Small family owned business with excellent home style food and over the top friendly service. We will come back every time we are near the area! Huge portions and excellent quality! Can't say enough as to how much we enjoyed eating here!
Khisha H.
The sugar free strawberry pie was excellent. Breakfast was good too. Our waitress was really nice also.
Johnathan E.
Skimpy portions and gamey tasting sides and entree. I love southern cooking but my meal here needed some serious attention. I ordered the salmon patties. I grew up on these. I know what they should be - round and thick and fried up in a skillet. They're made with canned salmon and eggs and saltine crackers and maybe a little bit of cayenne pepper. This "loaf" thing I was served tasted like they unclogged a fish tank filter. It was as flat as a pancake, had huge chunks of uncooked celery, and was extra fishy tasting The sides were also bad. They tasted rancid like bad bacon grease or bad pork. Just a total yuck! I wouldn't go back. Cracker Barrel is better and cheaper. I got probably 3 tablespoons of butter beans and 3 tablespoons of field peas and one piece of "fish loaf" for $15 including drink.
Betsy Madan
The best place!!! We’ve enjoyed eating here when we’d come to Texas to visit our kids and we love it even more now that we live here
Faron R.
Awesome food with a huge assortment of choices. Great staff. Friendly atmosphere. Definitely a place you would put on the "go back to" list
Carol Lee
Amazing home cooking.. and lunch specials are great.. and Geez- the Brussels Sprouts are Divine
Steph Gee
Best home cooking in East Texas!!
Jerry D. Russell
Great home cooked meals!! Good friendly service, welcoming atmosphere!!
S M.
It's a good mom and pop place to eat. Nothing really exciting about it. Plus if you're concerned about the COVID-19 the cooks and the staff do not wear masks. I will not go back.
Mike M.
I'm even more impressed with this restaurant than I was before. Not a great deal to add, as the concept and the menu are much the same. Sautéed cod, presumably frozen, is now one of my favorite entrees and is often on the menu. It's a refreshing change from the ubiquitous corn meal fried catfish in East Texas, though the fried catfish here is excellent, too. Steaks are now often served of Fridays, and very good for the piece. Veggies are still excellent. My only niggle is I'm not wild about their cornbread as it has a bit more sugar than I prefer. But I have learned since my original review a few of the reasons for the quality of the food at this delightful family restaurant. The owners use fresh local produce as often as they can. Peas in season; greens in all seasons (whether turnip, collards, or kale); okra and tomatoes, cabbage, etc. All is fresh. In addition, they lay in home preserved veggies, especially peans, during the seasons when they are freshly available for use during the rest of the year. Home canning was in the 60's when I was growing up, an East Texas tradition, both because it was economical, but also because it was a whole lot better than eating commercial canned or frozen veggies. That tradition is very much alive here at the Bell Pepper Cafe, with similar results. Although this restaurant shares little with Berkeley California's Chez Panisse in terms of the menu, they both live by the adages of the local and slow food movements -- fresh, local, and in season ingredients. One wag once said of Chez Panisse, "It's not good cooking, it's great shopping." But we all know that great shopping is a prerequisite for great cooking, and I'd argue that both restaurants have plenty of excellent cooking. I also failed to mention the service in my initial review. Most waitstaff have been here for the entirety of the four years that I've patronized the restaurant. That stability shows me that they are well treated by the restaurant. Service is very casual, friendly as is appropriate for this type of restaurant. All staff can also tell you what's especially good today. Don't hesitate to ask their opinion. Still not open for dinner, sadly. Four of five outdoor tables on the front porch. If I choose to eat there as I have done since the COVID epidemic, I always check in inside first. The staff is very COVID aware and all wear masks. Hand sanitizer is out by the cash register. This restaurant is a regional gem. Not fancy at all, just good, fresh homemade country cooking at it's best. Unreservedly five stars.
Small family owned business with excellent home style food and over the top friendly service. We will come back every time we are near the area! Huge portions and excellent quality! Can't say enough as to how much we enjoyed eating here!
