Bill and Bea’s Drive In Thriving, Not Surviving, During Viral Pandemic

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Tradition is what’s carried Bill and Bea’s Drive In for the past 22 years that Jill and Denny Greene have owned the longtime burger joint on Harrison Avenue in Centralia. But it’s the drive-through window that’s kept it going strong despite the global coronavirus pandemic the past six weeks.

As many restaurants statewide, and even nationwide, are reeling from a lack of customers, mostly due to in-house dining restrictions, Bill and Bea’s is doing better than ever for this time of the year. May through August is usually peak time for the restaurant, but the month of April ended up looking like summer at Bill and Bea’s.

The Greenes can thank their double drive-through windows for that.The restaurant seats 20 inside, but with dining rooms closed, customers have begun flocking to drive-throughs. 

“Busy. Real busy,” Jill said. “It’s just crazy right now because there’s not sit-down restaurants. That’s what’s saved us; having the drive-through windows. Sometimes you’ve got cars lined up at those windows.”

It was an unexpected surprise for Jill, who was concerned that business would take a nose-dive. So much that she laid off one of her workers in anticipation for the lack of business. That employee was quickly re-hired when it became apparent that business was going the opposite direction. Up. The restaurant has been operating with a full crew of 10 ever since.

“It just amazed me at first at how busy it was,” Jill said. “I was worried. Once that shutdown happened, we just all of a sudden got busy.”

She thinks being a burger and fries joint has also helped business these past six weeks as they usually keep better on the car ride home rather than a steak or other sit-down meal. It’s a winning combination that’s propelled the restaurant for years, however, not just recently.

Jill began working at Bill and Bea’s 51 years ago back in 1969 as a waitress when she was 16 years old, back when the founders, Bill and Bea, still owned it. It was her first job. Nearly 30 years later in 1998, she and Denny bought the restaurant from the previous owners, becoming the fourth owners of the business. Jill has also worked for the state up in Olympia for three years and drove down to Centralia on the weekends to help out at the restaurant. The timing was just right to buy it, she said. Her kids were basically raised at that point as her youngest was 15 years old and her oldest was 21 years old. 

Nearly everything is the same as it was when she began working there 51 years ago. It has the same three-foot grill and the same sized deep fryers.

“We’ve basically kept it the same over the years,” Jill said. “We make the burgers the same way.”

The hamburgers are made fresh daily with hand-pounded ground beef, cooked the same way as Bill and Bea used to. The menu has expanded a bit, as well, to include salads and fresh fruit in their milkshakes.

One of the few differences is they don’t have fresh french fries anymore due to a lack of space to prepare them. Greene used to buy them from a local man in town until he quit making them, so she switched to frozen fries. But customers can still enjoy the same type of burger that was served in the same location back in the 1960s.

“That’s part of the charm of it, I guess,” Jill said. “People like those old-time burgers on the grill cooked like that, the thin patties instead of the pub-like burgers.They seem to like it, so no sense in changing it when it works.”

While business has treated the Greene’s well the past 22 years, it certainly hasn’t been easy. Especially the past six weeks. Everything is cooked to order and with a single 3-foot grill and loads of customers lining up the drive-through, the wait times can stack up. Sometimes the wait can last up to 45 minutes.

“People have been very good about waiting,” Jill said. “But we cook them to order, so when you’ve got all these phone orders coming in, the girls go in the order of the way they receive them. It’s a challenge, but it works. We have very loyal customers and they’re very patient, which is good.”

Jill is also worried that people might run out of money, especially those who are unemployed right now. The $1,200 stimulus check sent out mid-April could start to run dry for many, Jill predicts.

“You just don’t know what’s going to happen right now,” Jill said. “We normally can figure out when things are going to be busy and when they’re not. Just no set time now.”

She is looking forward to this summer when fresh fruit starts coming in to be added to the milkshakes, which range from $3.65 for a small and $5.65 for a large. They have 15 milkshake flavors year-round, but she’s looking forward to fresh strawberries coming in this summer.

Bill and Bea’s is open two hours later than normal, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. Jill is expecting business to slow a bit once in-house dining opens back up and many of the restaurants in town begin receiving more customers. But she’s positive she’ll have enough business to keep her doors open until summer business starts hitting.

“We appreciate everyone’s business and we’re thankful we’re one of the lucky ones that still has a business,” Jill said. “And thankful to keep the girls working.”

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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.