navigation search this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . october 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . december 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message bill miller bar b q type restaurant industry food restaurant founded 1950 headquarters san antonio texas united states website www.billmillerbbq.com bill miller bar b q is a san antonio headquartered restaurant chain that focuses on barbecue food accompanying side dishes such as potato salad and coleslaw and baked goods . the restaurant started as a poultry and egg business in 1950 from a 500 loan . founder bill miller later expanded the business into a fried chicken take out restaurant . the menu eventually incorporated hamburgers and then shifted into a barbecue restaurant . the second restaurant opened in february 1963 . from the beginning bill miller bar b q was a family business . faye miller served as a cashier and hostess while raising their four children . the children learned how to work and were raised learning the operations of the business . they worked in the restaurant during the summers and on weekends . when miller planned a vacation to europe between balous miller s junior and senior years of college balous ran the restaurant business that summer and then decided to make bill miller bar b q his career rather than going to teaching school . miller semi retired upon balous graduation in may 1966 . as his brothers john and douglas received their degrees they joined him in the restaurant business . the three brothers and their brother in law louis vance have worked together now in excess of thirty years . 69 restaurants cover the san antonio austin and corpus christi markets . all foods served at the restaurants are produced in one facility in downtown san antonio then shipped to each location daily . contents 1 history 2 business model 3 basic operation 4 milestones 5 references 6 external links history edit william t. bill miller and ila faye miller spouses co founded the company in the 1950s . 1 in 1992 miller bought the fiesta plaza a failed mall and planned to donate it to the university of texas at san antonio . the fiesta plaza is now the downtown campus of utsa . 2 ila faye died in 2008 . 1 in 2009 the company reduced its employee health care costs by 40 % after it ended its ppo program and formed partnerships with area health providers . therefore medical providers receive reimbursement on a cost plus basis . 3 business model edit there were few if any food to go outlets in those early years and bill miller bar b q was one of the first to offer quality food to go in five minutes which was unheard of at the time . its concept of serving barbecued meats and fresh pies and breads on a daily basis from a central commissary is unique to its industry . citation needed bill miller bar b q offers a catering service serving groups from 100 to 10 000 . miller designed the original barbecue pits he used in the 1950s and the large industrial sized ones used today which can cook up to 2 500 pounds of brisket at one time in 18 to 20 hours . basic operation edit the central office of bill miller bar b q is located in downtown san antonio adjacent to the san antonio police department s former headquarters . the plant is built according to the u.s. federal government s meat packing guidelines and is inspected routinely by the city of san antonio and the state of texas . bill miller bar b q owns all its own real estate and buildings and operates its own distribution center . milestones edit in 2001 it sold 4.5 million pounds of brisket enough for 4 & 1 2 lbs . for every person living within san antonio city limits at the time . they also sold 7 million pounds of chicken 2 million links of sausage 200 000 slabs of pork ribs and 9 million pounds of potatoes . they sold over 453 600 jalape os each one hand sized in the field . they used 1.5 million pounds of tomato paste for barbecue sauce . in 1998 they sold more chicken than beef . they used 600 000 tea bags to brew 3 million gallons 11.3 million liters of tea enough for 10 million large iced teas . this was sweetened by 2 million pounds of sugar . they sold over 100 000 texas tea buckets and quart size insulated drinking mugs . references edit a b silva tricia lynn . bill miller bar b q restaurants co founder passes away . san antonio business journal . monday august 25 2008 . retrieved on april 3 2010 . lambeth laura and jim wood . fiesta.plaza bill miller poised to buy fiesta plaza family plans to donate site to utsa . san antonio express news at new britain herald . september 24 1992 . page 1b . retrieved on april 3 2010 . bill miller bar b q cuts health costs by 40 percent . san antonio business journal . wednesday may 13 2009 . retrieved on april 3 2010 . external links edit texas portal companies portal food portal official website interview with balous miller march 23 1995 university of texas at san antonio institute of texan cultures oral history collections ua 15.01 university of texas at san antonio libraries special collections . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bill miller bar b q enterprises & oldid 743662873 categories restaurants in san antonioregional restaurant chains in the united statesbarbecue restaurantscompanies based in san antoniorestaurants established in 1953hidden categories articles with a promotional tone from october 2016all articles with a promotional tonearticles lacking reliable references from december 2008all articles lacking reliable referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from august 2013 navigation menu personal tools not logged 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