Billy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs & Ice Cream

I came in for the first time this week for lunch with a Living Social Discount for $ 10. It was originally for $ 20 but had expired. No worries about accepting it for the paid value as they honored it with no problem or restrictions. Now to the food… I ordered the Italian Beef Combo sandwich, small basket of fries and a small strawberry milkshake. The shake and fries were fantastic, but the Italian Beef Combo had an upcharge for mozzarella cheese, was somewhat on the small side and the Italian Sausage inside the combo was one of the blandest and least flavorful sausages I have ever had. I was very disappointed as the sandwich was on the small side, had very little to no sauce (Au Jus), very dry, and not much beef. So for this sandwich, small fries and small shake, my order came up to $ 18 for lunch! Value is a zero star on this place. I have to compare their Italian Beef combo to what I believe to be the absolute best in town which is the «Chicago» deli on Colfax across from Casa Bonita. Their food is Chicago authentic and you really get what you pay for. Billy’s may be really good on hot dogs per some reviews, but I am scared off by the prices after what I just experienced. $ 18 lunch for one person was too pricey. Go get the living social deal in order to feel like you are at least getting your moneys worth.

I really get the craving for a corn dog every couple of months and I have found Billys is pretty much the only spot that you can get them hot and fresh. I always get a side of cheese fries to go with. As if that isn’t enough calories the milk shakes are KILLER. Totally reccomend. The reason why I am dropping a star is because last time I came in the woman who dropped off my milk shake to me grabbed the straw and was stirring it around by the tip and it kind of grossed me out and I opted for a new straw. Just kind of common sense but oh well. It was still yummy. I will definitely be back.

We were really impressed with Billy’s. The hot dogs were tasty and prepared Chicago style which was great and they are very reasonably priced. I’m not typically a fan of «Rico’s cheese» but they mixed the cheese with TONS of garlic for the garlic cheese fries. They were actually REALLY delicious! Billy was working the register so we got to meet him. Because it was a Monday afternoon, they weren’t super busy so we were able to chit chat with him for a while. Really nice guy. We will definitely be back.

I was rather disappointed with Billy’s food. The dogs were tough and flavorless. The cheese fries were soggy. The most appetizing part of the meal was the Tommy Knockers rootbeer float. But honestly its hard to mess up a root beer float. If you’re looking for an authentic, juicy chicago dog this is certainly not the place to go.

Came back with a friend due to my hot dog cravings coming back full force!
Were helped by Chris and Savannah, both very friendly and made great suggestions.
We decided on the Billy Dog, New York Dog, fried mushrooms and garlic-​cheese fries with a some Billy sauce and Fat Tire beer.
Sure did hit the spot and Savannah let us know it was Happy Hour (everyday between 3−6pm), so we could get two more Fat Tires-​perfect!

I think the place is stylish but the dogs lack flavor. I had the brat and my friends had a Cajun and a sweet Italian. My brat had no flavor at all. I thought they may have given me a tofu dog, but my friends said theirs were flavorless. They were barely warm enough and the grilled onions were cut too big and under cooked for my taste. The fries were good, but also could have been warmer.
Dear owner, if you read these reviews, please consider testing brats from other sources and maybe cut them up and serve tasters with toothpicks and ask for some customer opinions. I wholeheartedly feel any grocery store deli counter brat will rate higher.

Not your average dog. I tried the buffalo dog and the blue cheese truffle fries and was very impressed with both.
The buffalo dog was seasoned well and came topped with a Dijon mustard and sauerkraut which compliment the dog very well. The fries were cooked well, would have liked them to be a touch more crunchy, but the truffle and blue cheese worked very well. I enjoyed a beer (they have 5 on tap) with this late lunch and sat outside on their patio which was spacious and had lots to look at.
The service here is very good! They welcomed me as a new diner and thanked me for coming in. She told me the buffalo dog would take a bit longer which is totally fine and expected.
Prices were reasonable and worth it. The restaurant was clean and upbeat.

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting.
Fake cheese on burgers.
Buns not even toasted on hotdogs or burgers.
Spicy Italian sausage was not spicy and quite bland.
Glorified fast food.
Never again.

Hot dogs as good as you can make at home. Stay home and make your own, you’ll be better off.

Love this place and Chris was awesome! Buffalo bratwurst with jalapeño and cheddar!!! chips and fries are fresh!

