“We try to have a family atmosphere,” owner Joseph Bell has said, and Bell’s Family Restaurant in Springfield seems built around that simple idea.
This is not the kind of place that needs to dress itself up. Bell’s is a small-town Southern restaurant where chopped BBQ, hash and rice, fried chicken, pork chops, country vegetables, and old-school desserts all share the same table.
That puts Bell’s in a familiar South Carolina lane. It is part barbecue stop, part country buffet, and part Sunday-dinner comfort, with enough BBQ presence to earn its place on the map.
The barbecue case at Bell’s starts with chopped BBQ, which appears regularly on the restaurant’s posted menus.
That matters. In a state where barbecue can show up in everything from whole-hog houses to country buffets, repeated chopped BBQ tells you this is more than a one-off special.
Just as important, Bell’s regularly serves hash and rice. Around South Carolina, hash and rice has long belonged beside pork barbecue, especially in small-town restaurants where the buffet line often tells the story better than any printed menu.
Together, chopped BBQ and hash and rice give Bell’s its BBQ backbone.
Of course, Bell’s is not only about barbecue.
The restaurant’s menu boards show a rotating spread of Southern staples: fried chicken, ham, fried pork chops, baked chicken, turkey and dressing, fried fish, and ribs when available.
That variety is part of the appeal. Bell’s reads like the kind of place where regulars check the day’s board, build a full plate, and know there will be something hearty waiting.
Fried chicken is clearly one of the co-stars here, and that fits the restaurant’s broader personality. Bell’s is serving the kind of food that feels familiar before you ever sit down.
The sides at Bell’s carry just as much weight as the meats.
Depending on the day, the spread may include green beans, butter beans, collards, rutabagas, yams, macaroni or mac and cheese, broccoli casserole, corn on the cob, potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, and rice.
That is the heart of the Bell’s experience: barbecue on the plate, yes, but surrounded by the kind of vegetables and casseroles that make a meal feel complete.
Desserts follow the same old-school pattern. Menus and customer summaries point to favorites like banana pudding, Oreo Delight, red velvet cake, and Lane cake.
Bell’s Family Restaurant is best understood as a casual, family-style Southern buffet with barbecue in the regular rotation.
If you are looking for a modern craft BBQ spot with a long smoked-meat lineup and pit details on display, this is not really that kind of restaurant. Bell’s is more grounded than that, built around chopped BBQ, hash and rice, fried chicken, vegetables, and full plates of country cooking.
That is part of why it works. In places like Springfield, barbecue has always lived comfortably alongside fried chicken, rice, gravy, greens, beans, and dessert.
Bell’s fits the South Carolina barbecue conversation because the barbecue is not an afterthought.
Chopped BBQ and hash and rice show up as recurring anchors, while the rest of the menu fills in the broader picture of a small Southern family restaurant. For diners passing through Springfield, Bell’s offers a plate rooted in the same country-cooking tradition that has shaped South Carolina barbecue for generations.
Come for the BBQ and hash if that is what caught your eye. Stay open to the fried chicken, vegetables, and dessert, too.
Among the many Google Reviews, Local Guide Lourie Salley encourages folks to skip out on the Lord just to eat at Bell's...my, my!
I would never, ever encourage someone to sneak out of Sunday service early, just for a good meal. However, if you don't, you will be behind me in the line. Better yet, take your preacher there on Saturday. If you are Southern Baptist, it will shave 25 minutes off the sermon.
Succulent barbecue, rice and hash, coleslaw. If you can get collards before they run out, they are perfect. Butter beans, field peas, mac and cheese. The little lemon merengue pie remind me of my grandmother. All of it is washed down with sweet tea and lemonade. I think that I just committed the sin of gluttony. You will spend less money eating a good meal at Bell's than driving through McDonald's. I just died and went to Heaven.
Over on their Facebook page, Tricia Sightler from nearby Neeses shared her enthusiasm for Bell's:
Oh my goodness! This place has the BEST buffet food I’ve ever had! Where I feel as though most buffets skip on seasonings while making large portions, this restaurant packs their food with favor. Their fried chicken is phenomenal! It is perfectly crispy and battered with the perfect amount of seasonings. We are a family of 6 and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves when we dined here on Sunday after church. We all left stuffed and ready to take a nap. We plan to eat with the Bell’s family every Sunday now!
Note: Menu prices and options are subject to change over time. Contact the restaurant for the most up-to-date information.
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed |
| Friday | |
| Saturday | |
| Sunday |
Buffet, Cards and Cash, Hash, Mustard Sauce, Vinegar Pepper Sauce
This book will go down in history as South Carolina's most comprehensive BBQ cookbook. Full of recipes you won’t find anywhere else. It even has Holden’s Chicken Stew recipe, plus loads of Hash recipes and mop sauces. You don’t know what you’re missing until you read it.