Billies

I’m a fan!
It was the lure of sweet potato fries.

Some parents must have finally kicked their 40 year old son out of their converted garage and made him take his record collection and vintage pinballs game with him. That guy then moved it all into Billies and bob’s your uncle. The interior totally feels like that garage hangout, with a half-spruced up concrete floor and a wall covered with 80s album covers. Test yourself and see how many you recognize, like the Loverboy cover. Oooh, caught! You liked Loverboy!

As far as diner food goes, Billies’ direction is right where I want to go – they grind their own beef for the burgers, their ketchup is housemade, the chili seems to be made of mostly chunks of tender pork shoulder. And the sweet potato fries are portioned and priced to share – a large amount with plenty of chipotle mayo to dunk. Big props for doing so much of the menu from scratch.

I had the burger, the sweet potato fries and a small bowl of chili. This came to under $20, feeding two. The burger is medium rare to rare by default, which imho they can get away with because they grind the burger meat themselves. If you like it more well-done than that, then just specify. But if you like it with lots of pink, you don’t need to say anything. The cheese options are cheddar or pepperjack, and the onions come grilled.

The SPF may seem expensive, at $6.50, more than ordering a cheeseburger. BUT, the portion is for more than one person. Share it with another and the price works out to be perfectly normal. This is the kind of place where you come in with friends anyway, so no big.

On another visit, we ordered the mac and cheese combined with their chili. Good stuff! We sat at the bar, chatted with ourselves and other diners who were eagerly chowing down the burgers. Much camaraderie…just like hanging in that converted garage after school.

Whether you like that garage feel is a matter of opinion, but one criticism I had of the interior is not enough seating for the space. It’s either half a dozen padded barstools at the front, which are usually taken, or sparse wobbly thin tables along the wall. Maybe this is appropriate for the late night crowd that just wants some hot greasy yum before stumbling out into the night. But sober me thought there was room to put in more tables and chairs, and sturdier ones at that. I should hope that Billies *wants* more people to eat at their place, right?

Now, I don’ t know if it was the game, or the player, but my friend had a go on the Star Trek pinball and won two free games. At one point he had to walk away, cuz his food was getting cold.

Bonus: open until 3 am every night. Got late night munchies?

Billies
413 State St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101