
Message from Harold & Bell's Restaurant
Local favorite of folks looking for gumbo and a French Quarter party--without leaving L.A.
- Generous Portions
- Full Bar and Lounge
- Catering
September of 1969 Harold Legaux Sr. and wife Belle opened Harold & Belle's. It had been a dream of his to have a place where friends from home (New Orleans) would gather, talk and socialize. His kitchen was small and the menu simple. It featured Po Boy Sanwhiches, Red Beans and Rice, Gumbo served only on Fridays. After Harold's passing Harold Jr and his wife took over the restaurant. Harold Jr preferred a fine dining experience with linen table cloths & candle light. Harold Jr introduced new items including Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Creole, Crawfish & Gumbo. Harold and Denise brought on partners Al & Sue Honore in 1984. They now have 35 dining tables & the kitchen has tripled in size. In 2002 Harold Jr's son Ryan returned to the restaurant and is now the GM. They are all involved with the daily operations and have taken Harold & Belle's above and beyond Harold Senior's original dream.
Editorial and merchant content by Citysearch
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Harold & Bell's Restaurant
(323) 735-9023
2920 W Jefferson Blvd
Los Angeles,
CA
90018
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Editorial Description by Citysearch
In Short What started as a pool hall serving only rice and beans has matured into rooms of well-dressed diners figuratively headed to Bourbon Street. The mostly Creole, slightly Southern menu features fried food in massive portions, such as po'boys, catfish strips and platters of chicken and mixed seafood. Spicy gumbo, jambalaya and grilled meat and fish dishes are also popular orders. For dessert, diners rave about the warm bread pudding with whiskey sauce.
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Cajun & Creole Restaurants
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37 Reviews of Harold & Bell's Restaurant
in Los Angeles
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Creole 4
By Sharon V.
| Insider Guru
| Rank: 131
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
Harold & Belle's has been in Los Angeles for many years now. They serve up delicious creole foods. I make really good red beans and rice. Yet it's always a treat to eat them here. My favorite meal is their oyster loaf. They must do something special because I've never had one better. The prices are a little high.
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Good Food, Good Service Waiter but bad food service. 3
By Karen L.
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
We were a party of 18, I ordered the CatFish Dinner with Fries, I was the frist to order.. My friend seated next to me ordered a Comb. Plate.. Everyone got their food but me, My friend got the wrong order (CatFish with Coldslaw) after 15mins it was taken away and her Comb. plate was given to her. My plate came with out the fries and cold fish, it was the plate my friend had with the cold slaw gone, but the mark of the bowl still on the lettuce. This is a place that I have all ways love to eat at because of the service and the food.. This took all the joy from our Christmas Party... We won't be going back....
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Good Food 2
By Luana S.
| Insider Guru
| Rank: 554
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
I have been to this restaurant once and wasnt overly impressed. Everyone talks about the huge servings which is great. But what I look for first is customer service and this restaurant is lacking it in that regard.
If you can handle bad customer services skills but good food, go for it!
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Delicious! 4
By Joann S.
| Top 100 Reviewer
| Rank: 37
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
This creole restaurant has some real good southern food. The bread is outstanding and the portions are huge. I usually get the shrimp po boy open faced which is a little extra but worht it. A bit pricey and the service is slow.
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Absolutely delicious! 5
By ViVi P.
| Insider
| Rank: 27,138
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
I love their Crawfish Etoufee and I order the same thing everytime I go there. There's a bar at the entrance and a small live band playing in the front. It's definitely nicer and larger than it looks from the outside and has valet parking. I love going there, but because my boyfriend's a conservative Asian guy and the dining crowd is almost 100% African American (I have nothing against them, please don't get me wrong), he's always reluctant to go with me, although he does admit the food is good. It's not that he's racist or anything of that sort, it's just that he feels like an oddball in the restaurant since we're usually the only Asian people in there and he feels he doesn't belong. But if it were just me, I'd care less because the food is totally irresistible and the waitresses are very nice. The customers seem to be a wealthy crowd (sometimes famous) and the setting is classy.
I'd say their prices are in the mid to high range, but you get A LOT of food in your plate. So proportionately, it's not that expensive at all. I do wish that they offer smaller portions for less so that I can try a variety of things w/o spending a fortune. For those w/o a monstrous appetite, I'd recommend sharing an entree w/someone else.
PROS: Incredibly delicious Cajun-style entrees
CONS: Lack of diversity in the restaurant, high price for huge dishes
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4
By Joe P.
| Insider Expert
| Rank: 7,408
Harold & Bell's Restaurant
I have been to Harold and Belle's Restaurant on numerous occasions, and the thing that strikes me most is the generous amount of food that you get with your meal. I usually leave with a doggy bag, and the folks here are always ready to oblige with one. Also, the food is home-style, and tastes like it was made by the owner right on the spot. Cajun oriented, this place is comfy and roomy inside. Prices are in the medium to high range, but you don't get cheated on portions for the price. I recommendthe pork chops with red beans and rice.
