rathskeller

American  

[raht-skel-er, rat-, rath-] / ˈrɑtˌskɛl ər, ˈræt-, ˈræθ- /

noun

1. (in Germany) the cellar of a town hall, often used as a beer hall or restaurant.

2. a restaurant patterned on the German rathskeller, usually located below street level.

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Etymology

Origin of rathskeller

1860–65; < German, equivalent to Rath (extracted from Rathaus town hall) + -s 's 1 + Keller cellar

Explanation

A rathskeller is a pub or bar in the basement level of a building. You might visit the rathskeller in your city to feast on German food. Rathskeller is a German word (also spelled Ratskeller) that means "a cellar in a German town hall in which beer is sold," from the roots rat, "council," and keller, "celler." Most rathskellers are in Germany, but they've also existed in the US since the nineteenth century, including one called Das Deutsche Haus Ratskeller in Indianapolis, which opened in 1894 and serves Bavarian food and beer.

Example Sentences

The estate ultimately consisted of sixteen structures, including an aviary, and fifty-five baroquely furnished rooms, among them a rathskeller.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 13, 2015

Father Bunn shared Mr. McCooey’s dream of a rathskeller and a high-end tavern as unofficial extensions of the university, and he wanted Mr. McCooey to make it happen.

From Washington Post

But in a rathskeller, the song Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier doesn't sound right either.

From Time Magazine Archive

As a freshman at Georgetown University in 1948, Richard McCooey walked the nearby streets and dreamed that someday he would run a student rathskeller and restaurant within easy reach of the campus.

From Washington Post

Music and laughter and the sweet smell of German beer poured from the rathskeller in the building’s basement.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Related Words

• bistro
• inn
• lounge
• pub
• saloon
• tavern