Our Chefs are gearing up for a busy season, we’ve made some changes to our menu and worked hard assembling a team of servers that I personally think is the best we’ve ever had. Chris and Sara have challenged our entire team to focus on excellence this year. Our goal is to provide our guests with the absolute best possible dining experience available on the Sea Coast. Each year, we meet with our staff and review their performance, this year, we’ve even gone further. We’ve challenged our servers to work on streamlining service, meeting our customer’s needs and smiling the entire time.

If you want to have fun this summer, you have to try our new cocktail menu. The fun starts there and continues right thru the entire meal. Our famous Voo Doo Juice is back, the Mango Tango is new for the summer and our new signature drink, “The Swamp Thing” is a great way to start the evening. The bar is in full swing starting at 11:30 every day, and we have fresh house fried potato chips to snack on and an array of seasonal beers to sample.

We are introducing our new Billy’s Chowder House “Box Lunch”

I love my new Billy's Box Lunch

The best "Lobster Roll" in Maine

Amazing Margarita, you keep the Shaker

Ask your server about our new "Summer Cocktail"

this summer, it features a tuna, crab or lobster roll, a bag of chips, an apple and a cold drink. What makes this great is we serve it in our new Billy’s six-pack cooler, yours to keep with the purchase of your box lunch. It will keep your lunch cold and it’s reusable, it will help reduce the trash on the beach and give you a mini beverage cooler to use over and over. What a deal. We keep looking at ways to enhance your visit to Billys, we want to meet your needs wherever possible.

Visit us on Facebook and let us know your thoughts, comment on the Blog, rate us on Trip Advisor, we want your feedback and of course your great ideas. Let’s all have a great summer season, hopefully the weather this year is going to be the best it’s been in years. The sun tends to cure all our ailments and turns summer into the best time of the year. Don’t forget to get your name in for the Florida Trip we’re giving away, you never know, it could be the year you win the free trip for two to Florida. Summer in Maine and spend a week on Long Boat Key, Florida in November. What a great way to extend your summer.

Congratulations to all the Graduates, we wish you all success in your new endeavors, I hope everyone was accepted to the college of their choice and all the college graduates got their dream job. Good Luck and hopefully we see you in Maine soon.

Dick Varano

Our beer glass promotion is over, I can’t believe we gave away over twenty-four hundred glasses. This was half as many more as last year. There’ll be a lot of people on the beach enjoying a cold one this year in a Billy’s Chowder House beer glass. At the rate this give-away is heading, I may need a new storage shed just to store my beer glasses for the promotion.

Now we’re into June, I know it’s not officially summer, but it’s close enough that I can feel it breathing down my neck. June first, we kicked off our Florida Trip give-away. All you have to do is be a current rewards member and each time you dine with us and spend thirty dollars, you receive a raffle ticket good for a chance to win a trip to Florida. This trip is to my Time Share in Long Boat Key and includes use of the Condo for a week and airfare for two. You’ll see the banner in our lobby, it includes pictures of the sunset off our balcony.

Father’s Day is only a few weeks away, we haven’t forgotten Dad, bring him in for dinner Father’s Day weekend and get him a two pound lobster for only $19.99. What a great deal for all the great Dads out there. On top of that, our summer drink menu is in full swing, Chris and I have worked out some great new fun summer cocktails, including The Swamp Thing. Our hot new summer drink for two, don’t miss this one, come on in and get swamped at Billy’s. Of course everyone knows our Margarita’s are famous at Billy’s, we use a secret ingredient that makes ours special. This summer we’re featuring El Jimador Tequila Margaritas, they come with their own shaker that you can take home and bring to the cottage and have some fun with your guests.

Happy hour is in full swing, enjoy half price drinks Monday through Friday from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. O

Nothing beats a week on Long Boat Key

Treat your Dad and let him know he's special

The sunset off our balcony

Enjoy the view, the pool or the beach

ur bartenders are amazing and love to make drinks. Sit back and enjoy the show, Kelly and company will keep you entertained all evening. Don’t worry about parking, our new Valet Service is in full swing and starting on June 18th, we’ll be offering it seven nights a week. Just think, no more bumper cars in our parking lot, no more fights, and no more ten cars lined up in the breakdown lane with their blinkers on.

Are you starting to get the feeling? Summer is going to roar in like a lion this year, and at Billy’s we’re waiting at the door. Get out of the city and come to Wells, Maine and let Billy’s Chowder House show you how to have a great time. See you soon, bring your rewards card, or sign up if you don’t have one, you don’t want to miss out on this summer’s fun.

Dick Varano

At Billy’s Chowder House, we take our May seriously, there’s so much to do and celebrate. We celebrate Earth Day in April, by giving out packages of seeds to all our customers. We ask them to plant the seeds in honor of our environment and bring back the empty packets during the month of May and receive ten dollars off their dining experience. This is a great way to start your May off. We also feature our Beer Glass giveaway during the month of May. Spend thirty-five dollars in our restaurant and receive two pint beer glasses during the month of May, while supplies last. It’s fun watching everyone replenish their beer glass collection each season. Let’s face it, you can’t have a house on the beach and not have a lot of company. (It’s easier to blame your company for all those broken beer glasses) The best part is, we can help you with this minor inconvenience.

