The Bells' Philosophy Rings True -- Maple Leaf Eatery Attracts Loyal Clientele

Here they come. Slowly emerging from their cars, some wobbling on canes and crutches, others holding hands from 50 years of a romance still strong, the faithful come to The Bells restaurant in Seattle's Maple Leaf district.

In walk Mabel and Will Wilhelm, customers for 30-plus years.

"I've tried a lot of restaurants in this town," says Will, 76. "Most of them are a joke."

"The food's good," says Mabel, 77.

At least 60 percent of the 400 customers who come daily to The Bells are elderly, says owner George Bell. The restaurant seats 175.

Business is particularly brisk early each month, soon after Social Security checks are issued.

Bell credits the loyalty of his elderly patrons partly to the fact that many have been customers a long time and the menu has been virtually unchanged for decades.

The average tab at The Bells is about $8. Turnover at a table is around 45 minutes, fast because no alcohol and no hors d'oeuvres are served. Service is quick, but no one feels rushed.

"The employees are not overtrained," says Bell, whose brother, Douglas, runs the kitchen and whose wife, Sally, works as hostess. "They don't recite or introduce themselves or do any trendy things."

That's been the operating philosophy at The Bells since 1949, when Bell's parents started the restaurant, now at 8501 Fifth Ave.

Before fern bars, lattes and waitpersons with 10-minute speeches about free-range chickens, The Bells served mashed potatoes, homemade pies, meatloaf, beef stew, tapioca pudding and other basic fare. The Bells still does, which is one reason many customers keep coming back.

"We call it comfort food - items sophisticated restaurants wouldn't have on their menus," Bell says.

Placemats urge customers to thank God for the gift of food. "Do it! You'll feel better and act better the rest of the day," the placemat declares.

The whipped cream at The Bells is real. The mashed potatoes are not. Bell says he has found a packaged potato that tastes better. The prices are reasonable: $3.95 for daily sandwich special (soup and dessert included).

The restaurant's grip on customers is legendary. Some come from as far as Puyallup just for a piece of pie.

The Bells stands apart from businesses that seek the trendy, the young and the affluent. But it does not stand alone.

Across America, thousands of businesses see the elderly as an attractive consumer market. As a group, the elderly are not affluent. But many are better off than some working people. Thanks to Social Security, the elderly have steady incomes.

More than 40 million people receive Social Security checks, which average $607 a month. In Washington state, about one of every seven residents - more than 700,000 people - receive checks, for a combined total last year of $4.9 billion.

The economic benefits are spread throughout the region's economy but are particularly noticeable in communities such as Sequim, where the elderly dominate the aisles at Safeway and other stores.

At a table in The Bells recently, three generations sat down and raved about the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Grandmother Claire Isaacson, 70, sat with daughter Gloria Daugharty, 42, and grandson Jason Geismann, 20.

Geismann says he has been eating at The Bells ever since he went to a nearby preschool.

Now, as then, Geismann wants the tapioca pudding.