Billy’s Bar & Grill

I went to Billy’s Bar & Grill on a Thursday night and boy, was it busy! Our waitress was running around like crazy, barely had time to talk to us, which on one hand makes you think the food must be good if it’s so busy but on the other hand makes you feel like you’re just one of a crowd when your waitperson can barely stop to get your order. The rum and cokes were great, especially great because they were ½ price at happy hour. Yay! The chicken quesadillas were hot and tasty. The main course came out right on top of the apps, which can be annoying if you are looking for a leisurely meal. I had the lasagna, which was filled with meat and lots of cheese. Very tasty and it made for 2 meals. It was at a great price for the amount of food you get. My friend got a chef’s salad that looked good. If you are a neat-​freak, you won’t like the ambiance, what with all the popcorn on the floor. But I liked the free popcorn that you get when you sit down. It was as good as movie theater popcorn!

I have been to Billy’s several times and it definitely has a «small town» feel to it. I am not from the Anoka area, but my boyfriend seems to have mini high school reunions every single time we go there. He always runs into people he knows, and ends up striking a lot of conversations. This is a good bar to go to if you’re just looking for a bar to sit with your friends and catch up.
They offer karaōke, which is really funny to watch even if you’re not into singing yourself. I helped a drunk guy sing a country song, which was absolutely hilarious.
People seem to flock to this bar since it’s one of the ones in the area, so it’s popular among both the old/​young crowd. You’ll definitely see some interesting things if you’re people watching here.
Based on my experiences here, here’s what I’ve gathered…
Food: 2.5÷5
I went to Billy’s with my boyfriend and his two best friends one night and we had a little potato theme going. We got the potato skins for $ 6.59 as well as the giant basket of fries for $ 4.50. To me, the fries were better than the potato skins, but the boys really liked both of them. The fries were average at best, but they were nice and hot, so we all dug in and finished them between the four of us. The potato skins were very dry, and came with sour cream, green onion, and bacon bits. The toppings were nothing special, and it didn’t help that they were not even close to hot. It seemed like they had been sitting out for awhile.
Ambiance: ³⁄₅
Like I said, it’s a total «small town» bar. You’ll see your typical trashy people here (trust me, there’s no avoiding them) but you’ll also meet some of the nicest people who upon meeting you, are practically your best friend regardless of how much alcohol they’ve had. You can tell the place has been around for awhile, but people seem to like it. There’s music going in both rooms, so you’ll hear the songs mix at times.
Service: ⁴⁄₅
The waitress/​bartender that I encounter every single time I come here is fantastic. She seems to have a very friendly and outgoing personality. She does her job in a way that is quick and convenient. She comes back to ask you if you need anything else no matter how busy the bar is, and always gets dirty dishes/​glasses out of your way.
We had a run in with a nasty guy too, and she came over and asked us if everything was alright. We explained the situation to her, and she immediately went over to the guy and his friends and kicked them out. This showed me just how wonderful she is as an employee, and I expressed my appreciation to her that she eliminated what could’ve gotten worse.
Pro tip: ALWAYS stand your ground no matter how belligerent some people can get, even when they push boundaries.

5 of us went to Billy’s for supper.
3 hamburgers, chicken fingers & soup.
3 of us had bloody marry’s. These were the absolute worst bloodys I have ever had. Small, watered down and no taste. One of the hamburgers was supposed to have fried onions on it and it didn’t, but the up charge was still on the bill.
Not my best experience and the place wasn’t even busy.

I work 2^nd shift so I usually get up here after 11 PM so I won’t be reviewing the food as I have not tried it as of this post. However, when I do come up, I have always had awesome service from the barkeeps I have had the pleasure of getting to know (Dan S, Jerad, Jay H). They are one of the few bars I have been to that have my preferred & favorite beer on tap (Guinness) and at a fair price. They also have popcorn for snacking on & NTN/​Buzztime trivia at night which can add to the experience. I have also come across some really cool people that frequent this place and other bars in the general area. All in all, it’s got a really cool, laid back non-​corporate vibe to it. Solid place to go to just to unwind after a night of work.

Went for the Sunday brunch. Cold food, not much flavor, very slow service. Expected more because there was a nice spread of food. Caramel roll was good.

