Bill’s Pizza & Smokehouse

We tried a Bill’s special pizza & BBQ Chicken since it was our 1^st time here… the pizza was winner by far! Thin crust loaded with goods and great taste! Sandwich was ok… bread and chicken served with side of BBQ sauce!

The Californians came to Iowa for our sons wedding in Independence. Wanted a place for all the out of town guests and local family to meet and eat the night before the wedding. Bills gave us the entire bar area for our party, set the tables with linens, set out a beautiful buffet and let me decorate. The bar was open and everyone met, talked, ate, drank and took photos. It was exactly what I was looking for and the price was SOOOOO reasonable! Iowa is definitely a destination for weddings! Thanks Bill!

After a long day of Kayaking, my family made the trip to Bill’s, and other than about a 15 minutes wait to be seated, no complaints from us. Our waitress was very accomodating and attentive.
Kids ordered a thin crust Pepperoni pizza, that was a little greasy for them, but everything else was good.
If we are on the vicinity of Independence again at meal time, we would certainly come here again.

Just stopped in for a meal while at a conference. I ordered the smoked barbecue chicken with salad and French fries. The chicken was moist and tender, falling off the bone. Their homemade barbecue sauce was dark, sweet and full of flavor. I loved it! The service is excellent. The only disappointment was the iceberg lettuce in the house salad & the ‘manufactured’ French fries which were cooked correctly and not greasy. Really good food & atmosphere!

Went there this evening for dinner. We ordered 3 grilled sandwiches, and our ticket time was an hour and 42 minutes. I would recommend some place else

I had the opportunity to enjoy this food twice in a couple days.
First time our hosts had picked up pizzas and brought them back to the house.
At first I thought Oh quick pizza joint pizza.great. But I was really surprised how great it was! The crust was GREAT! and to me, that makes or breaks a pizza. Plenty of sauce and the toppings were fresh as well.
I tried some of the bacon cheddar fries too. They were awesome. Cheese and bacon bits over steak fries! Its almost a meal! I bet you they would be even MORE awesome when dining in!
Second visit we went into the restaurant before heading back home to St Louis.
I opted for a salad and spaghetti with meatballs. The salad was refeshing with iceberg lettuce and just enough other veggies to please the palette!
The spaghetti was good too. I prefer a thinner spaghetti noodle. Theirs were on the thicker side. But most people like the thicker noodles anyway. Sauce was good and the meatballs had great flavor. I just wish there were one or two more in the bowl! Not enough meat for me.
The manager came over and talked to us for quite a while. Very friendly and knowledgeable man! All the wait staff were friendly!
I would visit this location again in a second!

My family and I had to stop in Independence after RAGBRAI to drop off a friend and this is where we chose to eat. The place has a ton of seating and we were quickly taken to our table even though the parking lot was full. Between the 5 of us we had a pizza, a fish sandwich, and a steak sandwich. Everyone was talking about how good their food was. I had the deep dish buffalo chicken pizza and it was awesome. Then a gentleman walked up who worked there and struck up a conversation. My mom, joking around, asked if he was Bill and it turns out he was. The owner sat and talked with us for about 15 minutes after we were finished eating just because. It was a very good dining experience for us and the owner was very friendly. You can’t ask for much more than a clean friendly environment with great food.

Our meals were just perfect. We will be back. I had the slab of ribs, my friend had a ribeye sandwich and they were great, moist, hot, perfectly seasoned. We will definitely be back. It was a good accident we ended up there. Locally owned also.

