Over the course of a steaming-hot Southern lunch, served family-style on a giant lazy Susan, restaurant owner Andre Davis has watched people go from perfect strangers to lifelong friends.
His restaurant, The Dinner Bell in McComb, Mississippi, consists of just four tables. Large and circular, they seat upward of 15 people. In the center of each is a lazy Susan dotted with heaping platters of food, spinning back and forth as customers pile up their plates.
On any given day, anyone could be sitting around the table. Davis' customer base ranges from European tourists to locals. The tables have hosted water treatment plant workers, church groups and once, according to Davis, British actor Hugh Bonneville.
“We’ve had people sitting together that had nothing in common but the table they were sitting at,” Davis said.
For restaurant goers, the rotating tables provide a unique opportunity to meet new people, hear different perspectives and bond over a shared enjoyment of classic Southern food and the restaurant’s famed fried eggplant.
“We've met doctors, lawyers, teachers," said Wayne Dyson, a regular customer. "And find out that most people are all good people."
“Especially if they're eating,” he added.
Dyson and his wife have met countless people from all over the country in the 40 years they have been frequenting the restaurant. Over lunch earlier this month, the couple quickly bonded with a group of strangers, laughing like they had known each other for years.
Justin Monistere and his family stopped for lunch to celebrate his sister's graduation from nursing school. By the time he left, he was referring to the Dysons as “mom” and “pop.”
“Today in time we don't talk as people. It's either through a message or phone,” he said, adding this is the first meal he has had since he was a kid where no one pulled out a cellphone. “I think that's a great thing that they're doing here.”
The unique dining style, which is also associated with Chinese restaurants, dates back to the early 20th century in Mississippi.
The family-style restaurants evolved along railroad tracks to more easily serve large numbers of people coming on and off trains, according to Charles Morgan, who owns the now-closed Revolving Tables Restaurant in Mendenhall.
The restaurant has been in Morgan's family since it opened in 1915. He grew up listening to people talk politics and college football around an 18-seater table.
Both Morgan and Davis have watched similar restaurants close over the years, but a smattering remain across parts of the country.
“You sure don't see too many of those anymore,” said Morgan, whose own restaurant closed when his father retired in 2001. He and his sister hope to reopen.
This type of dining, Davis said, isn't for everyone. Some people retreat into their social shells, while others blossom.
Some days are quiet, with just a few regulars gathered around the table swapping farming tips. Other times, the restaurant is raucous as tour groups and families chatter with the courageous folks willing to spin the roulette wheel on who they would be sitting with that afternoon.
Davis said he has seen people from all walks of life conversing. Some form friendships, others a simple sense of respect. One couple, a widower and widow, met at the restaurant and later got married.
“It's been hilarious, some of the people that have ended up sitting beside each other," Davis said. "You couldn't do it on purpose, you couldn't plan it, and you couldn't make it up.”
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