About Our Food
Welcome to Truro and Bible Hill in Nova Scotia. Independently owned and operated, Roadside Willies offers its valued patrons casual dining with a touch of class. Whether stopping by to unwind with your favorite beverage, or savoring a full course meal with family and friends, Roadside Willies offers up something for everyone. Our extensive menu features tastes from around the world. Enjoy incredible salads, appetizers, sandwiches, seafood, smokehouse favorites, pastas, gourmet pizza, desserts and more. We smoke our ribs and chicken in-house, over real hickory wood. Willie's philosophy is simple. Dining out should be an enjoyable and unrushed experience, in a cozy and intimate setting. Candle lit tables, a warm décor, tasteful music and friendly people create an inviting yet casual ambiance at Roadside Willies. Great people. Great atmosphere. Great food. Period. See you soon!
Real BBQ is not cooked on a grill, and certainly not in an oven with bottled BBQ sauce and liquid smoke. Real "Q" is made by slow cooking for a long time at a low temperature with wood smoke for flavor. Many eateries dish out pre-made, fresh-from-the-factory-to-the-freezer-to-the-restaurant-to-the-freezer-from-the-freezer-to-a-pot-of-boiling-water-to-the-customer and call it BBQ! Willie's team is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and actually do the dirty work of real smoking. After carefully rubbing on a secret blend of spices and marinating for 24 hours, the meat is loaded into the smoker and slow cooked over real hardwood. Cooking times (up to 14 hours) and the type of wood used (e.g. hickory, apple) vary depending on the product. The end result is authentic Southern BBQ with perfect texture and a dark, smoky color.
"Select Nova Scotia" is an identity program, launched by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, which allows Nova Scotia residents to easily find and recognize home grown agricultural products. Wherever possible, Roadside Willies supports local producers and the "Select Nova Scotia" campaign. There is no doubt that local fresh is best. However, despite the fact that we want to keep our dollars circulating in Nova Scotia, it is a tough challenge for us and the restaurant industry as a whole. Given distribution channel constraints and the need for a stable, year-round supply of quality consistent raw materials, it's simply not possible to go 100% local at this time. Willie is determined to increase his procurement of local products, and will be participating in several upcoming industry workshops that have this issue on the agenda.
Consumer confidence in the foodservice industry's efforts to prove itself a leader in food-safety practices is continually challenged by widespread media coverage of illnesses attributed to E. coli, salmonella and hepatitis that have been linked to dining establishments and/or supply chains. Despite significant enhancements in food safety standards and protocols, isolated food-related incidents receiving broad media coverage have a significant and negative impact on consumer perceptions and purchasing habits. Have you ever wondered how well your favorite restaurant fares when it comes to food safety? Food safety specialists employed by the Department of Agriculture conduct about 6,500 inspections in 3,700 licensed restaurants throughout the province every year. In the past, government regulations gave consumers access to edited inspection reports on any three different restaurants within one or two days of the request at no cost. Recent policy changes now allow consumers to search an online database of unedited restaurant food safety inspection reports at no cost. What a great thing! We recognized long ago the importance of disclosure and transparency regarding our food safety record. In early 2007, Roadside Willies became the first and only restaurant in Nova Scotia and probably the whole world to voluntarily post this vital consumer information online. Now you can review our food safety record through official government channels. Go to www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/reports/Request.aspx, enter "Bible Hill" in the "City/Town" field and click the "Submit" button.
