Dinner Bell Restaurant — Restaurant in Berea

We stopped in hoping to find a wonderful mom and pop still country diner on a Sunday afternoon. Service.. Everyone was friendly! Our waitress seemed to be the only one working for the whole restaurant. Which we give some grace for because of the lack of employees around the nation. However, we never received refills on our drinks and waited for the check for a good 20 mins. The food was it seems hit or miss. My friend got the soup of the day ( vegetable beef) and a grilled cheese. She thought it was good (but admitted it could've of been because we were so hungry). I got chicken fried steak and double mashed potatoes with white gravy and requested extra dinner rolls. The dinner rolls were the frozen sisters brand and the mashed potatoes were clearly instant. I'm at the age where I know what paste taste like (80's baby) and paste taste better. The gravy was milky and creamy and full of breakfast sausage. Which may have been good on my biscuits if I ordered breakfast. But it was extremely unappealing on my dinner meal. Having chicken fried steak with sausage milk gravy was just gross. And the chicken fried steak was thin and extremely greasy. I ate the dinner rolls (after requesting again for an additional roll). I'm not sure if Miss Dora who is so prominently displayed on menu served the food the same or if it's went down hill since she retired... But it was not appetizing and not some place we'd recommend. Just go across the street to the incredibly busy Cracker Barrel.. Which should of been an indicator when we pulled in and saw that only a few cars there and it seemed the whole town...

I'm sorry but I didn't like the food. I didn't like the salmon patties. They were too big so they got burned on the outside and so the inside was mushy. Also there were bell peppers in the salmon patties and that ruined the flavor for me. I didn't like the salmon sauce either. My baked potato was way past holding time so I had to order fries after the fact. But the place was very clean and the service was very nice. Most tartar sauce served in restaurants has sugar in it, and that isn't right. Tartar sauce is supposed to be tart. It's in the title. TARTar sauce. I really like this place and the people so I'd like to give you my recipe for salmon patties and tartar sauce. Salmon patty recipe 1)4 14oz cans salmon 2)12 tbsp non sugary mayonnaise such as Hellmans or Duke's 3)2 cups self rising cornmeal mix such as white Lily 4) 4 eggs Tartar sauce recipe 1)4 cups non sugary mayonnaise such as Hellmans or Dukes 2) 1 12oz jar DILL relish Not sweet relish (Sugar does not go with fish) 3)1 cup fine minced yellow onion 4)Juice from 1 fresh lemon 1 tsp black pepper Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup or scoop remove salmon mixture and form patties, no more than 1/2 inch thick, shallow-fry instead of deep frying in peanut or canola oil until golden brown Serve with 1/4 cup tartar sauce on the side Thanks y'all for...

We walked into this place as weary travelers looking for something to fill our hungry bellies. As we walked into this gift shop/restaurant we were delightfully greeted and were told to sit where we like. Our server was extremely pleasant and helpful with our menu as our brains and body were starving for nutrition. We quickly had our drinks in hand, I got a Mt. Dew just for a quick hit of caffeinated sweetness to get my head back together so I could focus my eyes on the country style home cooked style food on the menu. We placed our order, I ordered the roast beef/gravy, mashed potatoes, buttered corn, and fried cornbread. The rest if the family had the fried chicken and various sides which I wish I could recall. When our meals came, our eyes widened, mouths watering with the aroma of grandmas Sunday dinner in the Appalachians. The meals were not to disappoint. They were probably some of the best meals we've had at any restaurant ever. Everything was tender and fresh, full of flavor. Could not ask for a better meal. And the price? More than fair. Surprisingly more than than fair. If I could give this restaurant more than 5 stars I would. Highly recommended and we will be back. Maybe even just to make the almost 200 mile journey to visit this jem in Berea, KY. ...