How can you start off your May without celebrating Cinco de Mayo? We love celebrating Cinco de Mayo, we love Margaritas, we make great ones and want you to enjoy them as much as we do. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we are offering amazing free Margarita glasses or a free margarita shaker. We will be featuring two premier margaritas for this special occasion. Our Chef is excited as well, he’s gone out and purchased Nacho Chips and will be frying them up for the occasion, and serving them in our bar. We’re even going to feature some Mexican specials for your dining pleasure. We want to make Cinco de Mayo the best ever, come in and let us surprise you with something special we’ve put together to make this occasion a memorable event for everyone.

Let’s not forget our Moms, Mother’s Day in 2009 was the busiest we’ve ever had, we’re gearing up for another great day where we can pay tribute to our mothers. I know it will be a special day for us, come on in and check out our Mother’s Day specials. We want your mother to be proud of her family on Mother’s Day. Bring her in and let us help you celebrate.

As you can see, we’ve been busy planning our May, we want our customers to have a great experience every time they visit Billy’s Chowder House. With out our wonderful customers, we wouldn’t have a business. We take your patronage seriously, it’s our pleasure to serve you and your families and friends. Our goal is to be your favorite place away from home.

The Gate Way to Summer is through Billy's Chowder House

Billy's Beer Glass Give Away

Billy's Chowder House has Valet Parking

Pineapple and Orange Fruitini

We are currentlly in our twenty-first year as owners of Billy’s Chowder House, and we’re still growing. We are proud to announce that Billy’s is now offering Valet Parking for our customers. We’ve been actively seeking a solution to our parking problem, after years of trying to work with the town, DEP and our neighbors,we’ve discovered a company that will do valet service for us. This is exciting news for us, we hope you’ll be patient with us as we work out the bugs. We will currently be offering the service on friday and saturday evenings, the last week of June, we will have valet service seven nights a week for the season. No more playing bumper cars in the parking lot and hopefully no more altercations as tempers flare over parking.

The season has started off with a lot of promise, we are very optimistic that this will be a great season for all, last year the weather certainly left a lot to be desired. The signs are there that we will have some good weather this year and bring lots of tourists into our area, I love seeing people hike up and down mile road on their daily pilgrimage to the store for a coffee or newspaper. The area comes alive and we want everyone to be able to take advantage of our new valet parking and get to eat at Billy’s without all the hastle we’ve had in the past.

Don’t forget, April is the month to redeem your scratch cards, it’s a shame to waste them, we’ve had quite a few people take advantage of them so far. Today marks the day we start to pass out our custom packets of seeds, to celebrate Earth Day, we want everyone to take their seeds home and plant them to help the environment. On the back of the seed packets are a ten dollar certificate, good for any dining visit during the month of May. We are always striving to keep our guests excited and enjoying our restaurant. Check your weekly e-mail, you never know when we might drop in a special offer for one weekend or day only. My wife looks forward to writing our poem each week for our e-mail, and she tries to keep everyone up to date on facebook. If you haven’t already signed up to be a fan, we’d love to have you. It’s a great way for us to get feedback and also keep everyone in touch with current events at the Chowder House.

April Vacation is here and it’s time to open up the cottages, air them out and come down for happy hour, we have the best Margaritas around and our house fried potato chips are to die for. Our bartenders are awsome and they’re waiting to serve your favorite beverage. Stay tuned, we’re working on some great new summer cocktails for you, we love to have fun at our bar. Chris just made our first fruitinis of the season, orange and pineapple. Are you getting thirsty yet?

Enjoy the vacation and let’s all have some fun,

Dick Varano

Billy’s Chowder House is actively working on keeping our guests involved and keeping our name in the community. We had our St. Patrick’s Day party and a great time was had by all. Saturday the 27th, we will be competing in a chowder contest at the Wells Corner Shopping Plaza, with the proceeds to benefit Caring Unlimited in Sanford. In addition, there are cash prizes, which will be donated to the charity of the winner’s choice. It’s important for local businesses to get involved and help put money back in the community. Billy’s is committed to helping the Wells/Ogunquit Senior Center. Make sure and come down and sample the best chowders the area has to offer, you’ll have a great time and Caring Unlimited and a number of other charities will be grateful you came. The entrance fee for the chowder contest is five dollars per person, bring your ticket stub to Billy’s and we’ll give you five dollars off your dinner this weekend.

