Billy’s Bar-B-Que
Fresh corn bread with homemade honey butter
Brisket Baked Beans
Mac & Cheese
Free SoftServe
Spicy Beef Sausage
Half Rack Babyback Ribs
Brisket
Pulled Pork
Pulled Chicken
Truly a story of following one’s passion, owner Billy Palmer a former lawyer turned pit-master at the bequest of legions of local fans, it was just prior to noon on Saturday that myself and two friends stopped into Billy’s Bar-B-Que, and finding a large menu with no less than five smoked meats on offer it was with an ‘all-in’ approach that we invested our appetites, a half pound of each ordered along with three sides and drinks for just over $50 inclusive of tip and tax.
Founded on the motto of “Real Smoke, Real Flavor” and featuring what the small restaurant refers to as “Competition-Style” ‘cue, the process at Billy’s is much like that at recently launched Downtown Summerlin’s Ribs & Burgers with counterside ordering and tableside service, but with more focus on BBQ than branding the experience is decidedly different, drinks freely refilled at a nearby fountain instead of languishing for water with All-You-Care-To-Eat Soft Serve replacing boozed-up, overpriced shakes.
Clearly focused on the ribs, a lightly mopped dry-rub variety ready to be treated to four additional house-made bottles of sauce including hot, original, smoke, and white, one would be hard pressed to name a better baby-back in the city and although both the pulled pork and chicken proved to be a bit of a disappointment with the former dried out and the later too modestly flavored to be memorable at all the beef options and sides to follow sang an entirely different tune…
Beginning first with the sides, suffice it to say that any beans that include almost as much beef as sauce are likely to be a success and with supple chunks of brisket juxtaposing the creamy red legumes the smoky sweet bowl was amongst the best I’ve ever had, the creamy macaroni also a well made rendition while the piping hot cornbread was the best ‘slab’ version in Las Vegas discovered to date – even before the addition of honey butter than further wet the crumb and brought both sweet and savory flavors to a head.
Saving the best to last, though in reality it was the first thing each of us consumed, both the house made beef sausage and, more so, the brisket were of reference standard quality – the former cited as too greasy by one member of the party but to my tastes absolutely perfect while the brisket, offered lean or fatty, was imbued by a thick smoke ring with light char on the surface giving way to the natural sort of flavor that did not require even a drop of sauce to shine – the sort of stuff that would make even a native Texan raise an eyebrow, whether they’d admit it or not.
THREE AND A HALF STARS: Like several other Sin City BBQ pits, Billy’s is the sort of place where selective ordering can yield the sort of smoked meat likely to impress purists and locals alike, and while not every option is equal the same can be said of any place in America – it’s not like anyone is singing the praises of North Carolina Brisket, Texas Pulled Pork, or Kansas City sausage with any regularity either.
RECOMMENDED: Brisket, Baked Beans, Cornbread, Sausage.
AVOID: Smoked Chicken, Pulled Pork.
TIP: Having already mentioned the ice cream and beverages, Billy’s really does offer AYCE Soft-Serve free of charge, and for those fancying such things the option for making a coke or rootbeer float is definitely valid – something I saw no less than two surrounding tables partaking in, though for my money a cornbread sundae proved an equally excellent bet.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://www.billysbbq.vegas/
