Restaurant Review: Blue Berry Café, Bellbrook
Many people love a brunch place. There are so many options these days, as well as many normal all-day spots selling brunch. You can find many different vibes from farm to table organic vibes to classy streets of Paris or Rome vibes. Blue Berry Café manages a menu that gives grandma’s house with a small town New England vibe.
A capital B painted in a mural in the wall inside the restaurant.
Kelley Andary and Ray Jean, original owners of Blue Berry Cafe told Dayton Local “My family has co-owned and operated Dayton restaurants since 1975” and expressed a desire to create a community space that feels like home. In 2011 they opened Blue Berry Café in Bellbrook, Ohio. Kelly is a native to Bellbrook and is the sole owner today. Kelly prides herself with local and seasonal ingredients as well as collaborations with local companies for special events or promotions. These all are in service of the dreams of the community she wanted to create. The pillars of their belief are warmth, hospitality, and commitment to quality.
A bowl of grits topped with bacon, green onions, and cheese.
We visited the new location for the Bellbrook branch (there’s a second branch in Kettering that we have not visited) and our experience was elevated by the staff enshrining the pillars and vision. We had too few people for the reservation requirements the first time but took advantage of the call ahead wait list. The team at the front desk was endlessly kind and accommodating as we struggled to organize three cars of people and their timing to get to the location. The second visit we made, we were over the 6 minimum to make a reservation and even while I tried to back off at a 1:30 reservation when they closed at 2 PM and we had 10 people they were excited and trained to handle this exact scenario. They let us know their policy is about getting people seated before 2 PM, not out the door and giving us a block of an hour and fifteen minutes to enjoy ourselves without guilt over the time. The staff was attentive, funny, and showed amazing hospitality for our party and others and made us feel so comfortable there.
The staff was one part of the reason we were so quick to return (literally a single week later) with more people. The food was an easy sell to return. Everything tasted fresh made and the commitment to quality was evident in our dishes. The first day we had folks get the egg and accessories platters, a bowl of bacon and cheese grits for the table and my Loaded Potato Omelet with biscuits and gravy on the side. On our return trip I got the same dish, while others tried variations of the French toast like the banana and peanut butter, egg dishes, and sandwiches like the Rueben and another tomato sandwich.
A plate of the loaded potato omelet with hashbrowns, biscuits, and a dish of sausage gravy.
Both visits, my dish was cooked perfectly for me. The hashbrowns were nice and crispy, the biscuits soft and the sausage gravy a nice thickness that didn’t feel like it had been sitting in a pot all day. The omelet was layered and stuffed with cheese, onions, and bacon with a smooth and creamy sour cream that was mixed with ranch.
The portion sizes are very generous and their pancakes alone are famous for being the size of the very large plate. We struggled to finish most of them but still enjoyed every bite. The food came out fresh and hot. The plates were arranged nicely without the food overcrowding each other. Any dish that included a sauce was super generous with it and just coated things in a delicious way. With my dish, the ranch sour cream did not overpower any of the tastes inside the omelet but gave it a soothing addition.
I highly recommend travelers to the Dayton area to stop by the Bellbrook location and give it a chance. If you have a party consider sharing to get to try more tastes but any single plate will fill you right up.
