Billie's Grocery — Restaurant in Kansas City

Aaaaassmazingly scrumptious!!! The food & flavors were fireworks in ya’ mouth 👄! What are you waitin’ for?! Go over there!!!

My friend took me here to get me out of the house. And booooy did she do it right with this place. Their sister restaurant is Billie’s Juicery on 63rd street. I will post about THAT delightfully healthy spot, another day.

Back to the fireworks! I had gluten free waffles (didn’t taste diff from reg ones) & gluten free chicken 🍗, with a hot sauce hot honey 🍯 to dip it in. My libation was a peanut 🥜 butter 🧈 hot toddy.

The toddy is made of cold brew toddy, (the drink was hot tho) peanut butter whiskey 🥃 & gluten free oat milk. I am not a coffee drinker yet I slurped this quickly! I went back & asked for whipped cream because what drink doesn’t taste better with a little whipped sugary delight on top of it?

The chicken 🍗 was gluten free also. Didn’t realize it at the time. Looked 👀 it up for this & saw it. It was perfectly fried or baked with a nice crispy outer crust & moist meat inside. Mmmmmm! It’s taking me back just typing about it!

I’m back. The waffle was thick & fluffy & tasted like a plain waffle (as in no fruit, maple, etc). The sauce was incredible!!! Ask for two sauces, 1 comes with it. Even though it says spicy, it’s not burn your tongue 👅 off kinda spice. A perfect medley of sweet & savory!!

I purchased two sugar cookies & a peppermint meringue to go. Wow! The meringue melts in your mouth after the initial crisp bite. For real! The texture is outrageous. The sugar cookie is as you expect….and more! Lots of icing on it. I love icing but it was almost a lil too much.

The food in one of the pics was pita bread with whipped feta & pickled onions. There were olives in it also. My friend said it was delicious!

So many delicious looking desserts to chose from. The drinks offered were Kombucha, non-alcoholic drink packs, mocktails, cocktails, coffees, teas, juices, to name several.

This isn’t your usual ‘grocery’ store. A quick English lesson 🍎The word is defined as a store that primarily retails a range of food products that may be fresh or packaged. The US uses grocery as a synonym for supermarket. So don’t let that confuse you by the fact that you eat here!

You place your order after you pass the case of desserts, tauntingly calling your name. For silverware, prefilled water, or other drink questions, you will go to counter straight ahead when you walk in. The counter with the silverware…😏

Lots of seating in this well lit spot. There is a large room with tables & decor that you can rent out. You can see it when you are paying for your items.

Only thing that could be better, is the ladies restroom. The store aesthetic is so pleasing that I expected the restroom would be a great photo op. Unfortunately I wanted to run out of there. Blank walls are a perfect canvas for a cool mural or wall art. The toilet seat had a broken hinge so the seat was half off the toilet 🚽. The soap bottle you can grab from family $ could be placed in a cute dispenser 🧴It was a let down 🥹

Overall Billie’s menu & other options are outstanding. I will be bringing friends back to this spot! The handsomely tanned bartender/barista (sorry I forgot ur name!) with brown hair was super friendly, engaging, & helpful. Very good at making drinks.

They have an area on the back wall, where you can do a little retail therapy. Lots of goodies for the kitchen such as utensils, cookie cutters, aprons, & so on. I’m the vid clip you will see what’s offered.

Snap some shots outside of the patio lights. Dine out there if this winter ❄️ chill is gone!!

Happy...

I recently had breakfast here with some friends, and overall, it was a pretty good experience. They offer a large selection of baked goods, which is a nice touch. For my meal, I went with the smoked salmon bagel, and I was impressed. The bagel was huge and generously loaded with smoked salmon, making it a satisfying breakfast choice that wasn't heavy.

One thing I found a bit odd was that we didn’t have a dedicated waiter. While our food was brought to the table, we had to get up and walk to the end of the restaurant to grab water and utensils ourselves. It wasn’t a huge deal, but this wasn't relayed to us when we ordered and it did take away from the experience a little.

That said, the ambiance was really cool, and I liked the lighting—it gave the place a nice, relaxed vibe. Price-wise, I’d say they’re spot on, especially considering the portion sizes. You definitely get your money’s worth.

My partner had the chicken and waffles, and I tried a bite. The flavor was good, but the breading on the chicken was falling off, which made it a bit tricky to eat together with the waffle. Not a huge issue, but something to keep in mind.