Good bar food and good service!
I actually came here today not expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. The food was very good for bar type good (burgers, sandwiches, etc.). And the service was fantastic. The food came out fast, hot, and prepared well.
This is the second restaurant I’ve tried on this street and this is the best so far. It’s unpretentious and a little on the redneck side. But that’s okay.
–Daddy Maxx Retro

Great food. Their clam chowder was very good. And asking for just s salad with no cheese or croutons or bread stick not a problem. Also for dressing go ahead and ask for red wine vinegar and Olive oil. No problem there. Yum! And even two beers and soup and salad and this includes tip. Under $ 20.00

The only thing I like about this place is the bread pudding AMAZING and the long haired mail bartender. 5 stars all day if you get that combo. Anything else is mediocre at best, servers are snotty and ignore you, wings are average, and food is overpriced.

I had dinner with a new friend last night, and I am now pretty embarrassed for having picked the spot. We got there at 5:50pm, and I wanted to get a HH drink in before it ended at 6pm. The girl who seated us had no idea what the specials were, and she didn’t care. Her most «enthused» responses to my questions about the specials were, «I guess so» and «uh, something like that???». So I ended up ordering a margarita, though unsure of how much it would cost, and it came with a couple of hazelnuts in it. I’ve never seen this before in my life, and I’m allergic to nuts. I feel like if you’re going to put a common life-​threatening allergen in a random beverage you should mention that first in person or at least on the menu.
The outdated rug was LITTERED with popcorn. It was definitely a turn-​off, though at least there was the prospect of eating popcorn (that hasn’t been smashed into the floor). I understand it’s a historic building, but god damn there’s a difference between old and filthy.
We didn’t get any water. I had to ask for some halfway through our entrees. And we didn’t get any popcorn either. I had to ask for it after our meals (as I was still hungry since I did not enjoy mine).
The only nutritional value that the side salad offered came from the 2 cherry tomatoes in it. The rest was composed of just iceberg lettuce, shredded cheese, and croutons. I ordered the grilled salmon. It was literally painfully dry. I could hardly swallow it. I had to ask for lemons to try to soak it with, but that was ineffective. It was also flavorless. And the «dill sauce» had too much sweet relish in it to enjoy either. The only personal justification there is, is that I’m on a diet so all of my meals have been generally miserable lately anyways.

I have celiac disease and was having trouble finding a restaurant in Anoka to accommodate my needs that could seat us on a Saturday. They explained to me at the host stand that gluten free wasn’t their thing and I might not want to eat there. I was sick of walking around the neighboring eateries and decided to throw caution to the wind. Our waitress Karlie H., was a dream. She had a relative with celiac, so understood. She had the chef be careful with preparation so there was no cross contamination, went down to the storage area to check the ingredient list for gluten. She was so kind and sweet about all the things that I needed to not get sick. I tipped her 40%, but I just want you at Billys to know how accommodating she was to my sometimes annoying requests when you don’t have a gluten free menu. Thanks Karlie!

Randi was awesome and good company. She didn’t have a lot to say about the area which I would have preferred but all other guests were very welcoming and I would go back,

One of the best Happy Hours in the area. Good appetizers and I like the Long Island Tea’s for $ 3 during HH

The Summit and Guinness and (the requisite) Miller Lite flowed freely Tuesday night. The popcorn was tasty and fresh, and the onion rings and nachos were very nice. But seriously, the historic quality of a place can be maintained while presenting a clean and orderly interior space. This message is lost on the owners or management or whoever runs the joint, because the interior is a mess. Maybe the clutter and disorder and border line health violations are part of the schtick, but somehow I doubt it. I would have to recommend an overhaul, post haste!
Not one to sully a joint’s reputation (unless it is extremely deserving), I must also mention that the burger was a winner, and the wait staff was on the ball, more or less.

I really enjoying coming here weekdays with friends. It’s not very busy and I like how my friends and I can carry on a conversation without speakers blasting, like other bars.
I can’t say how it is on a weekend, I assume busy, but I don’t like to go out to crowded bars.
The interior is very old school and if you search google for the history of Billy’s bar, it used to be a hotel where someone died. People also say it’s haunted, but I’m not 100% about that yet.

I’ve never been impressed or satisfied with Billy’s, as many times as I’ve been there. Service is always incredibly slow, they take forever to refill your drinks, and for what you pay, the food isn’t that extravagant.

