19 Feb 2026
James Cameron forsakes his usual indie haunts for the popular chain eatery…
Who is your favourite Bill? Nighy? Pertwee? Oddie? & Ben? There are plenty to choose from, but most people wouldn’t go for the omnipresent deli chain. It’s not offensive, a safe pair of hands, but not really something that ventures into favourite territory. In fact, it’s probably not worth writing a review of it, anyone who had any vague interest in visiting the place will have done so by now and know exactly what it’s like, right?
Wrong! I had exactly that view of Bill’s. If we ever had a visit booked in, usually for reasons of convenience and having a large party with varying requirements, I would never feel terribly excited about it. I would always have a fairly good idea before going of what my experience was going to be, and it was going to be quite standard. On my last couple of visits, though, I have been pleasantly surprised. Whilst they never did anything wrong, I now feel I can appreciate how much they do right.
Bill’s grew out of a greengrocer in Lewes in 2001 and the veg-forward attitude remains. It first opened in St Albans 12 years later, taking over the old Wetherspoons (try telling the young people that we used to be a town of two Wetherspoons and they will probably not be very interested).
It became a lot more family friendly with its regeneration, and is now a popular brunch spot for parents of pre-schoolers, but we were there to try out their lunch capabilities.
It’s a non-binary proposition, though, as brunch options are available right the way through to 5pm. Some mighty tempting options there are, too. How about bottomless triple choccy buttermilk pancakes? Couldn’t you just go for those right now? Well you can’t have them, unless you happen to be in Bill’s reading this in which case I applaud your foresight.
We managed to skip the brunch menu today, though, as we were doing a deep dive into their burger options.
Now burgers might seem a little passé these days after their zeitgeist peak when we had the embarrassment of Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Relish in town, but they are still a dependable staple of pubs and restaurants across the land and a good point of comparison.
Neither of us went for a classic cow burger, though. Being a vegan, my companion went for the vegan burger, but despite being a clean vegan she went for a dirty vegan burger. Unfortunately it ended up being a bit too dirty for her. The toppings were actually bottomings, and this led to a soggy base to the bun which impeded consumption.
The burger sauce was more like mayonnaise, lacking the proper vinegary tang of a good burger sauce, but the vegetable additions were great. Watercress was nicely peppery and pickles were sweet. Unfortunately these overshadowed what should have been the star of the show, the patty. This was bland and under-seasoned, lacking either texture or taste, and meant the overall offering fell a bit flat.
Things were a lot happier on the meaty side of the table. I had gone for the Blockbuster Chicken Burger Trey, and it was a gold run.
Similar to the vegan option the chicken burger was crumbly, but packed full of salty flavour and stuffed to the rafters with greenery as befits Bill’s greengrocer origin. Normally I dive into burgers with both hands, personal cleanliness be damned, but I must confess by the end of this I was back on the knife and fork.
What made it a Blockbuster was not the fact that I was renting the burger, but the accompanying chicken wings. These were lovely and juicy, fresh from the frier. They were supposedly buffalo wings, though, and the buffalo sauce was definitely more of a trickle than a torrent. As buffalo wings they also came with a blue cheese dip (amazing) and celery (Why? Why do people do this?).
What was an absolute slam-dunk blockbuster, though, were the Rosemary Salted Fries that both burgers came with. These were perfectly crisp and the rosemary really added an extra depth. Dipped in the blue cheese they approached chip perfection.
There was a fine range of drinks on offer as well, beyond the standard soft fizzy options. I was particularly excited by the presence of fresh iced tea. Like many I passed January without drinking booze, and it can be difficult to find something interesting to substitute for it. Fizzy drinks are bloating and terrible for your teeth, whereas I find it hard to justify paying the price for non-alcoholic beer without the consolation of drunkenness. I have therefore been pushing the benefits of iced tea (non-fizzy, gives you a small caffeine boost, super refreshing) to all publicans over the last month, largely to a succession of blank stares.
Bill’s get it right, though. Their Peach and Fresh Mint Iced Tea hit the sweet spot for sweetness with a lovely subtle peachiness. There was also so much fresh mint in there that I wondered if they were helping the Silver Palate with their garden clearance. They also have four different types of lemonade, of which we tried the Elderflower variety. This has a pleasing zing to it, and in keeping with much of their line-up tasted wonderfully fresh.
It’s a pleasure spending time in Bill’s, which explains the draw it holds for leisurely diners. The decor had none of the homogeneity that you would expect from a chain and instead was delightfully eclectic, with plenty of greenery. Possibly the plant life interferes with mobile phone signals, though, as reception is terrible.
Not so the reception from the staff, who were friendly, patient and happy to talk through the intricacies of the menu.
Best of all, when the bill had been delivered instead of then disappearing for twenty minutes in the mistaken belief that this is how long it takes to read a number on a piece of paper, the server stayed local with a card machine ready to go as soon as our card was out. It is perhaps unsurprising that Bill’s are good at bills.
This whole visit was a timely reminder to not take people, places or things for granted. Menus, staff, decor and tastes are all in a constant state of flux.
As the saying (almost) goes, a person cannot visit the same restaurant twice, for it is a different restaurant, and a different person.
Despite this impossibility, Bill’s is currently a restaurant that is definitely worth a return visit.