Billy’s is a nice change from Biker Jims. My boyfriend and I were strolling down Broadway the other day when it began to rain. Hard. So we took cover in Billy’s. Much to our surprise they served hot dogs. My bf’s favorite. We weren’t planning on eating because he had just treated us to a couple of Hamburger Stand chocolate dipped cones, but the smell of meat on the grill persuaded us otherwise. We ordered the Buffalo Brat which was delicious. The service was good and the ambiance in the store reminded us of a modernized 50’s diner. They provide games for kids and if you check in on Unilocal you’ll receive free fries with your order. We do prefer the dogs at Biker Jims, but Billy’s is much more convenient for us and so far did not disappoint. We will be back!

I’ve been here twice. Once alone and once with the kids. I drive by here every day and its always empty. There is reason for that. It takes a stupid amount of time to get your order. The magic of a good hot dog place is that its somewhat quick. Not here. Its also expensive for what you get.
My overall feeling is that the owners (whom I’ve met as they were behind the counter) are not restaurant people. They probably did some back of the napkin business plan that said «hey, everyone likes hot dogs right? Beer… people like beer. Lets do a hot dog business! the products are super cheap to buy– we’ll sell them at price consistent with other fast casual places, build a cool design-​not like other cheap places and it will be huge! We’ll build a hot dog empire!»
Nothing here is original, the staff training seems to be an afterthought. It looks like the mentality was «If we build it, they will come».
You were wrong. There is no reason to come here.
I’d rather get the same, less expensive dog, quicker, in a place that looks and acts like an authentic dog place. This is not it.

Billy’s is the nearest thing to a Chicago dog that I found in Denver. I’ve transplanted to Denver a little over a year ago from the NW Side of Chicago and it’s not bad. Toppings are all correct and they use a correct Vienna Beef Dog.
It’s not a true «dog stop» such as Gene and Jude’s is in Chicagoland but I’ll go back. The size of the dog is what a Chicago dog is and they are not meant to look pretty. My only complaint but this is common outside of Chicago is the price. You can get a dog and fries in Chicago for under $ 3.00 bucks but hey I’m happy just having a taste of home.

The service was miserably slow. Two co-​workers and I stopped in on a Wednesday at noon to order three dogs, two beers and an order of fries. We waited almost thirty-​five minutes for our food. There were a few people ahead of us and a few people behind us, but certainly not a lunch rush. Bizarrely, there were only four paper menus, and customers were awkwardly passing them around to share.
Anyway, I’m fine waiting for good food, but the hot dogs were utterly underwhelming. These are not glorious, thick, long, juicy hot dogs of Biker Jim’s or The Über Sausage. Billy’s is serving average sized dogs you can finish in three or four bites. Similarly, the buns are soft, mass-​produced, and virtually identical to any generic brand bun you pick up in the grocery story. Billy’s charges $ 4.50-$ 5.50 per «specialty dog.» The toppings were equally average. Mass produced chili topping without much flavor or spice and some sort of Velveeta-​derived cheddar. We ordered the Coney Dog, Texas Tommy and Seattle Dog, and nobody was impressed.
I was close to giving Billy’s one star, but I ate the entire dog and enjoyed my beer, and nobody was rude. Having said that, I won’t be back.

Went here before a concert at the Gothic theater. I have to say that the place has some potential but my over all experience was just so so here. I ordered the duck dog and they said it would take over 30 minutes to prepare so I then changed my mind to the Buffalo dog and although it was good I couldn’t really determine what made it different from any other dog because all I could taste was mustard and sour krout. I probably will not be going back anytime soon because who wants to pay over $ 10 for a specialty hot dog that doesn’t taste that special. I did like all the garage doors to open the place up and it was nice to have a hand full of local beers on tap. Good luck.

The weiners were smaller than expected (twss).
The bacon ‘wrapped’ dog was simply a piece of bacon sitting next to the dog. Come to think of it, I didn’t actually even taste the bacon at all.
The ‘grilled jalapenos’ looked like green peppers, and had zero flavor and were definitely not grilled.
The onion rings were about $ 1 per onion ring (but were good).
$ 10 spent there only filled me up about ²⁄₃ of the way.
Fries were mediocre.
I’m not sure what was ‘gourmet’ about the hot dogs. I ate here with 4 other guys and we were all disappointed with our various choices.