I had a piece of their carrot cake that I brought home, and it was absolutely amazing! It was the perfect way to finish off the meal—moist, flavorful, and just the right amount of sweetness. Definitely one of the highlights of the visit!

Overall, it was a solid breakfast spot with good portions, nice atmosphere, and tasty food. I’d definitely come back to try more of their menu.

---{ Restaurant Experience }--- ☐ Transported to another dimension. ☑ Beautiful. ☐ Comfortable enough to enjoy the meal. ☐ It’s a restaurant, it has tables. ☐ The ambiance was served cold. ☐ It’s best experienced with closed eyes. ☐ Bring your own Lysol and sense of humor.

---{ Service }--- ☐ Michelin-star treatment ☐ Felt like they were reading my mind. ☐ They brought the food and smiled, so we're good. ☐ They were there, but just barely. ☐ Felt like I had to chase them down for napkins. ☑ I’m still waiting for my drink refill. ☐ The server ghosted me mid-meal.

---{ Culinary Performance }--- ☐ Masterpiece. Food dreams are made of this. ☐ Could've had a standing ovation. ☑ Solid choice. ☐ I ate it, I’m alive, that’s something. ☐ I’ve had better frozen dinners. ☐ Burnt toast-level.. Maybe the chef hates food too. ☐ I questioned my choices.

---{ Presentation }--- ☐ Too pretty to eat... almost. ☑ Looked like it came straight out of a cooking show. ☐ Good. Nicely plated middle of the road. ☐ It’s not winning any awards, but here it is. ☐ Looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, but not on purpose. ☐ I think they threw it from across the kitchen. ☐ Please, hide this.

---{ Value for Money }--- ☐ I feel like I got away with something here.. ☐ Take my money, I’d eat this again and again. ☑ Good deal. Not bad, I’d pay it again. ☐ Price and food match up, I guess. ☐ I cried when I saw the bill. ☐ I think I just paid for their entire renovation. ☐ You could also just burn your money (Seriously, buy groceries instead).

---{ Overall Impression }--- ☐ I saw the culinary gods, and they waved. ☐ This meal will live rent-free in my heart. ☑ Solid experience, would recommend. ☐ I ate, I’m full, that’s about it. ☐ I'd rather have stayed home. ☐ By tomorrow, I hope I don't remember eating here. ☐ I’ve made better choices at 3 AM in...

I have been to Billies Grocery before several times as I am a KC native and have always had a good experience with the food, service and sweet treats. I went today with my parents in celebration of my 24th birthday just for a casual lunch. I got the harrissa chicken club w/ fries which was delish!

Now, I want to preface the following by saying I have had a severe nut allergy my whole life so I am very aware for potential allergens at all times. The food menu at Billies Grocery, as well as the cases for the desserts are difficult to navigate as someone with a nut allergy. Billies Grocery caters heavily toward gluten and dairy free allergies which is all great and fine with nearly every food item in the establishment labeled accordingly. There is a severe lack of continuity in regards to nut allergies. The only way to know if an item has nuts of any kind in it is if its listed in the name of the item (i.e. walnut brownie). There is zero indication if the carrot cake slice has nuts in it for example. As I was browsing the case I had to not choose the regular brownie because they are stored in contact with the walnut brownie. I ultimately chose the cookie dough bar. I do recognize that as the individual with the allergy it is my responsibility to ask if an item contains my allergen, and unfortunately I did not in this case due to carefully attempting to choose an item that logically appeared to not have nuts in it. Ultimately the cookie dough bar did actually have almond flour and cashews in it, and I found this out after taking two small bites and then going into anaphylactic shock. I am okay, and by no means am I upset or blaming Billies Grocery when I indeed should have asked but I want other patrons to be aware of the lack of clarity on Billies Grocery menu.

Billies Grocery does have a comprehensive list of items ingredients to check for allergens upon request which my mom did personally in regards to the blueberry oatmeal bar that she got to share. She later checked the cookie dough bar so we could know what caused such a severe reaction. (See attached)

All this to say, Billies Grocery should take it into consideration to label their menu and food items with a 'contains nuts' symbol just as they do for gluten and dairy free. Their employees should be more educated on what items contain allergens so a disorganized folder of item ingredients doesn't need to be consulted. A small sign on the desserts case stating 'items may contain or come into contact with nuts' is...