About Our Food
In a culture dominated by fast food, Willie strives to offer his guests an enjoyable alternative. Our dishes are cooked to order using the finest ingredients possible. Our regular menu offers exceptional value in the casual dining category. Generous portions at fair prices and an ambiance that is second to none make Roadside Willies a best value dining destination in Truro and Bible Hill. We serve only top quality steaks, non-liquid-injected chicken and authentic Atlantic seafood. Our signature sauces and rubs are made in-house using superior ingredients such as pure, extra virgin olive oil and top-of-the-line Esslinger spices. Our customers can also rest assured that MSG and trans-fats are not on the menu. Bon appetite!
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.
