Billy’s in Spring Grove hits the spot for quick bite
Restaurant reviews
LEFT: Billy’s Bigger Italian Beef, dipped in au jus with cheese and sweet peppers.
Billy’s in Spring Grove has inside and outdoor seating.
Shaw Media photos
Shaw Media photos
We weren’t looking for something too fancy, just something we all could sit down and enjoy together on Monday night.
So we decided to check out Billy’s in Spring Grove. Their motto is “We’re more than a hot dog stand” and we decided to test all the other options.
Billy’s is located in a strip mall off Route 12 and it appeared that the two sports bars in the same strip mall were closed down or at least not open on this night. But Billy’s had a steady flow of sit-down and takeout customers.
There are three picnic tables out front and we sat down on one of them and took a menu from the counter to decide what we wanted. There are also a couple of wall menus too, which came in handy for the younger diners in our group who were playing the alphabet game and were happy to find the capital QinBBQ after a few minutes.
We were looking for a wide variety of food, so one of our diners picked out the cheese dog ($3.29), another picked the hot dog kids meal ($5.49) and a third got ordered the kids chicken tender meal ($5.49).
The kids meals came with fries, a small drink and acookie, which we saved for the end.
We picked the M&M ones over the chocolate chip.
We also ordered onion rings ($3.99) and mozzarella sticks ($5.19 for six) on the side.
The adults picked out the Greek salad ($8.49) from a list of eight salad options and I went all in, ordering Billy’s Bigger Italian Beef ($7.49) with a cheese and sweet pepper upgrade.
I also ordered it dipped in au jus, meaning it might have been more difficult and messier to hold, but wow was it good.
Billy’s does catering too, and they have plenty of other options, from burgers to chicken sandwiches and chicken wings to pastas, wraps, gyros, hot dogs, sausages, and dinner options such as salmon, ribs or chicken skewers.
I’m biased, but my Italian beef was the highlight of the meal. It was a large sandwich, a half-pound of beef, with a dripping good taste. The food all came out pretty quickly and we were good to go as we divvied it up on our picnic table.
The Greek salad was huge, but the dressing was a little overwhelming. It also came with two hot peppers, of which I took one.
The cheese dog was a hit and that diner was looking for more quickly. Good thing we had the fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks to share.
As we finished up, our slower-eating diner packed up the rest of her chicken tenders and fries to go, and I went back and ordered a vanilla shake ($3.29) to go. It was pretty thick, so it took a minute to get it going through the straw, but it was a great way to finish off a fun outdoor meal with the family.
•The Mystery Diner is an employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal.
The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.
IF YOUGO
■ WHAT: Billy’s
■ WHERE: 2020 Route 12, Spring Grove
■ WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 9p.m. Friday and Saturday.
■ INFORMATION: Call815- 675-0340 or visit billysspringgrove.com/
So we decided to check out Billy’s in Spring Grove. Their motto is “We’re more than a hot dog stand” and we decided to test all the other options.
Billy’s is located in a strip mall off Route 12 and it appeared that the two sports bars in the same strip mall were closed down or at least not open on this night. But Billy’s had a steady flow of sit-down and takeout customers.
There are three picnic tables out front and we sat down on one of them and took a menu from the counter to decide what we wanted. There are also a couple of wall menus too, which came in handy for the younger diners in our group who were playing the alphabet game and were happy to find the capital QinBBQ after a few minutes.
We were looking for a wide variety of food, so one of our diners picked out the cheese dog ($3.29), another picked the hot dog kids meal ($5.49) and a third got ordered the kids chicken tender meal ($5.49).
The kids meals came with fries, a small drink and acookie, which we saved for the end.
We picked the M&M ones over the chocolate chip.
We also ordered onion rings ($3.99) and mozzarella sticks ($5.19 for six) on the side.
The adults picked out the Greek salad ($8.49) from a list of eight salad options and I went all in, ordering Billy’s Bigger Italian Beef ($7.49) with a cheese and sweet pepper upgrade.
I also ordered it dipped in au jus, meaning it might have been more difficult and messier to hold, but wow was it good.
Billy’s does catering too, and they have plenty of other options, from burgers to chicken sandwiches and chicken wings to pastas, wraps, gyros, hot dogs, sausages, and dinner options such as salmon, ribs or chicken skewers.
I’m biased, but my Italian beef was the highlight of the meal. It was a large sandwich, a half-pound of beef, with a dripping good taste. The food all came out pretty quickly and we were good to go as we divvied it up on our picnic table.
The Greek salad was huge, but the dressing was a little overwhelming. It also came with two hot peppers, of which I took one.
The cheese dog was a hit and that diner was looking for more quickly. Good thing we had the fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks to share.
As we finished up, our slower-eating diner packed up the rest of her chicken tenders and fries to go, and I went back and ordered a vanilla shake ($3.29) to go. It was pretty thick, so it took a minute to get it going through the straw, but it was a great way to finish off a fun outdoor meal with the family.
•The Mystery Diner is an employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal.
The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.
IF YOUGO
■ WHAT: Billy’s
■ WHERE: 2020 Route 12, Spring Grove
■ WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 9p.m. Friday and Saturday.
■ INFORMATION: Call815- 675-0340 or visit billysspringgrove.com/