Soooo… there is something about a Saturday morning. Especially a Saturday morning where perhaps you might have over served yourself Friday night while friends were over and perhaps stayed up too late. A Saturday morning which started around 1:00 AM when the thunder storms came in and had both dogs howling and mewling for hours. A Saturday morning where you take your son’s dog the Beast, whom you are dog sitting for, back home and feed him medicine for his “intestinal issues” with peanut butter (which I despise) off of a spoon as their sociopath cat Henry stares at you suspiciously. You (I) are soaked by the way because the rain has continued and you know the Cardinal’s day game that you were going to attend is (will be) certainly cancelled. I love Saturday mornings anyway. It is nice to have a brief period where there are no “have toos” and I can grab my newspaper, drive around, consider where I want to eat and drive around… looking at my town in a pouring rain and listening to “Weekend Edition” on NPR as they endlessly drone on about “what we have learned from Donald Trump’s first 100 days” (nothing is my guess). 
Last weekend we had friends in from out of town and we got a deal and we all stayed at The Four Seasons down on the landing. I highly recommend it if one gets the chance but it left me on my own then too and I remembered that I had not been to Billies in years and I went on Saturday and then took my friends on Sunday and here I was a week later driving around in the rain, looking at my town and evaluating options. I live in Webster and had to take the Beast to Shrewsbury but from there I had no plan. I drove in Landsowne and then down Watson/Chippewa...Gravois. Considered going to “The Egg” but forgot that the fussy/hipster/poser breakfast place doesn't open until 9. Who eats breakfast at 9...even if hungover? http://breakfastcamefirst.com/ This of course brought to mind the fussy/hipster/poser coffee place, “Sump” which opens...indifferently and whenever but certainly not in the early morning when working people drink coffeehttps://www.sumpcoffee.com/. Both of these places are fabulous in their own right but seriously...9 A.M. is way too late to open for anything but the jobless, the childless and the casually rich.
But that left me downtown and I got to think of my Billies double header from the previous weekend and without a plan…. I headed to Soulard. I of course do not think of Soulard as being east of Broadway. I think of east of Broadway as containing a couple of bars, a lot of industrial and warehouse buildings, a LOT of railroad tracks and crossings, occasionally a dead body and recently at risk for exploding and flying boilers which also evidently lead to sudden, somewhat cinematic death.
http://www.kmov.com/story/35059928/surveillance-footage-of-boiler-explosion-in-soulard-released But still...Soulard it is and on a day when it was not pouring I might have strolled through Soulard market and gotten a breakfast sandwich or a tamale and a beer and done a little shopping but alas...not today.
Billies… it does not look like much. It is officially on South Broadway but most of us would call 7th Street Broadway at this particular part of the road south of downtown. Billies is a store front and you park in the street. My guess is that you can park behind it but even at its most crowded times there is ample street parking. Normally there is a police car or two out front during breakfast hours. Personally I always take this as a good sign. Say what you will about our police force but these guys know where to get a hot, filling meal….quickly if need be. There is also generally a sketchy quality about sitting around where police are dining. The police tend to be younger and a little boisterous and...they have guns. But Billies is not a threatening place. It’s beauty is in the fact that it is almost totally non-descript. Oatmeal brown walls on one side and behind the counter some kind of ghastly green. It all makes a statement but to me, from sad personal experience it is a statement of intestinal violence… but still, that is a statement. There is nothing fancy about it. It has an excellent long counter for those dining alone and although they don't cook the food in fron of you, you can see back into the kitchen. There are some St. Louis centric things hung sporadically on the wall and the decor says nothing so loudly as it it says, “we don't give a shit”. There is also a small cooler where they can grab you a Busch tall boy to take the edge off a hard morning. It is in all respects a beautiful place.
One of the best things about it or one of the things that make it a true “Diner” is its hours, proudly listed on the website and the door:
M-F 5 AM to 2:30 PM
Sat-Sun
Midnight - 1:30 PM
The staff at Billies in my recent experiences there has been excellent. Friendly, attentive and helpful with menu advice if asked. The iced tea is brewed (always important) and the hash browns are shredded though the dreaded potatoes O'Brien can be obtained (curse them!). The staff takes on all comers and there is a cooler where they will fetch a Busch tall boy, should one be required. I do not think they serve mixed drinks but I have a powerful feeling that anyone on the staff, if you could get them a stalk of browning celery, could make you a killer Bloody Mary. The staff looks like they might have a story or two to tell, but they don't. God bless them. They do order fast and courteous service and will engage with you as much or as little as you want which is really one of the hallmarks of a great place.
PLATE KILLING PANCAKES
You have to stare at it and think about to understand what the hours mean but they must do some serious traffic on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Now I love Soulard but I explain to folks that didn't go to high school here, “Soulard is where the French originally settled St. Louis, right along the river. It is known for it’s New Orlean’s style architecture and heritage and more importantly, if you are an alcoholic you move to Soulard after you lost your license because you can walk to about 30 bars and conveniently catch a bus on Broadway to go to work.” That might be harsh but I will stand by it.
The food can be described as nothing so much as classic comfort diner food. It is prepared quickly and efficiently and obviously with a proper grill and requisite tools. Aside from the pancakes above (which allegedly can sure the worst hangover I present to you, as proof:
THE BEGINNINGS OF A GREAT BREAKFAST!
BISCUITS AND GRAVY WITH HASH BROWNS AND EGGS!
IT ARRIVED ON TWO PLATES
PORK CHOPS BEFORE...
PORK CHOPS....AFTER.
PORK CHOPS AND EGGS...ALA BECKER!
I have some pics of the menu below but you can observe it in all of its splendor at:
http://www.billies-fine-food.com/Menu.html
Sooo...in summary... the thing about Billies is that it is special, in it's "unspecialness"(look it up!). It is unpretentious, unassuming and has awesome food. Occasionally some of the patrons might seem to be on the down and out side but everyone seems happy to be in a nice, dry, clean place with some pretty fine food. It is worth going a block off the beaten path or a few miles down the road to sit in a place with some people who are not at all like you. Down and out people, cops, people who work all night... people who actually are just like you and just want some good food. Go there.
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