Brisbane’s king of meat opens in-demand sandwich bar
A popular Brisbane butcher’s new sanga shop is proving a big hit with customers, selling out daily and attracting queues.
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Billy Gibney is arguably Brisbane’s king of meat. The man behind butcheries Meat at Billy’s in Ashgrove and Rosalie has made a name for himself serving some of the best protein around, from the highest-grade wagyu to free-range, ethically sourced chicken and pork from award-winning local farms.
While he loves sharing his passion for meat through his butcher shops, he’s long dreamt of owning his own eatery and watching customers enjoy his wares in person.
Finally that day came last month when Gibney launched Eat at Billy’s, right next to his Meat at Billy’s store in Rosalie, in Brisbane’s inner west. It’s a basic set-up – simply an open kitchen fronted with a counter for ordering and picking up, opening on to a half-dozen bar tables plus chairs under an awning.
The menu consists of just four sandwiches: a fried chicken number, a take on the reuben, a classic steak sanger and a roast pork version; and at the top of the flimsy white piece of paper it reads: “ We have no cutlery and we hate paper straws. All products contain lots of meat, gluten, dairy and egg. Our focus is on great sandwiches to grab and go – it is what it is.”
And it’s exactly right.
There’s no pretension here. No flashy fit-out. No slick gourmet deli vibes. Just a few blokes in a kitchen doing what they love – making simple sandwiches with great ingredients.
Those great ingredients mean lunch doesn’t come cheap, though, with sangers ranging from $18 to $22 each. Add on a side of shoestring fries ($5) or a trio of chicken tenders ($9) plus a drink (there are pre-batched wines from Wiag, RTDs, Burleigh Drinks Co sodas and juices and local beers, including their own easy-drinking lager made by Stafford brewery Happy Valley) and you’ll be looking at about $40.
But for the serious carnivore, it’s worth it.
First up, served in a cardboard box, is The Butcher ($20) – 150g of Cape Grim grass-fed rump on inch-thick fluffy white bread with a whisper of caramelised onions, a crunch of lettuce and the eatery’s own cheese sauce. While some of the medium-cooked beef requires a little extra mastication and the sauce is perhaps slightly too sweet for my taste, this is a solid version of a classic steak sandwich.
What’s an absolute winner, however, is the cheekily titled “Not a f*$&ken reuben” ($22).
Like it’s name suggests, it’s not exactly the American diner classic with corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut, instead, this version features wood-smoked pastrami, red cheddar and pickles. And it’s a combination that really works thanks to those bitey, vinegary pickles balancing out the richness of the juicy, salty brisket. Delicious.
Gibney’s plan is for more dishes to eventually be added to the menu, but for now he wants to keep the offering small to perfect it. Judging by the crowd at 11am on a Tuesday, and the fact that they apparently sell out most days before closing, I think they might not be far off.
Eat at Billy’s
3/155 Baroona Rd, Rosalie
Open
Mon-Fri 10am-2pm
Verdict – Scores out of 5
Food 3.5
Service 3
Ambience 2.5
Value 4
Overall 3.5
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