Spring into April at Billy’s and use those scratch tickets we gave out during the month of March. You hate to leave money on the table, you could be the lucky winner of fifty dollars off the cost of your meal. Oh, and don’t forget about earth day, we will be handing out packages of seeds during the week of earth day,(April 22nd), come in and dine at Billy’s, get your seeds for earth day, plant them and bring back the empty packet and we’ll give you ten dollars off the cost of your meal. Combining Earth Day with a promotion is a win, win, win, the environment wins, our customers win and Billy’s wins. Our goal at Billy’s is to be environmentally friendly, give our customer’s a great guest experience and have fun doing it.

In our ongoing commitment to quality, Billy’s is now making all our desserts in- house, given the limited kitchen space at Billy’s, this is quite a feat. Check out our new desserts and give us your feedback, we need your help to grow and improve. Think happy thoughts and hope for a great spring, we look forward to seeing everyone this spring.

Thank-you,

Dick Varano

There our some constants that separate us from other restaurants, the quality of our food and our exceptional staff. We’ve spent years developing a culture at Billy’s that will ensure our success for generations to come. Our attention to detail is un-equaled in the area. Sherri and I strive to make every guests’ visit a memorable one. As independent owners, we feel personally responsible if we fail to meet our customer’s expectations. Our rewards program

is designed to cultivate customer loyalty and feedback. This keeps us in constant contact with our customers, and enables us to learn from our mistakes and constantly improve.

Part of our culture at Billy’s is to give back to our community, we are committed to helping our neighbors and maintaining a strong local presence. We enjoy helping the youth and seniors in our area. All of our giving is done first hand, this is to insure that the monies or products given go one hundred percent to the cause. As owners of a local business, I feel an obligation to lead and help shape our community. Our staff has picked up on our dedication and readily volunteer for any events we put on to raise money for a good cause. Customers at Billy’s are amazing, they are always right by our side to support any new venture we bring about at our restaurant or in the community.

This shared passion is what makes Billy’s so special, and as the owners, it gives us a sense of owning something larger than a restaurant. On behalf of Sherri and I , we want to say thank-you to each and every person who has visited us over the last twenty years and helped to shape a truly unique culture that gives us a true sense of pride to call ourselves the owners.

Thank-you,

Dick and Sherri Varano

So this week I wanted to take some time and write about the answer to the next question,
“How do I identify quality ingredients?”  There are many volumes of books dedicated to this topic and the details are far beyond the scope of this blog; but I’ll give you a few tried and true tips that I use when selecting or receiving items for Billy’s Chowder House.

When it comes to produce, your senses are the best tools.  A quick visual inspection is the first step.  Look for vibrant colors and make sure there are no signs of bruising or wilting.  I also like to smell produce before I buy it.  This not only gives a sense of the freshness, but I can sometimes detect a hint of mold or mildew on fruit in particular.  This usually means that the shipping containers were wet or contaminated in transport, and while this probably poses no health risk, it can produce some unwanted flavors.  Also avoid herbs and bagged leafy vegetables where moisture can be seen in the bag; these will not keep very long.  Most produce should be kept dry at the market, with the exception of loose leafy vegetables which may be misted to prevent wilting.

Buying meat and seafood can be a challenge even for a seasoned professional, so the best advice I can give is to get to know the people handling your food. You should go meet and talk to the person who cuts and packages the product.  I often find that these folks are indispensable for selecting a cut of meat or type of fish that perfectly suits your needs.  The best time to catch them at work is generally early afternoon.

Many meat and fish markets have windows where you can see what is happening in the back room, so make sure everything looks neat back there. There also should not be any unpleasant odor at the counter.  While seafood in large quantities will certainly have some odor, it should not be overpowering.  Fresh seafood held in a sanitary environment at the proper temperature will have little more odor than the ocean itself.

As far as grocery items such as oils, vinegars etc…I suggest simply asking friends what they like to use in their own kitchens.  I know the feeling of looking at a display of 12 different brands of balsamic vinegar and not seeing the one I usually use.  The cheapest one usually is not the best choice, but then the priciest tends not to be either.  With dry herbs and spices, olive oil and vinegars in particular, it is important not to assume they are all the same.  I’ve had some of my favorite recipes fail because of inferior quality ingredients. Dried herbs and spices typically retain most of their flavor for about six months after the container is open, so buying in bulk tends is not always the best choice with these.  Shelf life can be maximized by tightly closing containers or vacuum sealing if possible.

A vision is something that defines the way you cook and act in a kitchen. At Billy’s, all of our vendors are aware of my passion for quality ingredients and know that I want to talk about quality first, price second.  There have been times when we have returned hundreds of pounds of seafood that did not meet our standards.  The vendors either learned their lesson quickly or lost our business.

Good quality ingredients are by far the secret to a great dish, but the trick is to then prepare your food to highlight that quality. At Billy’s we focus on simple preparations with fresh ingredients that are prepared daily. We peel and dice potatoes for our chowder every day.  Vegetables for our salads are cut several times daily and continuously checked for quality.  Our steaks, salmon, and swordfish are hand cut every day.   Our food may be simple, but I’ll let you be the judge on what great quality ingredients can do for a meal.