I used to love Applebees. I thought they had some of the best pasta out there — and then I moved to the area and tried Bill’s pasta. And now I can’t go back to Applebees because I’m dissatisfied every time I do.
Bill’s is an awesome place to eat. They basically split their restaurant in half. Half of the restaurant has a Sports Bar-​type atmosphere. There’s lots of sports stuff around as well as a multitude of televisions. This side has a bunch of large-​sized tables for groups. The other side is the more-​standard restaurant side. They have a couple tables there as well, but there’s a huge multitude of booths there. I prefer to eat on the restaurant side, but that’s just me. They also have a huge table on the restaurant side (sits 6 or 8, I think) as well as a private room that’s usually closed off for large parties and private meetings.
The food itself is pretty yummy. I love that they have such a huge selection. I’m a picky eater, and I had problems choosing between items. They have standard American-​type fare like pizzas, burgers, chicken, pastas, bbqs, appetizers, and more. For you other worried picky eaters, their menu is available online to view before you head out. (Yay!)
I always get their Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s absolutely magical. I’ve never had anything that amazing — homemade or otherwise. The sauce is perfect, and at times, almost too much — but it’s never too dry like most pastas. The pasta bread they include is always warm and perfect. Never hard or dry. The serving size is pretty huge, and unless you’re hungry, I’d say you might want to try and split it with someone. I barely finish it (and sometimes I don’t finish it) every time I’m here.
My partner usually gets their pizzas or their chicken sandwich and Bill’s Fries. Their fries are pretty basic, but tasty, and their pizza is yummy too. They have lots of pizza options.
Price is pretty standard for one of these sit-​down restaurants. The two of us usually pay around $ 25 with tip without any alcoholic beverages or dessert. Pretty standard. Definitely worth the food (and the 30 minute drive!) for us.
The waitresses have been hit-​or-​miss. Some days we have a waitress who we watch stand and talk with other employees while we’re waiting for a refill or waiting to order/​the check. Some days we have a super attentive waitress who’s really nice. (There’s an older gal that works there that’s super nice). Employees have never been rude, though.
The dessert menu doesn’t seem like a huge focus for them. They display a few branded logos under their «Dessert» section, but no specific items. This leads me to think they probably just keep prepackaged desserts back there for ordering. I’ve heard from other people that the desserts aren’t worth it. I’ve never tried one — mostly because the food is so filling I have no urge for a dessert afterwards.
My biggest annoyance is their parking lot. If you go during a busy time, you most likely will have a problem finding a spot. So far, I’ve always found a spot, but it’s usually the last spot available. A lot of people park across the street on an empty parking lot, but I’d love to see Bill’s expand their parking lot or something.
It’s also awesome that they’re open on Sunday. Most of the stuff in this area (yay for Iowa. Ugh.) is closed on Sunday including most other restaurants. We almost always want to go out and DO something Sunday night, but this area is all-​but-​dead on Sunday nights — except Bill’s. So yay!
Final thoughts: Great for dinner food and able to accommodate big parties. You can easily pick between the Sport’s Bar area or the restaurant area. You get some tasty food, and it’s a nice, comfortable (not loud, thank goodness, in the restaurant area) atmosphere. Parking is kinda annoying, and their desserts may not be anything worth driving here for, but the food definitely is. We’ll definitely be coming back.

Took my mom out for lunch here over the holidays. She is recovering from hip replacement surgery, so when we parked by the front door we discovered the front walk hadn’t been cleared of snow and had to be really careful not to slip.
Halfway through our meal the server dropped off the bill, without a word. I was really looking forward to ordering a few desserts, but I guess that would have been way too much work for her.
There is nothing I would go back for at this restaurant. I feel sorry for the town of Independence; they don’t have many choices!

Bill’s is a great place to eat.
If you are in the mood for pizza — it’s great, but my favorite is the Honey Ginger Chicken Salad. My husband likes the Prime Rib served on the weekend. The smoked chicken falls off the bone and his bbq sauce is exceptional. We like to eat in the bar area — lots of TV’s for sports fans.
Great service and reasonable prices — — - it’s worth the drive!

It looked good driving by. The parking lot was full, while other places were empty, which is usually a good sign. That means it’s popular because people like it, right? The atmosphere was nice, though the table was sticky (rinse the cloth you wipe the tables with).
I should have known better from the menu, though. I got the Fettuccine Alfredo Premevara… and it had a «Stouffer’s» logo next to it on the menu. The meal was very pedestrian. The onions and peppers were raw (I am used to them being sauteed, at least). It was thoroughly uninspiring.
Prices were fine, and service was fine.

We ordered takeout at Bill’s during our trip back to Iowa to visit family. Prior to our trip, I bought a $ 25
certificate to Bill’s for $ 2.
We ordered a couple of pizzas, and a breaded tenderloin sandwich for me (have to order one when back in Iowa). Our pizzas were surprisingly tasty and of course, I loved my tenderloin sandwich.
We will definitely consider Bill’s when we’re back in Independence next.