Lillie Bell’s — Restaurant in Southfield

CROOKS!..First and last time...It was a hard miss. Very disappointed with the food overall. I am a food and service reviewer. My partner went in and ordered food from Lillie Bell's last Saturday after watching two ladies on Tik Tok on cam trying the mac and cheese. They raved about how good it was ... on cam. They also raved about the other options available. But when we tried it was dry, lacked flavor, and seemed like it was made by an amateur. Looked nothing like the pictures look. The philly loaded baked potato was a surprisingly big portion, however, the meat wasn't cut properly and also lacked flavor. Biting into hard gristle isn't a good experience. The food is highly overpriced for the quality. We expected much more in taste and ingredients used for a $47 bill. If Chick-fil-a's mac and cheese taste better than a seemingly black-owned, so-called soul food spot, something is terribly wrong. We were pleased that the establishment looked clean. Much different from the usual hole-in-the-wall places we've been to in the black community in various states. The catfish wasn't bad, nothing special, and not worth coming again. We really were expecting fresh, seasoned food that tastes good like Sunday dinner at Big Mamas or better since you are actually selling this food... that was far from it. We threw most of it away unfortunately. Read all reviews first and don't believe social media hype-- false advertisement--probably by a friend or family member of the owners/workers. None of the food tasted homemade. HORRIBLE.

EDIT: I see i got the exact same owner response as other reviews on here, which lets me know that "Lillie Bells" really don't GAF. You are not a chain restaurant where you have to mediate thousands of reviews, you have a spot inside of a liquor store, so why does your response seem like it's automated responses or you're just copying and pasting the same response without any real care. You do realize we can see you had the exact same response on multiple posts regarding your bad food?

BOTTOM LINE: They are crooks taking people's money and having their friends and family post good review videos on social media AND writing reviews on google to drive business to Lillie Bells nasty food. It's a marketing scheme. It's not real soul food and it is NOT homemade. When i said first time and last, i meant that. No need to try other items on the menu when you didn't do the items we ordered right. I feel like we wasted earned money like other people said in their reviews and we felt like once again another wannabe restaurant pretending to know how to cook and using social media to make it look like its gonna be good. It is smart having it inside of a liquor store so you can get business from walk-ins, but a store front would not last based on the quality and taste and that's what it is all about, advanced food preparation and good taste. Something isn't right if multiple reviews (including mine) are complaining about the food quality and taste and all you responded with was a copied/pasted or auto response. Very poorly managed. Ya'll are making...

FIRST OF ALL them turkey chops HAD to've been fried in Holy oil, 'cause look! Too good! When I say the devil had to flee! Them chops were yummy!

It is worth the visit!

STAFF Now, the establishment was very professional, friendly and courteous. They are very welcoming.

AREA Location is easy to find. Their sign by the driveway to the establishment was helpful as well. Small waiting area with two tables for sitting (maybe eating?). I definitely think Lillie Bell's would benefit more to have it's own cozy space to bring family and friends. Their pictures inside are slam dunking the allure to buy their food.

WAIT TIME Dinner time (6pm-7pm) was 30 minutes which isnt bad for me.

PRICING Moderate. I think the pricing if good for the serving sizes (moderate, not super large but perfect to get full with a little leftover, depending on the person)

SIDES Mac and Cheese is GREAT. Perfect balance of cheese and love. Pasta is al dente, well cooked.

That dressing?!?! Ma'am! Sir! Smooth consistency. Herbs stand out and overall very well seasoned. I prefer mine with a bit more of bite with a slightly thicker consistency but theirs was so good I forgot all about my preferences. Lol

The greens are good; less salt would take it far for sure.

DESERT That Banana Strawberry Pudding? You know when you eat something that taste good it's almost gone before realize that it's goodness had you tearing it up? Yeah, that's this.

Serving size is just right (12oz container). The pudding is not too sweet. The temperature is just cool enough. The wafers aren't hard to find (some puddings drown the flavor and removed the bite of the wafer, this one did not). Now the strawberries were VERY fresh and sweet and complimented the slices of banana very well.

BURGERS The Big Mike is yummy and a great alternative for those cutting back from red meat. Brioche buns are always a nice touch.

The knock out for me though was the Big Red (without bacon). My husband and I ordered it to try. I was so bummed I didn't order that just for me! Lol!

Both were cooked and presented well. The clean presentation made it look even more appetizing.

They have many positives that outweigh the negatives.

Definitely a repeat customer.

Thanks...

Today was my I’ll give them one last chance and boy was I disappointed. I’ll start with my last visit I went up to the register to order and asked for the New Orleans baked potato however could they minus the bacon because I don’t eat pork and add chicken I was instantly met with attitude we don’t do substitutions that’s a build your own so I respond and say that’s fine well can you key the build your own in exactly like the New Orleans with the changes so I can get that taste I was looking for from my previous experience ( there was no issue when I made the exact same changes before btw) so with an attitude we do it. Get home the taste was ok but still didn’t hit like before and with the mix of the attitude I wasn’t going to return. Fast forward to today I decided let me give them one more chance again in search of that original taste. So I wouldn’t get attitude as the same lady was answering the phone I ask for a build your own like I was directed to do last time and ask can I get what’s in the New Orleans minus bacon add chicken and broccoli she said ok 30 mins. 25 mins my phone is being called about this 30 mins order but I was on an important call about to get out of my car so I didn’t answer. I get inside my food is ready which is great. I arrive home and see why when I tell you I have barely any toppings on this thing I literally had 4 shrimp and 4 pieces of broccoli (only 1 actually stem) chicken was a fair portion. The shrimp is not cooked the correct way so flavorless they were same for the chicken as well as it was extremely dry for the chicken. When I tell you sheer disappointment in the downfall here. I could probably tolerate some of the attitude if the food was still good but to tolerate bad service with subpar food now I cannot. I definitely won’t be giving my hard earned money to this establishment again. Pictured is 2 of the 4 shrimp and the only chunky piece of broccoli given the rest were...