For 23 years, Dallas residents have enjoyed burgers and fixins’ at Joe Willy’s Market and Grill. For 16 of those 23 years, D Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and the Observer have all voted Joe Willy’s into their top restaurant categories.
New owner Bob Arseneau calls it a “gourmet burger place” with “a neighborhood feel to it.”
Joe Willy’s regulars enjoy it for its daily hand-cut French fries, homemade batter-dipped mushrooms, home-style gravy (recipe below) fresh vegetables and hand-dipped Blue Bell ice cream milk shakes.
“It’s not as quick as fast food,” Arseneau explains, “but everything’s fresh and hot. It’s the great American meal.”
Lit mostly by the nearly 30 neon beer signs and floored with raw cement, Joe Willy’s invites customers looking to relax. And, with repeat customers so plentiful, the walls feature several hundred photos of diners throughout the years.
Arseneau recommends the mushrooms. “We take fresh button mushrooms, bread them, deep fry them and serve them with our own dipping sauce. They are just the best thing.
“It’s the best bar food in town, without the bar,” Arseneau says.
Joe Willy’s
7033 Greenville Ave.
214-691-8930
Hours: Mon-Sun 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
$, WB
Home-Style Gravy
1 gallon milk
2 level tablespoons black pepper
2 level tablespoons parsley flakes
2 level tablespoons beef base
1 lb. margarine
2 1/2 cups flour
Place milk over a low heat. As milk is slowly heating, prepare roux by melting 1 lb. of margarine in a saucepan. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and whip until smooth. Place completed roux on extremely low heat, stirring occasionally. Once milk is slight below simmer point (approximately 150 degrees), add black pepper, beef base and parsley, stirring occasionally and taking care not to let milk scald. Slowly pour the roux into the milk. As soon as it thickens, remove the heat. To thin gravy, add milk; to thicken, add roux.
