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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rathskeller

Rathskeller \Raths"kel`ler\ (r[aum]ts"k[e^]l*l[~e]r), n. [G., also ratskeller, prop., town-hall cellar.] Orig., in Germany, the cellar or basement of the city hall, usually rented for use as a restaurant where beer is sold; hence, a beer saloon of the German type below the street level, where, usually, drinks are served only at tables and simple food may also be had; -- sometimes loosely used, in English, of what are essentially basement restaurants where liquors are served.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
rathskeller

1900, from German ratskeller, earlier rathskeller, "a cellar in a German town hall in which beer is sold," from rat "council" (see rede (n.)) + keller "cellar" (see cellar (n.)). The German -h- inserted to avoid association with the word for "rat."

Wiktionary
rathskeller

n. A bar or restaurant in a basement, especially one that serves beer.

WordNet
rathskeller

n. a tavern below street level featuring beer; originally a German restaurant in the basement of city hall

Usage examples of "rathskeller".

The five of us had become down-jacketed, disheveled curiositiesyoung necks craned to view the killers as we headed to the parking lot, bystanders doubtlessly assuming we were off to break into the rathskeller of a country club, swig bourbon, and dribble messages on the walls with the blood of dogs.

An' they sat round the lamp layin' down the cards serious-like, the way I've seen Germans do in the Rathskeller at home.

And since there was no hope of sleep, she kept on trudging up the terraces, back toward Hans's rathskeller, for another bellyful of wine.

I was on my way back to the hotel when I ran into Bethany in front of the Rathskeller, where she was taking pot-shots at people with her video camera (as if that hasn’t been done thousands of times before).