Meat rolls in cabbage with polenta
Sarmale
Polenta (water, cornmeal, salt), Cabbage, Pork leg, Onion, Rice, Tomatoes, Pork lard, Pork ribs, Wine vinegar, Tomato paste, Bay leaf, Summer savory, Black pepper
49 lei
Wine cellar · Sibiu · since 1927
A vaulted cellar in the heart of the old town, where for almost a century people have come down for a hot soup, a mutton stew and a glass of wine from the barrel — by candlelight, to the sound of fiddles.
Daily 12:00 – 22:00Live folk music from 19:00Papiu Ilarian 3, Sibiu
Welcome downstairs
The taste of Transylvania, the way grandparents remember it.
At Sibiul Vechi we reinvent nothing. We cook the recipes once made in the Saxon and Romanian homes around Sibiu — sarmale, tochitură, smoked mutton with polenta, papanași — with ingredients from local producers and the patience a slow fire demands.
01
Transylvanian cooking
Family recipes, generous portions and a 38-page menu that leaves nothing out.
02
Wine & brandy from the barrel
Ciumbrud wine drawn from the barrel, plum and quince brandy, house-made sour-cherry and blueberry liqueur.
03
Fiddlers every evening
From 19:00, violins and cimbalom — folk music the way it has been played in Transylvania for a hundred years.
04
Folk costume & brick vaults
Waiters in traditional dress, white tablecloths and the brick vaults of a 15th-century house.
Signature dishes
A few of the dishes our guests have been walking down the stairs for, for almost a hundred years. Prices in lei, from the current menu.
Peasant's stew with polenta
Tochitură
Polenta (water, cornmeal, salt), Mixed pork cuts, Fried egg, Cașcaval cheese, Sunflower oil, Garlic, White wine, Pork sausages, Tomato paste, Pork belly
49 lei
Shepherd's Bag
Traista ciobanului
Polenta (water, cornmeal, salt), Pork chop, Cheese, Sour cream, Pork pastrami, Cașcaval cheese, Pork sausages, Tomatoes, Butter
65 lei
Mutton stew
Tocană de oaie
Mutton, Potatoes, Water, Celeriac, Carrot, Sunflower oil, Tomato paste, Sweet paprika, Bay leaf, Black pepper, Iodised salt, Caraway
60 lei
Tripe soup
Ciorbă de burtă
Water, Beef tripe, Egg, Sour cream, Celeriac, Onion, Carrot, Wine vinegar, White flour, Garlic, Chili pepper
35 lei
Grilled trout
Păstrăv la grătar
Trout, Salt, Black pepper
45 lei
Fried pork and polenta
Pomana porcului
Polenta (water, cornmeal, salt), Pork neck, Smoked pork sausages, Telemea sheep cheese
53 lei
Transylvanian mixgrill (smoked meat)
Afumături Ardelenești
Smoked pork sausages, Smoked pork loin, Pork pastrami
49 lei
Head shepherd's plate
Mâncarea baciului
Balmoș (polenta, cheese, cașcaval cheese, sour cream, butter), Mutton tenderloin, Onion, Tomatoes, Smoked pork belly, Butter, Tomato paste, Black pepper, Salt, White wine
62 lei
Mixture of polenta and cheese
Balmoș
Polenta, Cheese, Cașcaval cheese, Sour cream, Butter
45 lei
Cheese doughnuts with sourcream
Papanași
Cottage cheese, Wheat flour, Blueberry jam, Sour cream, Egg, Sugar, Sunflower oil, Lemon juice, Lemon zest
31 lei
Plum dumplings
Găluște cu prune
Potatoes, Plums, Wheat flour, Breadcrumbs, Plum jam, Egg, Sugar, Salt
25 lei
Ice cream dumplings with pears
Găluște cu înghețată și pere
Vanilla ice cream (contains milk), Pear, Sour cherries, Breadcrumbs, Sugar, Red wine, Sunflower oil, Walnuts
29 lei
Our story
Almost a century of long tables and short stories.
Since 1927, without interruption, in the same cellar on Papiu Ilarian street.
