Bella’s Fine Dining

Historic downtown Dothan is home to Bella’s Fine Dining, a three-level restaurant housed in the old Colby Building, which was originally constructed around 1937 as a J.C. Penney department store. The LaCour family spent roughly a decade renovating the historic space before opening it as a fine dining destination, and that long renovation shows in the finished result: a full bar, private event rooms, and a ballroom, all under one roof in a building with genuine architectural history behind it.

The main dining concept is The Rib Room, a steakhouse built around hand-cut steaks and a menu that runs well beyond the standard fine dining lineup. A hand-cut twelve ounce ribeye and a chargrilled filet mignon anchor the entree list, alongside pasta dishes, arrosto chicken, and grilled or blackened salmon for diners who want something other than red meat. Small plates include a charcuterie board, bacon-wrapped shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, and a curried tuna tartare, giving the menu range for diners who want to build a meal out of several smaller courses rather than one large entree.

Beyond The Rib Room, the building holds two additional venues with their own distinct personalities. Clandestine 111 is described as a hidden gem tucked away on the building’s first level, an intimate bar space for a quieter drink away from the main dining room. Maison de Rousse takes a different approach entirely, drawing on 1920s speakeasy culture and referencing New York’s famous Red Head bar as inspiration for its own evening cocktail scene.

The building’s ballroom and private suites make Bella’s a genuine option for weddings, corporate events, and other large gatherings that need more space than a standard dining room table, on top of its role as a nightly fine dining restaurant. That combination of restaurant, bar, and event venue inside one historic building is fairly unusual for a city the size of Dothan, and it makes Bella’s a natural choice for a special occasion dinner rather than a casual weeknight stop.

The Rib Room keeps a focused schedule, open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 until 9 in the evening, with Clandestine 111 and Maison de Rousse running from 5 in the evening until close on those same nights. That limited window reflects a restaurant built around a proper dinner service rather than an all-day operation, so planning ahead matters more here than at a casual lunch spot.

Because Bella’s is family owned by the LaCours rather than operated as part of a restaurant group or franchise, the building’s restoration and the menu built inside it reflect a single family’s decade-long investment in one specific piece of downtown Dothan history. That kind of long-term commitment to a single historic building is difficult to find outside of an independently owned restaurant.

For a special occasion dinner in Dothan, whether that means hand-cut steaks in The Rib Room or a late cocktail in the speakeasy-inspired Maison de Rousse, Bella’s Fine Dining offers a level of atmosphere and history that is genuinely distinct from the newer restaurants scattered along the city’s commercial corridors.

The building itself is as much a part of the experience as the food. Walking through a space that spent decades as a department store before its transformation into a three-level restaurant and event venue gives Bella’s a sense of scale that is hard to find in a newer construction. High ceilings, multiple distinct rooms, and a layout built for both an intimate two-top dinner and a full ballroom event all live inside the same historic downtown Dothan address.

Groups planning a private event have several options within the same building, from a smaller private dining room off The Rib Room to the full Bella’s Ballroom for a wedding reception or large corporate gathering. That flexibility, combined with the building’s downtown location, has made Bella’s a fairly common choice for Dothan events that need both a serious kitchen and a memorable setting in one package, rather than renting a bare event space and bringing in outside catering separately.