Video: Hidden Treasures — Bill’s Hamburgers

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AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – “It’s good, greasy food,” said Bill’s fan, Billy Tucker.

“Oh they’re just good tasting hamburgers. I eat them at least once a week,” said longtime customer Dennis Phillips.

With or without. That’s how burgers come at Amory’s Bill’s Hamburgers. With mustard and onions, or without, plain meat and bread. You won’t find tomatoes, lettuce or pickles on the menu.

“They’re 100 percent beef and we freshly process all our meat every morning. It’s only a couple hours old by the end of the day. Other than that I really can’t tell you any more,” said Bill’s employee James Wilkerson.

Bill’s was originally Bob’s Hamburgers when Bob Hill opened the restaurant in 1929. Bob sold in the 50s to Bill Tubb, who changed the name and location to Main Street where Bill’s is today. Reid and Janice Wilkerson are the current owners. It’s now been in business 85 years. Customers say there’s no other place like it.

“My grandfather worked on the railroad, and when I was young we always stopped through to get a sack full. Anytime he was close we had to stop here. I came for the childhood memory,” said Tucker.

“I’ve been eating these hamburgers since 1955. We’d come here for dinner when we were working around here, and buy a hamburger for 10 cents, and a drink for a nickel. It was good eatin’ to get five hamburgers for 50 cents. It’d feed you and three or four more. They haven’t changed the burger at all, still tastes just like it did 55 or 60 years ago,” Phillips said.

“There are several people, as soon as we see them pull up we start fixing their food because we already know what they want,” said Wilkerson.

Bill’s also has shoestring fries, homemade potato chips and hot apple pies. Last April the restaurant received national attention when it was featured on the Travel Channel.

“It’s kind of a shocker. It’s not something you really expect in a small town like this, but the community endorses us and that helps us out a lot.
Pretty much everybody knows everybody. You can come in and talk to a total stranger and feel like you’ve known them your whole life,” Wilkerson said.

Bill’s is located at 310 Main Street in Amory. They’re open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Bill’s Hamburgers employees say the early hours started because railroad workers coming off the night shift would want a burger after work. Call (662) 256-2085 for more information.