(Photo from The Dinner Bell on Facebook)
- Stepping inside The Dinner Bell is like stepping back in time into your grandmother’s dining room.
Ask folks around the McComb area where to get the best down-home cooking and they’ll surely tell you to find your way to The Dinner Bell.
The iconic round table restaurant started over 80 years ago, was intended to be a hobby business for Mr. and Mrs. Jack Corbett, who had the original 18-seat table fabricated by Loubat Restaurant Supply in New Orleans. The restaurant became quite popular with locals, and it was more than the Corbetts wanted to take on, so they sold the business to one of their employees, Grace Whittington.
The restaurant has always had a strong legacy of traditional Southern cooking, with favorites including fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, and other rotating entrees, along with sweet potato casserole, fresh seasonal vegetables, and a variety of desserts. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 2pm, the restaurant serves a full selection each day, with additional items added on Sundays.
The cooking begins each day they are open around 7am, even earlier on holidays, preparing each dish from scratch. Recipes are handed down in the kitchen, preserving the traditional foods that have been served for decades. Two of the original cooks, Corlene Washington and Alise Crossley, both deceased, worked in The Dinner Bell kitchen well into their 80s.
The Dinner Bell began in a modest white frame building on Louisiana Avenue, but Whittington moved it to its present location at 229 5th Avenue in 1959. Originally a home completed in 1923 by John White, the restaurant grew from one large round table to several round tables to accommodate the crowd.
John White’s brother, Hugh White, served two terms as Governor of Mississippi. Another brother made his fortune in the lumber business, so when it was time for John to build his home, only the best materials were used. Mold ceilings, board and bat ceilings, ceramic tile flooring, and birch trims accent the downstairs of the former home. If only the Whites had stock in Windex – John wanted plenty of sunlight and a view, so the home features plenty of paned windows – 1451 panes altogether.
Before selling the restaurant, Whittington made her mark by introducing The Dinner Bell’s famous fried eggplant. When the business became more than she could handle, she sold it to David Forrest, who ran it for over twenty years before closing it in 1978 due to his poor health.
For two years, the restaurant sat dormant, much to the disappointment of local diners. That tide turned in 1980 when John Lopinto was visiting family in McComb. He had seen an ad in a New Orleans newspaper that The Dinner Bell was for sale. He drove by to see the building and learned that it was days away from becoming a dress and beauty shop. Using their retirement savings, John Lopinto and his wife, Carolyn, purchased and reopened the iconic restaurant following an extensive renovation. Grace Whittington-Wales returned to the restaurant for the ribbon cutting, along with a host of dignitaries from McComb and the surrounding area.
The Lopintos retired in 2003 after nearly twenty-five years of running The Dinner Bell. They sold it to Buddy Davis, a longtime grocery store manager in McComb, who promised to continue the tradition. His son, Andre’, and daughter-in-law, Ashley, moved back to McComb from Atlanta. Their two daughters, Lorelai and Isabella, have joined The Dinner Bell as well, assuring the restaurant will remain in the family for yet another generation.
The Dinner Bell continues to be a favorite of McComb residents, as well as those traveling on I-55 to and from New Orleans. They come for the food, as well as the experience. Stepping inside The Dinner Bell is like stepping back in time into your grandmother’s dining room. Communal tables encourage conversation with people you’ve never met, and friendships are often made there.
The Dinner Bell also hosts private events and has been the setting for birthday parties, anniversaries, rehearsal dinners, and more.
Susan Marquez
