A BVI Breakfast Favourite
Bell’s Café in Fish Bay has become a go-to spot for locals and visitors, known for its all-day breakfast, strong community ties and a menu of BVI staples. The independently run café, named for matriarch Mabel “Bell” Thomas, is expanding menu offerings and planning a waterfront relocation while converting its current site into a bakery.
Bell’s Café started humbly as a planned walk-up window when CTL Home Center moved its operations to Fish Bay. Michael Thomas, Managing Director at CTL, says the idea grew quickly into a full kitchen after the team realised visitors and residents alike wanted breakfast beyond the usual morning cut-off most eateries follow.
From the beginning the café made a point of serving breakfast all day — an offering that has become its signature. Customers praise the large, filling pancakes (the blueberry is a top pick), Johnny cakes with saltfish, patties, conch fritters and other local staples like peas soup on Thursdays and the national dish, fungi and fish.
Bell’s is named in tribute to Mabel “Bell” Thomas, the family matriarch renowned locally for her baking. Her recipes and legacy remain part of the café’s identity, and Michael says the venue is as much a tribute to family as it is a business. Caroline Thomas manages day-to-day operations in the kitchen and brings Puerto Rican influences to the menu.
That heritage helps explain the café’s popular Latino Week — a monthly feature — and why Puerto Rican visitors often return. The kitchen team, led by Caroline and the well-known “Popeye,” serves a mix of international dishes (Philly cheesesteak, Jack Daniels burger) alongside BVI favourites such as stewed chicken, plantain, whelks, lobster in season and corned beef with Johnny cakes.
Bell’s has become embedded in local life through CTL signature events: Father’s Day gatherings, the annual Children’s Easter Egg Hunt, pig roasts, shish kebabs and the Tools & Builders Expo. The café opens early at 7:00 AM and closes at 4:30 PM to accommodate early risers and late-breakfast fans; staff will often make pancakes or saltfish and Johnny cakes right up until closing.
Looking ahead, Bell’s plans to relocate its restaurant to an elevated waterfront site across from the gazebos, pending government approval, where guests would dine just above the sea. The current location will be converted into a full bakery offering traditional local breads, specialty loaves and Puerto Rican pastries to complement the café menu.
For BVI residents the appeal is familiar: consistent service, generous portions and a relaxed, community-centred atmosphere where conversation and good food go hand in hand. Whether grabbing morning coffee, enjoying an all-day breakfast or attending a CTL event, Bell’s Café has become a dependable local meeting place and a recommended stop for visitors seeking genuine BVI flavours.
Primary source: Welcome