We came here for the first time accidentally– we had planned on going to a bar close by for bingo night, but there were no tables left there. We were also looking for the Monday Night Football game, and Billy’s we knew had Vikings games specials, so we figured we’d find some TVs in the bar.
Billy’s is a large building, and we first walked in to the dining area– it was filled with lots of older people and a large tv showing some tv show in black-​and-​white. We looked at each other, disappointed, and walked out. It was then we discovered another entrance, to the bar area! So we walked back in.
We had a seat, and were greeted immediately by the bartender (Dan=super awesome), who brought us a basket of fresh, buttery popcorn & got us some drinks. It’s a small, cozy area, with maybe 4 TVs & another one featuring the Buzztime trivia. Music selection was great– mostly classic rock– and it wasn’t overly loud.
The menu features pretty standard bar selections– the Monday special of Pepper Steak was enticing, but we weren’t sure if we were hungry enough for the generous servings. We started with some potato skins– quite good, you get 6 very large skins! For dinner, I decided on the shrimp plate– 6 LARGE, very tasty & crunchy deep-​fried shrimp (you can get it broiled), coleslaw, a breadstick, and for my choice of potato I went with tater tots– good & crunchy as well!
The beer selection isn’t outstanding, which is fine by us. My husband asked if they had Busch Light– and the bartender went on a search as he said they used to special order it for a frequent customer– but came back empty handed. I asked for «something cherry» and he concocted me something that was fruity & delish. The gameday special was ½ off all drinks, so if you’re craving a $ 7 glass of Patron, hit Billy’s up for a MNF game & enjoy it for $ 3.50!
Dan will slide your drink down the bar to you, which is neat, and the beer glasses are always served overflowing. If you’re into pull-​tabs, they have those, too.
I noticed on the menu Billy’s features a Sunday brunch, so if there are as many «white-​haired individuals» in on a Sunday as there were that night, it’s a sign it must be good… and we will be back!

I’m usually a big advocate for Billy’s, it’s been a staple of life growing up in the area. Lately it has gone WAY downhill. Went there tonight and not only had half the meals wrong, but had eyes rolled when it was brought up. Then when they brought out the «new», «fix» meals, they just scraped off what wasn’t suppose to be on it… HELLO, some people may be allergic to that stuff! The food was cold as well. LAZY cooks and inattentive wait staff. Glasses going empty for a long time, and took forever to get refills. The wait staff didn’t make sure the meals were correct before bringing them out, just not good at all.
Extremely disappointed, as I love this place, and have for the past 20+ years. We won’t be going back for a very long time. Please Billy’s hire some staff that cares!!!

I keep meaning to come here more often to at least try something other than the Friday fish fry… someday I suppose.
This is a nice bar/​restaurant. The bartenders are always hopping and have a good eye for people looking for a drink. The tap beer selection average, but they do have Rush River on tap which is a plus. Another plus is they have pulltabs :)
Wait staff is pretty attentive and coureous. There is nothing particular from what I saw on the menu, however I think they do a great job on the fish fry. They have a nice beer batter that sticks to the white fish and is not too thick, and it is all you can eat! Friday fish night is always busy so plan on having a beer and eat some popcorn while you wait.

I’ve been comeing here for 20 plus years and it’s still as good as ever. Top notch bar food is on the menu and thats what you will get. The brunch buffet is fairly decent as well and very affordable. My homebrew club the Rum River Wort Hogs meets here the second monday of the month as has for many many years. Billys is a great place to go, in summer time the patio is a nice touch too. Happy hour specials are the bomb too!

This was the final stop of our Downtown Anoka bar crawl, and it was my favorite spot. I was starving by this point and luckily they have an awesome late night menu, Th-​Sa 10 – 1 a.m.
We ordered the whole menu, quesildillas for $ 5, the largest basket of tater tots that I’ve ever seen for $ 3, buffalo wings for $ 5, and chicken tenders for $ 5. Perfect drunk food. They also have $ 5 burger/​fries combination.
The outdoor patio looks kind of like a fraternity house, kind of dumpy, but hey its still outside. It probably did not help that there were two trashy bachelorette parties going on. I always assumed that these shit shows only occurred in Downtown MPLS, but I was only wrong. Imagine the typical slutty-​ass bachelorette party getting sloppy downtown. Then imagine the same party with a group of girls that was too lazy, cheap and drunk to spend the evening below 694 and wow, you are in for a treat.
There is a full bar out on the patio too. Head inside and there is a dining room, karaōke was happening on Saturday night when we were there. Lots of drunk people over-​using the f-​word as added adjectives to the normal song lyrics. It must be bad when it makes such a prolific f-​bomb user as myself blush.
Anyways, I suspect that this place might stay open later then the other Anoka bars, because at 1 a.m. there was a huge surge of people crowding into the bar.
Good bar to cap off a fun night in Anoka. It was a nice stay-​cation. Completely different world, only 15 miles north.
Watch out for traffic, there is a high concentration of bars in Downtown Anoka, most of which are busy on Saturday night. There are a lot of one-​way streets and drunk a-​holes peeling away in pickup trucks and motorcycles.