bell cafe

wonderful food, wonderful staff!. i live right down the street from bell cafe and i typically walk up to it at least once a week when i can. i've lived here and ate at bell cafe since it was coffee lane, and i can say that it is the best food i've eaten in hanover county by a very, very, very large margin. their sandwhiches have always been the best i've ever had eating out for a while, but their entrees have become one of their major points of intirest. i went in on sunday and ordered their crab cakes for the umpteenth time, and they were equally as wonderful as the first time.
while their food is delicious, i also highly commend their staff. i've built up a friendship with the owners, tiffany and danny over my time living around here and they are absolutely wonderful people. they operate the buisness and cook all of the food themselves and it is on par with any larger scale resteraunt one can find.
they have had many waiters and staff members over my time eating there and they have all been wonderfully courteous and fun to get to know, as well as (of course) phenomenal at their jobs.
i would recomend eating there.
and then eating there again.
and then several times more.

the food here is absolutely amazing particularly for being located in mechanicsville. i have loved everything i have ordered to date. lattes are good also. also, if bill is there having tea make sure to chat with him, as he is a delight.

awesome experience. my experience at bell cafe was great. the staff was very friendly and helpful in choosing between many of their hand crafted menu items. even when the restaurant was packed the staff held tight and met our needs. the manager made it to every table to ensure that everyone was happy with their experiences and educating everyone about upcoming changes being made to better suit the communities needs, including the addition of a full service bar. i would recommend this venue to anyone and everyone without any reservation. great food, great service, friendly staff, wonderful experience


-----23 mar, 2012-----

this is the place to go for a carytown dining experience right in the heart of mechanicsville. just off of 295 @ the pole green exit. try them out for great food off of one of the four extravagant menus that are offered. they also have a great wine and beer selection. you won't be disappointed.

they do value their customers!. i usually don't write reviews for anything but it bothered me seeing the previous write up of bell cafe. i'm from the north and i have to say that "imonthenet" doesn't appreciate how good he or she has it in virginia. in the nyc area where i live it is very rare that you get the genuine hospitality that i received at bell cafe and i was there half a dozen times. i think i did meet the owner, a woman who could not have been any lovelier. the food was great, especially the tilapia rueben platter. you should also have a macchiato, its award winning.

brunch at bell cafe was a wonderful experience! the food was delicious (particularly the blueberry bread pudding), and the service was great..i would recommend this restaurant to anyone, especially those who are looking for a unique menu in a relaxing environment..

beware! dishonest staff!. my family celebrated mother's day here at bell cafe today. we waited for a little while at 10am for a table for 7 on a sunday morning. food and atmosphere were fabulous and our young waitress was friendly and helpful. we left a 20% tip in cash and paid the rest of the bill by credit card. as we walked out with extremely satisfied brunch experience, our grandmother realized she had left her sunglasses in her seat, so we returned and shockingly, we were informed by travis, the manager, that our tip was missing in the check holder. travis had cleared the table, though he also told us that they have had problems with missing tips in the past due to dishonest staff. at the same time, a higher ranked staff who was working in the kitchen seemed displeased with our confrontation that we clearly had left a tip for our waitress. we felt terrible for our waitress, and worst of all, we felt that we were not welcomed to the restaurant again, due to their mistake. we are genuine, ethical and educated customers who enjoyed our time and the food at this restaurant. we would love to return, but instead we felt undeservingly humiliated.

it's difficult for us to recommend this restaurant to anyone without giving them our story. food is great, price is great, but make sure you hand your cash to someone at the cash register.

have had brunch and dinner here a few times. every time we went the food was great and the service was spot on. definitely a hidden gem in hanover.

this is the best restaurant of its type in the hanover area. the food is well thought out, and it's a place i really enjoy bringing people to. the sandwiches and the french toast are highlights for me. the only negative is that they don't have any options for kids, and the aren't open 7 days a week.

a gem in mechanicsville. hummus platter was fresh and delicious and unique, artichoke hearts and banana peppers. my partner had the falafel gyro and seasoned french fries. delicious! the portions were large and the prices were appropriate. eclectic decor, friendly staff, and a terrific menu will have us coming back!

wonderful!. went for lunch on a busy thursday, was greeted by a lovely server that let us know what the specials were and described them in such a yummy way, we ordered them immediately. the food was as great as we were told it would be and she checked on us to make sure we were enjoying our meal and tended to our every need. we will definitely be back!

hit or miss owner & management.. food is typically good. the owner(s), hipster guy and gal from churchill obviously aren't from the service industry or restaurant world.

there's been times when i've felt welcome but oddly just as many where they've near run me off with shi*ty attitudes.

if any other trendy little fan type spot would open in mechanicsville with an intimate atmosphere, craft beer and eclectic music this place would be on the fast track to being irrelevant.

disappointing. i have been a long time contributor to several restuarant guides including tripadvisor. i consider myself foodie and love to try new restuarants. throughout those years, i have tried to give fair and honest reviews. i have never given a really bad reveiw until today. this week, my husband and i decided to use a 2-for-1 dining offer at the bell cafe. the atmosphere was decent and the food was decent. it would have been one of those restuarants that i might have revisited from time to time. that was until the check arrived. i presented my 2-for-1 entree offer and was told by the owner of the restuarant that they would not honor it. she said that there was a mistake in the ad and that it was only intended for dinner service, not lunch. even though the offer did not specify dinner, she refused to honor the offer. since we had already eaten at this point, i kindly suggested that she made good on the offer. she rudely shrugged her shoulders, refused, and walked off. in all my years of eating in the mechanicsville and richmond area, i have never been treated so rudely. and of all people, it was the owner, not the server. i have always been taught to treat customers with respect. this owner does not know the meaning of customer service or respect!

they don't value their customers. i have eaten there 4 times; each was good. tonight i and a friend went for dinner and a particular craft beer they have on tap. however, when we arrived, a man (i think he was the owner) opened the door and asked if we had reservations. we repllied no, and he proceeded to tell us there were two parties in front of us. while that didn't bother us, it apparently bothered him, because when we asked if we could sit at the bar and have a beer, he told us his wait staff was too busy to wait on us.

how much more rude and inhospitiable can you get? we won't go back, my friends will be told, and i won't be recommending this place anymore.

try the tilapia dish. best fish in richmond.

delicious!. just went to bell cafe for lunch and it was amazing! i had the open face turkey sandwich with the lobster bisque which was incredible! my husband had the biscuits and gravy and loved every bit of it! i can't wait to go back and try other items on the menu!