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Don't Pass the Salt
By luckysun
Maybe my hopes were too high for this place. My wife and I stopped in for lunch and she had the jambalaya, served with red beans and sausage, which consisted of a scoop of jambalaya over a big plate of red beans and two large sausages - twenty-two dollars. Although it was certainly authentic cajun/creole food, it was very salty, which maybe goes with the territory, I'm not exactly sure. But for that price I'm thinking it could have been more on the jambalaya/shrimp/cajun spices,etc, and less on the salt. All I know is my wife was not thrilled with it and I ended up eating most of it myself. I had the meatloaf sandwich -- also quite salty, but still decadent and tasty, which came with some very good fries; I devoured it. Obviously cajun/creole food is not meant to be healthy, I get that. But it is meant to have a medley of distinct flavors other than salt. There's probably other stuff on the menu I would enjoy more, maybe the chicken, ribs, or fish; not so sure I'll be back to find out (I know my wife won't). On the upside, our waiter was friendly and fast even though it was busy.
Pros: Authentic, decadent Cajun/Creole food in a city where that's hard to find
Cons: Too salty and too expensive
Posted 02/20/09
Great food, great service
By pasadenagal
I LOVE this restaurant!! Just returned on Sunday afternoon. I had no complaints about the service, our waitress was friendly and attentive and refilled our soft drinks when empty. The Southern fried chicken is the very best I've ever had--a half bird with thick, flavorful breading and juicy meat. YUM. Meals are served with a green salad (or clam chowder), cole slaw, french fries (or another choice), corn on the cob, and warm buttery garlic bread. You won't go hungry! It's the friendliest place around. It's just about the best restaurant around!
Posted 12/06/08
Great Food, Very Authentic, but VERY SLOW SERVICE
By LeonandValerie
The food was very authentic but our server was slower than molasses. We were visiting Las Vegas for the weekend and decided to drive to LA just to try this restaurant. I was satisfied until I saw that the server maybe came by one time without having us flag her down. Every time we needed a water refill or requested another soda we had to flag her down. You would think that when it came time to pay the bill, she would have been "Johnny on the spot", nope. My husband had to get the bill and take it to her and stand there to ensure that she ran the credit card. I think this establishment needs to hire another type of staff; I noticed that other diners experienced the same type of service. I understand hiring individuals from the neighborhood to ensure jobs in the community but please make sure you hire the right individual.
I will definitely return when I go back to Vegas this year but hopefully some staff changes have been made and I don't experience the same type of slow service that I have in the past. Once again, GREAT AUTHENTIC FOOD, VERY SLOW SERVICE.
Food Recommendations: Gumbo, Spicy Sausage, Catfish (2 can dine off of one plate with this entree), PEACH COBBLER WAS AWESOME.
Posted 09/19/08
Poor Service, Food Quality has definitely changed
By KA519
I took my mom to Harold & Belle's for her birthday. I have been here several times and usually love the food. This day the clam chowder tasted like cream of mushroom soup with a few clams dropped in. The jambalaya was horrible but the catfish was good. I pretty much could have fried fish at home though and opened up a box of Zatarin's for more flavorful Jambalaya. We all agreed that the quality of the food seems to have decreased. There was only one server in the restaurant along w/people cleaning tables and bringing water so of course everything took forever. The parking though is what sealed the deal for me. I pulled into the valet paking lot and the guy told me to pull forward into an available space. The lot was practically empty. Now he did not park my car or take my keys after I parked so when I left I went to my car and was about to leave. He ran up to me demanding the $3.50 valet fee. I wanted to know what I was paying him for when he neither parked my car nor brought it to me. He said that I should have parked on the street which I very well should have had I known they were so rude. Anyway, I responded again that he did not valet park my car. He took my license plate number and got on the phone to call the police on me. Now, I just want you all to know I did not cuss him out, threaten him or anything. My bill was well over $100, which was to be expected so the money was not at all an issue. I am a professional and am college educated so please dont' picture me as a trouble making chick causing drama over $3.50 because I definitely maintained a respectful demeanor the whole time. It is just that I have never supposedly, valet parked my car and still had my keys in my possession to go and get my car to leave at my leisure, so I did not see the sense in paying him a valet fee for a service I did not receive. This experience along with the fact that the food was not so great this time has made me decide never to patronize this restaurant again.
Posted 05/27/08
Harold & Belle's
By jackier7
I went there on Tuesday 5/13/08. The food was good and plentiful. Not my first time. A bit pricey for where it is located. The parking or shall i say no parking is less than desired. Three of us visited the restaurant. We took a visitor from another state. He like the chicken wing dinner but not the corn on the cob or the mashed potatoes, The other party found nothing special about the cajun spices. I liked my chicken and red & rice.
Pros: lots of food
Cons: parking & location
Posted 05/17/08
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