BILL-E's Restaurant and BILL-E's Small Batch Bacon, Fairhope

What do Governor Haley Barbour, author Willie Morris, All-Pro NFL Cornerback Willie Brown, three-time All-SEC sack leader at Ole’ Miss “Gentle” Ben Williams, comedian Jerry Clower, and award-winning small batch bacon king, William E. Stitt have in common? Here’s a hint, they all hail from a small town in Mississippi with a rich history. They all loved Ole’ Miss, too.

The last name on the list, William E. Stitt, has made a name for himself in Fairhope, Alabama in both the restaurant business and the small-batch bacon he cures, smokes, packages, and ships all over the United States. This is a tale of passion, determination, and love. Bill-E, as he has become known, was born and raised in Yazoo City, Mississippi, “ Gateway to the Delta,” on the Yazoo River.

Bill-E earned his degree in Hospitality Management at Ole’ Miss in 1991 and stuck around while working at the Downtown Grill on The Square in Oxford. He tells me he spent a lot of time there with Willie Morris. As I was conducting this interview, we kept coming back to Willie, a great writer and lover of football, especially Ole’ Miss.

Bill-E was hired by Ruby Tuesday’s Restaurants in 1993 and spent the next 20 years with the company. After five years in Memphis, he was transferred to Mobile to run an establishment. Over time, he became Director of Operations and helped develop the To-Go model, the Curb-Side pick-up model, and the Catering Brand. In 2011, he opened BILL-E’s dba Old 27 Grill in a small building in Fairhope.

He dropped the Old 27 Grill part of the name a few years ago, changing it to BILL-E's Restaurant after the road became Highway 181. When he first opened, he just wanted it to be a burger joint with an order counter, but servers from his Ruby Tuesdays days kept asking him for jobs, so he became a semi-full-service restaurant. “We started with eight tables and three bar stools. I immediately realized we needed a bigger bar, with indoor and outdoor seating” he says.

On the day I visited with Bill-E, I had lunch in the bar and enjoyed a delicious blended burger of 85% prime beef and 15% BILL-E’s bacon with a soft fried egg and sweet potato fries on the side.  It was a late lunch, but several folks were in the bar enjoying themselves while a family was at a picnic table in the courtyard. The atmosphere is laid back.

The original house is a maze of meandering nooks and crannies with additional dining areas, bars, outdoor games, music stages, and even two studios for creating podcasts or hosting corporate events. He also has a sophisticated curing operation for manufacturing his famous bacon.

Bill-E’s long-term plan is to create an ideal space where he can host casual corporate business gatherings or sales meetings. “We want to be more than a burger and bacon joint,” he says. “It’s a perfect scenario for locals from New Orleans to Destin to come and enjoy Fairhope and get some business done.” He is well on his way to seeing his vision become a reality.

I asked how he learned to cure bacon. “My dad wanted me to learn a trade, something I could always fall back on regardless of my college degree or chosen vocation.” “When I was 15 years old, my dad set up a meeting with a butcher outside of Yazoo City. The butcher said he would teach me how to make bacon the way our ancestors did before refrigeration was even a thing.

BILL-E’s started making small-batch bacon six years ago. He told me food suppliers kept bringing bacon for him to try for the restaurant, and he thought he could make better bacon than what was being offered. “Bacon kept coming back into my life,” he says. “I started with a little square box and some old equipment adjacent to the restaurant’s kitchen so we wouldn’t interrupt the regular kitchen.

“It’s an all-natural process. We produce a center of the plate, premium protein, something chefs would want as something more than just adding bacon to greens or a salad.” Once he began curing his own BILL-E’s Small-Batch Bacon, he started using it for his restaurant, and things took off. BILL-E’s Small-Batch Bacon is manufactured, packaged, and shipped on-site in Fairhope. 

He has a USDA facility to produce the bacon. His restaurant is a separate entity. He began selling his bacon to The Original Oyster House, The Grand Hotel, and other restaurants in the area. As its reputation grew, he began selling all over the world, including Canada and Guam. 