The sugar free strawberry pie was excellent. Breakfast was good too. Our waitress was really nice also.
Skimpy portions and gamey tasting sides and entree. I love southern cooking but my meal here needed some serious attention. I ordered the salmon patties. I grew up on these. I know what they should be - round and thick and fried up in a skillet. They're made with canned salmon and eggs and saltine crackers and maybe a little bit of cayenne pepper. This "loaf" thing I was served tasted like they unclogged a fish tank filter. It was as flat as a pancake, had huge chunks of uncooked celery, and was extra fishy tasting The sides were also bad. They tasted rancid like bad bacon grease or bad pork. Just a total yuck! I wouldn't go back. Cracker Barrel is better and cheaper. I got probably 3 tablespoons of butter beans and 3 tablespoons of field peas and one piece of "fish loaf" for $15 including drink.
The best place!!! We’ve enjoyed eating here when we’d come to Texas to visit our kids and we love it even more now that we live here
Awesome food with a huge assortment of choices. Great staff. Friendly atmosphere. Definitely a place you would put on the "go back to" list
Amazing home cooking.. and lunch specials are great.. and Geez- the Brussels Sprouts are Divine
Best home cooking in East Texas!!
Great home cooked meals!! Good friendly service, welcoming atmosphere!!
It's a good mom and pop place to eat. Nothing really exciting about it. Plus if you're concerned about the COVID-19 the cooks and the staff do not wear masks. I will not go back.
I'm even more impressed with this restaurant than I was before. Not a great deal to add, as the concept and the menu are much the same. Sautéed cod, presumably frozen, is now one of my favorite entrees and is often on the menu. It's a refreshing change from the ubiquitous corn meal fried catfish in East Texas, though the fried catfish here is excellent, too. Steaks are now often served of Fridays, and very good for the piece. Veggies are still excellent. My only niggle is I'm not wild about their cornbread as it has a bit more sugar than I prefer. But I have learned since my original review a few of the reasons for the quality of the food at this delightful family restaurant. The owners use fresh local produce as often as they can. Peas in season; greens in all seasons (whether turnip, collards, or kale); okra and tomatoes, cabbage, etc. All is fresh. In addition, they lay in home preserved veggies, especially peans, during the seasons when they are freshly available for use during the rest of the year. Home canning was in the 60's when I was growing up, an East Texas tradition, both because it was economical, but also because it was a whole lot better than eating commercial canned or frozen veggies. That tradition is very much alive here at the Bell Pepper Cafe, with similar results. Although this restaurant shares little with Berkeley California's Chez Panisse in terms of the menu, they both live by the adages of the local and slow food movements -- fresh, local, and in season ingredients. One wag once said of Chez Panisse, "It's not good cooking, it's great shopping." But we all know that great shopping is a prerequisite for great cooking, and I'd argue that both restaurants have plenty of excellent cooking. I also failed to mention the service in my initial review. Most waitstaff have been here for the entirety of the four years that I've patronized the restaurant. That stability shows me that they are well treated by the restaurant. Service is very casual, friendly as is appropriate for this type of restaurant. All staff can also tell you what's especially good today. Don't hesitate to ask their opinion. Still not open for dinner, sadly. Four of five outdoor tables on the front porch. If I choose to eat there as I have done since the COVID epidemic, I always check in inside first. The staff is very COVID aware and all wear masks. Hand sanitizer is out by the cash register. This restaurant is a regional gem. Not fancy at all, just good, fresh homemade country cooking at it's best. Unreservedly five stars.
Restaurantji Recommends
I went belle pepper cafe once. It has great liver and onions. I will be back.
Great food but no social distancing and no masks on employees. People packed in like sardines.
Great food at a great price, great service, and outdoor seating, A+ all around.
Awesome lunches. Great food and plenty of it. Great place if you're hungry and in a hurry. Super friendly service.
My go-to place for home cooking. I love this kind of hometown feel!