Once customers do drive to Bill's Pizza they usually recognize owner Bill Versluis, either because they are repeat customers or because they have seen him on television. Bill's Pizza runs an advertisement on KCRG Channel 9 out of Cedar Rapids. That commercial reaches as far south as Fairfield, Iowa, and goes north into Wisconsin and Minnesota. Although the commercial has drawn several customers from throughout the state, Bill knows that the experience they have once they're at the restaurant is what brings them back.

      That is why the customer is the main focus at Bill's. "It's high standards, high quality, making sure the customers are happy," said Bill. "Without the customers, you don't have a business." This customer focus is the main characteristic that makes Bill's different from a chain restaurant. "If you go to a larger market, you're a number. It's not personalized," said Bill. "We try to give that personal treatment here."

      That personal treatment starts the moment customers walk in the door, and continues throughout the meal. Bill visits with customers and gets to know where they're from. "I do a lot of visiting with the tables and making sure the food is up to their expectations."

      With a name like Bill's Pizza and Smokehouse, customers expect the pizza to be outstanding-and it is. It is the only restaurant in the area that offers an authentic Chicago-Style deep crust, and the thin crust pizza is almost one-of-a-kind. "Our thin crust outshines the competition by far," said Bill. "It's some of the best thin crust around."

      In fact, pizza is how Bill got started in the foodservice business. Prior to owning Bill's Pizza, he had worked at a national pizza chain for 13 years. Bill and Angie Versluis became owners of Bill's Pizza with their business partner Jerry Boubin (Angie's father) in August of 1997. Although they knew they were going to offer pizza, Bill knew that the restaurant couldn't make it on pizza alone. So he traveled to Las Vegas and went to a food show to pick up some ideas 

before coming back to start his own business. He also hired a recipe consultant to come in when the restaurant first opened. Most of the current menu items are results of that food show in Las Vegas or from the recipe consultant, and many have become Bill's signature items.

      Bill's on-premise smoker explains the "smokehouse" part of the restaurant's name, and some of the menu's biggest sellers are slow smoked in the wood-burning smoker. Available all day are the slow smoked barbecue special sandwiches, which include a choice of beef, pork, or chicken served with a side of Bill's secret sauce. One of the most popular barbecue items on the dinner menu is the St. Louis Style Back Ribs, which are also slow smoked.

      In addition to pizza and barbecue, Bill's offers an extensive pasta menu, as well as jumbo hand-breaded shrimp that are breaded on-premise. However, it seems that almost every menu item is somebody's favorite. It's hard to single out the most popular dishes. "It's not just one thing in particular that shines," said Bill. "It's just a wide variety. You can come here and the kids can have pizza, and the adults can have their favorite dish. You don't have to worry about someone wanting a burger, someone else wanting pasta, and another person wanting pizza. You can get it all in one place, so it's fun for the whole family."

      And having fun is what it's all about. "Anymore, when you go out to eat it's not for just the food; it's for the entertainment value '" said Bill. "People drive from Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Cedar Falls, and you know they're not going to drive just for the food. They're gong to drive because there's an entertainment value there also. Food is just part of it. People like to get out and see what's going on."

     Although Bill's casual and friendly atmosphere and the interaction between customers and staff could be considered entertainment enough, Bill didn't stop there. In addition to a dining, banquet and party room, Bill's Pizza is also the home to Bill's Sports Bar. In October of 1998, the bar hosted karaoke for the first time, and it has been a constant since then. "Every Friday night we have it," said Bill. "It's a huge success. We draw from a huge crowd ... we'll have a packed house, standing room only. It has been a real asset to Bill's."

      Bill began to add comedy to his restaurant's entertainment offerings in September 1999, and that has been a huge hit as well. Bill hosts a comedy act every other Thursday night from September through May, and during the summer it will be one Thursday a month. "We've had a sell- out crowd every time we've had it," said Bill. "We bring in acts from all over the United States. A lot of them play Vegas and Atlantic City, as well as the smaller comedy clubs throughout the country."

      Bill has brought in several comedians, and recently hired a comedic hypnotist. "We just had a hypnotist here last Thursday, and he performed in the banquet room. We had 170 people here to watch it. It was without a doubt the funniest hypnotist I've seen yet," said Bill. The ticket price for entertainment at Bill's varies, but it is usually a flat $6.00 per person.

      Perhaps more important to some customers than the entertainment Bill's can provide is the space the restaurant provides for them to bring in their own entertainment. There has been a huge demand for party and meeting space since Bill opened his restaurant, and he has been able to deliver. The building is 6800 square feet, with four major customer areas: The Sports Bar seats 135, the Party Room seats 60, the Banquet Room seats 200, and the Dining Room seats 86. All four rooms have been heavily used since the restaurant's opening, and Bill had no idea how big the demand for meeting/ party space would be. "We'll have parties anywhere from 10-200 people. It has been a huge success," said Bill. Every Saturday from June through August is booked with class reunions or graduation parties, and starting the third week of November, the winter months are full with Holiday parties through the first part of February. Bill's has become such a successful party place that they will sometimes even host five parties in one day.

      In addition to parties, several groups hold their meetings at Bill's. In fact, nearly every local group has met at Bill's for one or more meetings. Bill's hosts weekly Rotary Meetings, as well as meetings for the Lion's Club, Knights of Columbus, and other local groups. Some political groups have held meetings at Bill's as well, drawing some state and even national political celebrities. "We've had Tipper Gore here in the last year, and [Governor] Vilsak was here last year for the Democratic fundraising for the county." United States Representative Jim Nussle from Manchester also came to Bill's for a Republican meeting. "It's not that we're going either way. We accommodate everybody," said Bill.

      The meeting space is not the only reason Bill's is such a good place to host a meeting or party. They also have an extensive catering menu that includes anything from a simple sandwich for a meeting to a larger, upscale meal for events such as wedding receptions. Although a number of Bill's competition do catering, none seem to do it on as large a scale as Bill's. "I don't think that anybody else has a facility as large as ours to do so many things' " said Bill.

      Bill's restaurant offers a number of services and benefits to customers, but taking care of the customer doesn't stop there. Bill's has also been involved in community fundraisers or charity events to give back to the community that many of his customers are from. During the Christmas season, Bill's donates food to Operation Santa Claus workers, and the restaurant also hosts a party for children from the local Mental Health Institute. Bill's also helps school booster clubs with pizza fundraisers, and continues to look for other ways to get involved in the community.

      Whether it is in the restaurant or in the community, it all comes back to customer service. "We're here to take care of our customers. We make sure they have a high quality meal, and we don't try to cheat anybody. We're always out there to try to improve ourselves, as far as the quality and service. And if the customer is not totally satisfied, we're going to take care of them. That's the bottom line," said Bill.

      Bill's Pizza has been a Hawkeye customer since day one, and Bill points to Hawkeye's own emphasis on customer service as the deciding factor of doing business with Hawkeye. When it was time to decide on a supplier, Bill looked at all the options to see who could serve Bill's best. "It comes down to service, just like it does in our business. Whoever wants to take care of you the most is going to get your business," said Bill. "If it wasn't for the reps and the different people within Hawkeye that make it easy to do business, we wouldn't be with them. Vern Gage is our rep and he bends over backwards to make sure that we're able to do business from day to day."