Each custom bacon smoker is named after a close friend. They produce thousands of pounds of bacon each week, and he plans to keep growing in 2024. His bacon has won numerous awards and is distributed throughout the United States through several national food brokers.

“It’s the best Christmas present in the world! Get a pound of sliced, a pound of unsliced (called a slab or stick), and add in a BILL-E’s hat, and you have the perfect gift.” Go to SHOP at BILL-E’s Bacon website, and look for Goldbelly. www.billesbacon.com

BILL-E’s Bacon was up and running when one day he met a man who was wandering around in a Piggly Wiggly store. They struck up a conversation, and it turns out he was the sales manager for Perroni & Sons Food Distributor in New Orleans. He was looking for someone to service his accounts and asked Bill-E if he would be interested in handling the local accounts. So add food broker to his resume.

BILL-E’s does outside catering as well as small corporate events on-site. While we were visiting, two people walked in to check out the space for a company holiday party. With seating for up to 30, flat-screen TVs, and a private restroom, it is a casual atmosphere with the walls adorned with mementos, paintings, and many articles that have been written about BILL-E’s accomplishments.

“Catering is a huge part of our business.” Most of the catering he does involves cooking on a grill, whether he brings his custom-designed grill, or uses the host’s grill. “We can do anything from beef tenderloin, Oysters Rockefeller, or a low-country seafood boil. We can dress it up, or dress it down, depending on the occasion.” 

He also does consulting for specialty food sales markets. He is often asked to test new products, especially when the recipe calls for bacon. I asked him what his favorite grill was. Without hesitation, he says the PK Grill from Little Rock, Arkansas. “Tell them that Bill-E sent you.” He still owns and uses his grandparent's PK grill at home.  He says they test a lot of company products, grills, recipes, food, and equipment.

He participates in BBQ Cookoffs events with his grills & bacon. He tells me that his 1959 Chevy Apache pickup is currently being converted to a PVC. That’s a Personal Chef Vehicle for the uneducated. It will have a slide-out kitchen with folding buffet tables on the side. Look for it soon!

Today, BILL-E’s Restaurant is a casual, rambling, burger and hot dog joint. He has live music (to serenade the bacon) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, except during football season. “Everyone in the restaurant business knows you are wasting your time having music on football Saturdays, so we go Thursday, Friday, and Sunday during the season.” 

The outside games include bocce ball, ping pong, corn hole, ring toss, and Jenga. All the game rules are posted outside. There is a bathtub where lots of folks like to have their photo taken. “Lots of storytelling happens out here,” he says. One of the bars has saddle stools and there is a gazebo with Blues Brothers Jake and Elwood statues doing their thing. 

We switch gears and talk about life in the Scenic 98 Coastal area. “It’s been growing for the past 25 years. Neighborhoods have been popping up forever. We are destined to grow. Fighting it is worthless. Controlling it is dangerous. Embracing it with gracious hospitality is the only answer.”

Bill-E has been active in the community serving on the board of the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation (FEEF) for years as his children were in the Fairhope school system from K-12 grade. He is proud that they are both homeowners in Baldwin County at age 25 and 28. “It says something when your kids want to live where they grew up.”

He is a strong proponent of conservation efforts in the area and was president of the Eastern Shore Ducks Unlimited. “Conservation is critical,” he says. In 2022 he was awarded Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Mississippi. Not surprising as he and his brother, a physician, both earned their Eagle Scout badges at an early age. 

At the end of the day, Bill-E is a creative, energetic guy who says he always wanted to own a bar. “A lot of stuff happens here.” He credits his late father for inspiring him to reach beyond the easy path and seek something bigger in life. “He was my best friend and my biggest cheerleader.” As far as the fast-paced growth in the area, he says, We just need to continue messaging that we want to continue that small-town experience.

Thanks, Bill-E. That was well said. We agree one hundred percent!