My spouse and I have dined at Bell Hall two times since it opened in mid-October 2015: the first time we visited just days after it opened, and the second time in mid-November 2015. Both times we dined for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Bell Hall is open Mondays through Saturdays for lunch and dinner (closed on Sundays). Reservations are available via telephone only.
We had difficulty
locating the front door of the restaurant on our first visit; it is not the
small glass door on Hamilton Street, but instead a side door facing the parking
lot and nearby church. The overall restaurant space is long and somewhat
narrow, with a bar and small tables toward the front of the restaurant, two
booths preceding the semi-open kitchen (surrounded with a glass block wall),
various sizes of tables in the middle of the restaurant, and a private function
room at the very back. (Due to the elevation change of the property, the bar
area is level with Hamilton Street, but the private room ends up as a
second-story space.) The restaurant floors are lightwood, the ceilings are
soaring, and the space features exposed brick walls, many windows, and intricate
plaster cornices. The restaurant offers seating on a large outdoor brick patio
in warmer weather. Parking is available on the street, or perhaps in the lot of
the Zion’s Reformed Church (the location that hid the Liberty Bell in its
basement during the Revolutionary War) because it seems under-utilized except
for Sundays during services. The restaurant is located in the former Schoen’s Furniture
Store, which has since been renamed the Trifecta Building.
Service was
spotty on our first visit; our food arrived lukewarm, but the restaurant corrected
the temperature issues on our second visit. We saw our favorite local waitress working
there (Colleen, formerly of Pistachios), and we will request to sit in her
section next time, because she is friendly, has a terrific memory, and provides
great service.
Bell Hall
specializes in burgers and beers (some of them are craft beers). We were
surprised that none of their burgers features a fried egg; perhaps that burger
topper has become too ubiquitous for Bell Hall? On our first visit, we shared
the duck macaroni and cheese and the pork jam (pork topped with port gelee served
in a tiny mason jar with crostini on the side) as appetizers, followed by the shrimp
and grits (topped with arugula and prosciutto) and the bratwurst as entrees. (The
roll for the bratwurst fell apart before we could eat it; it actually seemed
stale, which was surprising since the restaurant had opened only 3 days prior.)
On our second visit, we shared the hummus as an appetizer (which arrived as
roasted red pepper hummus despite the flavor NOT being noted on the menu, nor
was it described as “hummus du jour” if the flavor rotates) and served with
crudite of celery and carrots as well as (cold) pita triangles. Next, we had
two burgers: the black and blue (topped with crumbled bleu cheese) and the Iron
Swine burger (topped with provolone, prosciutto, bacon, tomato, and special
sauce). Both times for dessert, we shared the peach cobbler (served in a mason
jar); the first time it was delicious with just the right mix of fruit and
cake, but the second time the dish was very heavy on the cake and light on the
fruit.(If seasonality is an issue, the restaurant should adjust the fruit
choice.) With one exception (an entrée plate of steak frites at $23), no menu
item is priced over $15. Menus are rubber-banded to a wooden board, which is a
unique touch.
We will return to
Bell Hall when we are looking for a casual meal on a Saturday afternoon, or
before or after an event at the nearby PPL Center.
