——
Ding, ding and ding! The donation bell has rung and my friend Tricia donated twenty dollars to help with the cost of drinks, gas and Uber rides! Thanks so much, Tricia!
Tricia is an author who goes by her pen name, P.A. Nimmo. Her published books include: Running Blind in Traffic, Diary of a Mad White Woman and Tails of the Cat and the Bookstore. Tricia has a new book coming out soon, so stay tuned to the blog for an update on that!
If you’d like to donate to help out with the cost of going to 365 bars, just click here and scroll down to the donate button!
——
Last Saturday I was actually on my way to another destination when I drove by the Billboard Bistro and remembered that they had a little, cozy bar inside of there.
So I decided to go no further and make that cozy, little bar our 185th bar of this tour.
——
Bar Number 185: Billboard Bistro, Saturday, August 8, 2026
I was on my way to somewhere else when I so this sign looming ahead of me…
I hadn’t been to the Billboard Bistro for quite some time, but I remember they had a nice, cozy little bar in there and so I thought that would be tonight’s Saturday night dinner destination.
Let’s go in and begin our somewhat improvisational Saturday night in Bartonville!
The sign says to wait to be seated, but we don’t need to wait because we’re going to sit at…
The bar!
I told you this was a nice, cozy little bar and all the seats are open! Let’s snag one and get settled in for the evening.
Kathy was the pretty and friendly bartender on duty in addition to being the only waitress and hostess in here! Talk about multi-tasking!
I thought the place was open till 9pm, but Kathy told me they close at 8pm. I felt bad because it was close to 7:30pm, but she said it was fine to order dinner since they had to clean up after 8pm anyway. I quickly chose an entree and the order was placed at the last minute in here!
Check out the fancy wooden coaster in here, nice! Cheers!
I like the classic “Cocktails” sign hanging over the bar and I agree with that beer sign too!
Here’s a couple different angles of the bar in here.
They have a nice selection of alcohol behind the bar.
And they have a full cooler back here as well! It may be a small bar, but it’s very well stocked!
I like this Billboard Bistro bench up near the front door.
Comfortable booths line the far wall and there’s tables and chairs in the center of the room and directly behind the bar.
This circle of black and white framed photos on the wall is very cool! I think they’re all Bartonville related photos.
The Billboard Bistro is known for their tenderloins and they have a Tenderloin Tracker on the wall where you can put a pin near the city where you’ve had a tenderloin. There’s lots of tenderloin pins on this map!
Meanwhile, back at the bar…
Our Saturday night dinner has arrived!
As I noted earlier, The Billboard Bistro is known for their tenderloin sandwich, but I was in the mood for some mac and cheese so that’s what I ordered.
I got mine with a grilled chicken breast and a side of their homemade buffalo sauce. The portion is huge and I tried a bite without the buffalo sauce and it was absolutely delicious!
The macaroni was cooked perfectly and the cheese sauce was creamy, rich and deliicous!
Now it’s time to add the homemade buffalo sauce to the dish.
I’ve never had buffalo sauce with mac and cheese and I’m excited to try it!
Wow, the buffalo sauce took this mac and cheese way over the top!
The sauce has just right amount of heat, flavor and zing and it compliments the rich and creamy mac and cheese so well!
This is definitely the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had and I highly recommend it!
Thanks to Kathy and everyone in the kitchen at the Billboard Bistro for such a tasty Saturday night meal!
——
The Drinks
I had two cans of Busch beer and they were perfect with the mac and cheese! I would’ve had more, but I was driving!
——
801 McKinley Avenue
Bartonville, Illinois
309-839-1156
——
Bar List, Rules, Banner Art & Donation Link.
——