade with tequila. The lemonade was a perfect balance of sweet and tart with muddled strawberries. They did not skimp on the tequila.

A short time after ordering, our food came out piping hot. So often restaurants bring out food that doesn't stay hot for the entire meal. This was not a problem for us at the Celtic Cave. The sausage lentil soup was out of this world. The flavors of everything were so complex...layers upon layers of flavors that sneak up on you and leave you wondering what your taste buds will experience next. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a meal so much. My wife had the shrimp and grits. Having some spent years in the South, we were a little disappointed to find out that the grits were actually polenta. This was listed plainly in the description , but we missed it. The flavors were on point, and it's minor, but grits are grits and polenta is polenta. It's almost like using American cheese to make lasagna No matter how good it tastes, there shouldn't be American cheese in lasagna. My chicken salad wrap, like everything else, was fantastic. I didn't get to enjoy it until a few hours later because the side dish of soup was actually a full bowl of soup and it was just too good to not finish. Initially I had a little sticker shock at the prices listed in the menu. Once the food came out, I was no longer concerned. These were not lunch sized meals. Both my wife and I were stuffed, and we each had enough leftovers for second meals. Going back to our server...in conversation, we mentioned that my wife was about to go out of town for a few days. The waiter suggested freezing her leftovers and gave some guidance on best practices to reheat it. Again, he completely exceeded our expectations just as our food did.

I cannot praise the Celtic Cave enough. Go there expecting to pay dinner prices (and here I am managing expectations rather than complaining) and you will NOT be disappointed. It's well worth the ride from wherever you are.

First visit at “Celtic Cavern” 45 Melilli Plaza, Middletown, CT 06457. A gastropub specializing in seasonal American fare (not Irish fare, as the name might imply.)

Going down the stairs to this basement pub I thought it would be tiny, but the room opened with a long bar and quite a few tables and booths. Still very cozy with low lighting, some music and a bar TV. Broad selection of craft beer viewable on your phone. A special today was six sea scallops pan cooked with bacon and served with balsamic vinegar greens and we loved it! My wife had SHRIMP-N-GRITS - shrimp, spicy Tasso ham, cream, polenta, garlic butter, creole spices, grana padano. It was quite spicy, and she loved it! I had the famous BACON BURGER with bacon, mushroom, smoked gouda, garlic aioli, brioche. This may have been the best I have ever had, and I’ve been a foodie for a long time! It was served with Celtic fries which were skin on and obviously Belgian double fried and ...fantastic!!

The staff was perfect, knowledgeable, helpful, spot-on, and genuinely concerned we were happy with everything! They really work as a team. Five ladies worked together to be sure the customers were delighted.

Suffice to say I’ll be back!