Bill’s Grill & Smokehouse

I often get my ground bison or a steak bison grilled here. One of the few places that actually allow you to chose a meat and have them to grill it. The service is decent mist of the time, although it use to he better with nicer people behind the ciuntwr. It’s hit or miss is my biggest complaint if any, as they do get busy in the evenings.

Well… I was looking for a place with good Air Conditioning for a burger. Saw that Whole Foods had a grill, so thought I would give it a try. Turns out, this grill is more of a Whole Foods service center than it is a restaurant. You can buy food ready to eat or you can buy cooked meat by the pound. They do have about 6 deuces you can sit and eat lunch. The best feature is you can buy a steak in the meat shop and have this grill make it for the cost of Tax on the cost of the steak. I didn’t see any indicator they charge a service fee. So… I see everyone buying a burger. I saw the photo of a burger on Unilocal.I figure I’m going to see a burger made for some other customer, so I might as well be creative and get the pulled pork sandwich. It’s 8.99 on the menu, but is 6.99 on special. That should have been enough to warn me, but I didn’t figure it out. The pork was just horrible. It was overly BBQ sauced so if there was any smoke flavor, It was masked by the sauce. The pork was really dry. The pork sits in a tub of juices/​sauce in the hot window and they just pick some pork out of this tub and put it on the bun. The bun was a little stale, so it broke apart while holding the sandwich. I had a side of Cole Slaw to put in the sandwich and that was probably the only good part of the sandwich. That’s bad when the Cole Slaw is the star of the show. My friend had the chicken sandwich and it was meh. I saw them make the burgers. They pull out a nice looking thick patty out of the reach-​in and instead of putting it on the grill, they use a plate and parchment to flatten the patty some more. The patty looked good before they pressed it. The pressing makes it too thin and cooks too fast not allowing for a medium pink or dare I say medium rare juicyness. Look at the photo of the burger and you can see there ain’t no pink patty. It’s a nice service for Whole Foods, but I think they need help on the meat cooking.

We ate there once. Three of us.
Even if the food and service was good, it was way overpriced.
None of us have gone back.

I’m so glad that Whole Foods in Plaza El Segundo has taken grocery store dining to another level with no fewer than four restaurants IN their store. And I mean in there. On one side of the store, there’s a churrascaria /​taqueria and a sushi bar. In the back of the store, between the dairy section and wine, there’s a tapas shop. And just on the other side of the wine, across from the meat and seafood, is Bill’s Grill & Smokehouse.
Imagine, walking through your grocery store and, just as you past the produce section, a quaint little patio restaurant pops out of nowhere. It has an open kitchen with a charbroiler, a bar and tables facing a ceiling mounted flat screen TV, and a menu featuring burgers, salads, and BBQ combo plates. That’s Bill’s Grill!
Bill’s menu gives the meat-​eating, casual diner a couple of burger options and few sandwich choices with pulled pork, chicken, or beef. Veggie diners are limited to a couple salads and a veggie burger. But the main attraction for everyone is their $ 5 Value Menu.
With six items to choose from [hamburger, veggie burger, meat loaf, crab cake, turkey corn dogs, and chili dog] this is by far the best deal in the whole store. For just $ 5, you can order your entrée and choose a side dish from baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, or French fries. Knowing that this deal is too good to be true (the regular price for the burger is $ 8.99!), the menu emphasizes that there are «Absolutely no substitutions or additions». Fortunately, the burger comes with the option to add cheese as part of the deal.
For the several times I’ve taken advantage of this deal, I’ve gone with the burger. Trust me, I’ve wanted to branch out and try the other items, but the burger is so good that I always go for it. Cooked to order on the charbroiler, it tastes like something made at a back yard cook out, only better! The addition of mixed baby greens, tomatoes, and onions make this gourmet burger that much more of a treat.
To compliment the meal, Bill’s offers a few beverage options. There’s beer (bottled or on tap) or root beet (also on tap). But the best deal is the selection of Whole Food’s own 365 Sodas. Cradled in a barrel of ice right next to the register, they’re chilly, sweet, and only $ 0.50 each. For this meal, we went with the Orange and Cherry Vanilla Crèmes. Delicious! The Orange Crème was my favorite; the flavor was reminiscent of a Creamsicle from an ice cream truck.
The one thing missing from Bill’s menu is dessert. But after a satisfying burger, flavorful fries, and a tasty soda, dessert is something I can do without after eating there. I always seem to change my mind, though, by the time I get to the bakery!