Bell Cafe

Although it was busy for Sunday brunch, we were seated fairly quickly and the wait staff was awesome. Good food, had brunch and Bloody Mary cocktail. This place was a great find. Very happy with our choice to eat here.

A wonderful place for a Friday lunch date with my wife. She had the California Rueben, which was delicious. I had the Chicken and Waffles with a blackberry habanero sauce; I had a hard time sharing it was so good. We finished up with pumpkin bread pudding, but we should have brought friends, a lot of friends, because it is huge, but with no sacrifice in flavour. Great meal. Highly recommended!

Awesome food! Awesome atmosphere! Awesome people! I especially like the hanging picture frames.

Ate last week at the Bell Street Café and the food was good but a suggestion would be to change up the menu. It seems that the menu has been the same for a long time. Some different vegetarian options would be nice. But sometimes diners want a little different variety and having the same menu gets old.

I’ve never been for dinner but the sandwiches at lunch have always been amazing. Cute local place!

We had a very good meal. Started with the hummus plate as an appetizer, very good! I had the meatloaf, which was great, and a very large portion. My wife had the crab cakes which were delicious too. We both brought home a doggie bag. The also had a nice selection of local craft beer for $ 5 a pint on Fridays.

I have eaten there many times. Everything has been great so far! Great Sunday Brunches & do try a Bloody Mary! Awesome. Date Night is Thursday, meal /​a bottle of wine. Don’t miss this one /​your hubby! Great Meal & if you can’t finish that bottle of wine, have them cork it & take it home! That’s legal in Va. The precede to finish it. & enjoy the rest of your evening /​hubby @ home. Yeah… That!

My husband and I have eaten here numerous times. We had brunch this morning and service was horrible!!! Servers are bar tenders and worst Bloody Mary I have ever had. Normally the food is pretty good, but my omelette was burnt. Each time food and service has gotten worse, won’t be going back.

Went for lunch and it was yummy! Turkey, Apple and Brie on roll. Delish! Then, went for dinner with hubby, and yuck! Started with Manchebo cheese rolls, tasted like feet. Salads came out immediately after, and then entrees soon after. I hated the Salmon and it was totally over cooked, hubby had the crab cakes and was not impressed. No spices, and too much filler. Service was amazing. Here’s an idea, if the obnoxious cook in the back, would shut up or at least bring his voice down to a reasonable level, he could have provided a better dining experience. Where not to go for dinner!!! Lunch was 5 star, dinner –1!

I really love brunch at this place, having already been there twice in the month since we’ve moved to Mechanicsville. Their Norwegian benedict with smoked salmon is delightful.

This is a decent Mechanicsville local restaurant. The food has always been decent, but the lunch menu and the décor could use an update or refresher. The inside just seems so bare. Service is moderate but seems a little rushed.

Decided to give Bell Café a try, mainly due to their draft beer selection. Ordered an appetizer and 2 entrées for dinner. The appetizer, manchego cheese fritters, was very good. They were cooked perfectly and the accompanying coulis broke down the richness of the cheese. For a side with the entrée, we both chose the lobster bisque. It was good, but nothing very special. There was no lobster meat texture which makes me wonder if there was any real lobster used in it’s production. The entrées, Crab Cakes and Ribeye were both OK. They were both very bland, a bit of seasoning would have gone a far way. It was as though they were seasoned for a retirement home, judging by the dinner crowd, that’s not too far off. The real disappointment was the vegetable of the day, broccoli. The broccoli on both of our plates were not even lukewarm, steamed, with 0 seasoning. For the price of the entrées, the portion sizes were good, but they were too expensive for the lack of seasoning and imagination. All in all, everything was good, but not memorable. Go here for the beers and an appetizer, stay away from the over priced entrées. On an odd beer note: they don’t have a printed draft beer list, or even the standard chalkboard at the bar. The server absolutely butchered the draft beers, didn’t know brewery names, and the ones she did know, didn’t know the beer styles. Print a list, or get on trinkin!

Excellent food, atmosphere and drinks. Our go-​to for dinner and brunch. They do a great Croque Madam.

While Mechanicsville doesn’t have an incredible food scene the one place that stands out in my mind is Bell café. It’s definitely a local spot but feels more like a trendy coffee house with food. Most others is the Ville cannot claim the same vibe. To be honest, this time lunch was good, and I will go back, but there was nothing that really stood out. I asked the waitress for the best thing they have on the menu and out came the Tilapia Reuben. If you’ve never had a fish Reuben before they really can be wonderful. And it’s not that the sandwich was bad, but it left me thinking about other better fish Reuben’s I had eaten in the past that we’re better proportioned, or more fresh, or just more interesting. This was fried fish slathered in sauce, covered in cole slaw on rye. Oh, and with a side of very forgettable French fries. But with all that said, I liked the atmosphere, the wait staff was very friendly and helpful, and there were other lunch items that looked worth a try. And hey, what other option do you have in Mechanicsville?

Wow! Mechanicsville needed a restaurant like this. My mom and I went here one day for lunch, and wow were we surprised. Props to the chef for such creative and interesting menu items. I got the meatloaf, which was amazing, but it was served with this rosemary biscuit that was just to die for. We also go the fried cheese curds with mango salsa, sounds odd but it was delicious! Definitely a place to stop in if you’re ever riding through.

Where to start? Best meal I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time! We started with the Warm Crab dip, it was excellent. Then had the lobster bisque, it was delicious. I ordered the blackened mahi mahi, it was absolutely delicious! My daughter ordered crab cakes, they were huge! Not to mention they seemed to have no filler. My wife ordered the meatloaf, I swear it was a pound of beef, and so tasty. I finished by stuffing myself with the blueberry bread pudding, it was out of this world. McKenzie waited on us and was just so friendly. I’ve got a new favorite restaurant!!!

I love this little place! They have a cute bar where you can sit with girlfriends and their dinner entrees are delicious. The vibe is very eclectic so if you’re not into that beware. I’m happy that we have a place like this in mechanicsville. For me the décor is what makes this place less than 5 stars.

We’ve lived near this restaurant for over a year now and were a little hesitant to try it. I have a bad habit of judging restaurants by their cover and it was a HUGE mistake to do that for this restaurant. It’s FANTASTIC.
The décor is cute, the staff acts like you’re a regular [even if you aren’t], and the food is AWESOME.
We’ve been here for brunch and dinner and loved the food! We’ve tried the omelets, eggs benedict, tuna melt, lobster bisque, café salad, meat loaf, and the crab cake dinner [not all at once!]…all were PHENOMENAL. Honestly.
The brunch starts at 9, which is also a plus. It’s nice to get an early start.
If you’re in the area — stop by! [and leave room for dessert!]

I absolutely love Bell Café — I come here for brunch every few Sundays with my boyfriend, and we’ve almost always had a great dining experience here.
Their brunch food is fantastic, the service is fairly fast, (my personal favorite is the Norwegian Benedict) and the coffee is generally very good –however, there was one visit where we were served burned coffee, but when the waitstaff was notified they promptly replaced it with fresher coffee so I can’t complain but so much.
I highly recommend this place to anyone who’s looking for a quaint brunch in a reasonably priced café. Just make sure you get there before the church crowds does, or else you won’t be able to find a seat!

Good food, friendly service. Nice to have a non chain place to eat. Plan on trying crabcake special night ($ 5) and date night ($ 50 for app, 2 entrees, dessert and bottle of wine).