Belle's — Restaurant in North Palm Beach

Recently moved to North Palm Beach, FL and gave Belle’s a shot, as a family member loves it and goes there regularly including for trivia every Monday evening.

I went for brunch and was AMAZED that it wasn’t totally packed. There were some people there but only 1 at the bar. And this was on Father’s Day at 11:30 AM.

The reason I expected it to be packed was because the quality of the food and drinks, the atmosphere/location, and especially the SERVICE was outstanding. It was also affordable — a bit more expensive then something like a IHOP or Denny’s chain, of course, but way less expensive than many of the other restaurants/bars I’ve been to in the area…and it was superior in all ways. I took a picture of the rear of the restaurant because you don’t see that side of it in pictures, and you’ll see it has a beautiful back patio right on the ocean at the Safe Harbor marina, so you can sit out there and admire all the fancy yachts, haha.

The Happy Hour menu also looks even cheaper. They have cheap drinks and also meal options where you get a full-course meal (salad, entree, and dessert) for $20.

For brunch I ordered the Crème Brûlée French Toast as I love all things crème brûlée, and it didn’t disappoint. It was loaded with fresh veggies, perfectly crispy with the traditional lightly charred crème brûlée top, and filled with an awesome custard-style filling. And it was huge. The entree was one of the more expensive options, at $18, but still affordable and well worth it. I couldn’t even finish it all and ended up bringing an entire half home for future breakfast(s).

I know from my family member’s experience that the happy hour and later-evening bar crowd gets much busier and that it has a fun, relaxed, casual atmosphere. They have trivia Monday evenings and I did attend once awhile back k when I was visiting, and it was superior fun even though I’m awful at trivia. There were about ten teams and it was managed well and took about 90 minutes.

Anyways, last note and the reason I’ll go back - the service is EXCEPTIONAL. Super friendly, very attentive without being bothersome, and genuinely seemed to care that I had a good experience. I’d like to point out that Susi and Scott have been my bartenders and they were amazing. And Erin, a house manager, also introduced herself at one point and seems to run a high-quality operation.

Definitely will be back, if you’re looking for a hidden gem tucked away that is affordable and not crowded, check Belle’s...

The first time we had dinner at Belle's, it was great. That was six months ago. We have been going once a week since then, and it's rapidly going downhill at a consistently bad pace.

It must come from the top. It is not due to the onsite staff, as they are all amazing and go above and beyond. Brian is awesome - he even remembers our drink orders (there are 4-6 of us on any week) and goes above and beyond to accommodate us throughout the evening. Steve is the best Trivia DJ (tied with Dustin from Kirby's)! Susie is wonderful as well, always running around trying to make the bar and restaurant the best it can be.

Owner/management must not be supporting this establishment with what it needs to be the impeccable dining experience it can be. Most food items are terrible. The fish is always overcooked. We've all tried the nachos at varying times and they were not edible (the beef and chicken were awful). The steaks are not good quality either. For a restaurant in a community such as Old Port Cove, this is a complete disconnect.

The flatbreads are good but they just took the best ones off of the menu - why?? The burger is excellent. The salads are good, but do not come as listed on the menu. They are either out of the salad dressing, or the crab is replaced with shrimp, etc.

There is no consideration for food allergies or sensitivities. We eat at a lot of restaurants in Palm Beach County and as a gluten intolerant person we always have food options. There are not many options for gluten insensitivity at Belle's, and there's no reason for it. They can easily and inexpensively use the same ingredients that aren't allergy prone. Even their French fries are the same ones that cheap sports bars use with breading on them. The better restaurants are coating them with corn starch to make them crispy and tasty. It's as if the management doesn't understand F&B concepts at all.

This place has such potential and fantastic staff members. I hope it can...

This restaurant is located inside the Old Port Cove Community, and you can’t go unless you’re invited or you’re a member.

I am always very skeptic of restaurants in “high end” areas because they tend to be very expensive even if the food is of average or poor quality. In fact, we had picked a different restaurant for that Saturday night, but our friends, who live at the Marina and had a particularly tiring day, (understandably) preferred to dine close to their home.

The restaurant is on a dock with yachts parked all around it and a nice view of the intracoastal waters. The entrance to the restaurant is through their bar. The bar was full of people, while the restaurant was pretty empty. The décor of both rooms is extremely bare and lacks of vibe.

After some time that we were seated they brought us water in plastic glasses, which I found a little bit surprising considering that this is a restaurant of a very upscale community.

We ordered some cocktails for a toast, which we had to get ourselves from the bar (a customer very kindly helped us) because the restaurant was short-staffed due to an emergency situation of an employee. We’re all very easy going, so that didn’t bother us: we actually had fun in “playing waiters”, and we did the same for our glasses of wine (not a sarcasm: we were really having a good time!). However, the restaurant seemed not to have a plan B at all in case of unforeseen situations.

We got a flat bread with truffle oil for the table, which was good and cost the average price of $14.

Our entrees instead were very disappointing. I had a crab sandwich that came on 2 toasted buns with French fries. The French fries were the best part but the crab salad was completely tasteless. The portion was big (for me) but… $29? It felt like a robbery, but I must say my husband had it worse: one (1) beef short rib of not so great quality at $34!

Needless to say, we’re not coming back: the ratio price/quality is...