1927
Today
1927
The Thomas Cellars
In the basement of a house in the heart of medieval Sibiu, a wine cellar opens under the name “Thomaskeller” — the Thomas Cellars. Brick vaults, wine from the barrel and long oak tables become the habit of the place.
01 / 061938
“Sibiul Vechi” is born
After a short spell as “Restaurant Tunel”, in January 1938, under Hans Schuster, the cellar receives the name it still carries today: Sibiul Vechi — Old Sibiu.
02 / 061944
The sign on the façade
A thorough renovation leaves behind the inscription still visible from the street. Passers-by walk down the same steps into the same cool cellar, with the same smell of wine and slow-cooked food.
03 / 061990
The traditional cellar
After 1989 the cellar becomes today’s traditional Transylvanian restaurant: home cooking, waiters in folk costume, fiddlers every evening and a 38-page menu with everything that is good in Transylvania.
04 / 062024
Astra blue
The latest refresh brings the traditional blues of the houses in the Astra open-air museum onto the walls — and leaves everything else untouched: the 12 tables, the white tablecloths and the music at seven.
05 / 06Today
Sibiu’s best-loved traditional restaurant
No. 1 among Sibiu’s “traditional restaurants” on TripAdvisor, almost a century of uninterrupted service and thousands of guests from all over the world who come back for the same soup, the same stew and the same feeling of home.
06 / 061927
The Thomas Cellars
In the basement of a house in the heart of medieval Sibiu, a wine cellar opens under the name “Thomaskeller” — the Thomas Cellars. Brick vaults, wine from the barrel and long oak tables become the habit of the place.
1938
“Sibiul Vechi” is born
After a short spell as “Restaurant Tunel”, in January 1938, under Hans Schuster, the cellar receives the name it still carries today: Sibiul Vechi — Old Sibiu.
1944
The sign on the façade
A thorough renovation leaves behind the inscription still visible from the street. Passers-by walk down the same steps into the same cool cellar, with the same smell of wine and slow-cooked food.
1990
The traditional cellar
After 1989 the cellar becomes today’s traditional Transylvanian restaurant: home cooking, waiters in folk costume, fiddlers every evening and a 38-page menu with everything that is good in Transylvania.
2024
Astra blue
The latest refresh brings the traditional blues of the houses in the Astra open-air museum onto the walls — and leaves everything else untouched: the 12 tables, the white tablecloths and the music at seven.
Today
Sibiu’s best-loved traditional restaurant
No. 1 among Sibiu’s “traditional restaurants” on TripAdvisor, almost a century of uninterrupted service and thousands of guests from all over the world who come back for the same soup, the same stew and the same feeling of home.
„Authentic traditional cooking, made like at home — the restaurant that has been open without interruption since 1927.”
— Turnul Sfatului, 2024
See the galleryAtmosphere
Walk down a few steps and into another century.
Twelve tables under brick vaults, warm light, starched white tablecloths and the smell of bread with lard and onion. In the evening, from seven, the fiddlers start softly — and when they play “Ciobănașul”, the whole cellar falls silent.
Live folk music
Every evening from 19:00 — violin, cimbalom, double bass.
Folk costume
Our waiters wear traditional dress from the Sibiu highlands.
Wine from the barrel
White Ciumbrud wine, dry or semi-dry, drawn straight from the cask.
15th-century cellar
Brick and stone vaults, a few steps from the Grand Square.
Gallery
Vaults, candles, full plates and old Sibiu above.
Placeholder images — to be replaced with the restaurant’s own photography.
Full galleryOur guests
The atmosphere in the vaulted cellar is quaint — the music and the waitresses’ dress do the rest.
1927
year opened
4.3
TripAdvisor rating
1,800+
guest reviews
12
tables under the vaults
Featured inTurnul SfatuluiTripAdvisorAmFostAcoloWanderlog
Reservations
We’ll keep the cellar warm.
The place is small — 12 tables — so seats are taken in order of arrival. Send us a reservation request for groups or special occasions and we will confirm by phone.
No reservation? Come down any time between 12:00 and 22:00 — we’ll find you a table.
Daily
12:00 – 22:00
12:00 – 22:00
Live music
Every evening from 19:00
Every evening from 19:00