After driving past this place about 50 times, we finally stopped in. I thought it was just a basic hot dog place, but I was wrong. They have everything from a Chicago dog, to buffalo brats, duck dogs, Kobe beef dogs, you name it. The menu is actually really large. I knew the second my eyes fell on the chili cheese fries, I had to get them. Smothered in nacho cheese and oozing in red chili, who can say no to them? I couldn’t! They were amazing! A must have in my opinion. I could only get one dog, since the fries were so massive. I settled on a Chicago dog. It was really tasty, with all of the right peppers and even a poppy seed bun. They also have a few choices of local beers on tap to pick from. The service we extremely fast for only having 2 people working and a full restaurant. I am definitely coming back and ordering each hot dog on the menu. All in all, fantastic place. Love the choices!

Service brought this from a typical 3-​star hot dog joint to a 2-​star place I’ll definitely not frequent again.
We should have known by the fact that the place was virtually empty at 8pm on a Friday night, but we went in and my boyfriend was concerned we’d misread the website and they were actually closed — the guys behind the counter did not look pleased to see us.
We ordered a couple of basic items from the menu (I got the veggie dog made Chicago style) and my boyfriend got something wrapped in bacon. Our French fries were fried HARD — they were practically charcoal when we got them. The hot dogs were okay — not great, but not worth the ‘gourmet’ prices. Biker Jims this is not.
The surly service and meh menu options mean we won’t come back here. I suggest you don’t, either.

Service with a side of…
I created my Unilocal account specifically to rate my experience with this establishment, to say it was a disappointment would be understatement.
We called for a take out order from the website, straightforward right? The establishment has two locations, as we live in Englewood, we called the number from the website and placed our order. When I walked into the store to pick up my order, I was greeted with a friendly ‘we don’t have an order for you’. I stated that I had called in 15 minutes ago… ‘ok, we still don’t have an order for you’ … I then learned that there is another location, I had called the downtown location, the website only has one phone number, I was then advised to go downtown and pick up my food because they did want them to throw it out… the gentleman then yelled at the teenager in the back to come and make more fries (there were only 4 people in the restaurant).
And there I was, and that was the solution, so I acquiesced, and drove downtown… after all, I guess I had made the mistake and called the only number available. When I did go downtown I was greeted by a friendly team of individuals and explained my situation they said I had met Billy… the owner, apparently heavy on business, light on service and quality. And that would explain the $ 38 for 3 hot dogs, 2 fries and 3 shakes and nice little commute back to Englewood where I was then able to enjoy my ‘gourmet hot dog’.
Now, I’m not picky, but gourmet to me implies quality or something else besides bad. Maybe this is tough with a hot dog, but I feel at the minimum it should fill the bun, and have a nice ‘snap’, right? My dog was boiled, the dogs on 16^th street mall put this to shame… it was mediocre at best, also it appears that Billy does not like to distribute tips to his employees, not sure what the Unilocal ramifications are for that but it certainly notches him higher up on the DB scale. So there you have it… if any of this sounds appealing, by all means, prove me wrong, but if I was able to dissuade you to try a different restaurant with your hard earned dollars, maybe check out another small business that cares about customer service and quality.

How can such an average Hot Dog joint get to open up multiple locations and the truly gourmet one like Rock n’ Dogs closed up shop? Sure, the latter was more costly but had MUCH BETTER buns, ingredients, toppings and taste.
Out of the three I’ve tried, the salmon («Healthy Fish Dog») was better than the Duck or Kobe Beef, isn’t that funny? My problem is that the toppings, sauces, and bratwursts weren’t welded together well enough. The Duck sausage had a funny smell and the Kobe Beef frankfurter had a good bite to the teeth but again, I would’ve been happy with Costco’s $ 1.50 Jumbo Hot Dog and large soda combo. (Billy’s fountain drink is $ 2 for a small cup, although refill is available).
We had the Half and Half fries. The sweet potatoe fries were pretty good. For the regular fries, I asked for them to be «garlic fries». Guess what? They just threw some supermarket pre-​minced garlic (the one you find in big plastic containers with lots of liquid) on top.
By this time I’m too turned off to try the ice cream, even though they have quite a few interesting flavors. The restaurant is spacious and clean, looks news. There are several families dining their with kids. Must be a pretty good spot for such gatherings. I liked their orange themed décor and the website is a breeze to look through. But that’s about it.