information slogan a traditional california roadhouse and a nevada county institution established 1947 current owner s mike byrne nancy wilson previous owner s bill davis 1947 1963 bob & peggy tucker 1963 1969 frank williams & veda folden 1969 1976 ken & jeannie hiebert 1976 2012 food type steakhouse dress code casual street address 16898 state hwy 49 city nevada city county nevada county state california postal code zip 95959 country united states reservations yes website www.thewillo.com the willo steakhouse also called the willo is a steakhouse and roadhouse located in nevada city california in the united states . contents 1 history 2 cuisine 3 reception 4 references history edit the willo started as a quonset hut which was purchased by bill davis in 1947 . the hut was brought from sacramento and set up at its current location on california state route 49 in nevada city . eventually he sold the bar to two locals named smitty and smokey . it was then bought by peggy and bob tucker in 1963 . they named it tuck s hut . they expanded it to have a grill and served hamburgers . it was then leased to frank williams in 1969 . williams named it the willo which is a blend of his last name and lola his wife s given name . the restaurant was expanded to its current size by williams and veda folden who partnered to create the steakhouse . it was bought in 1976 by ken and jeannie hiebert . 1 around 2003 the restaurant was purchased by real estate brokers mike byrne and nancy wilson . they wanted to purchase a business in the area and decided to buy the willo . the restaurant averages 150 dinners a night on the weekends . 1 the willo claims to have sold over one million steaks since the restaurant opened . 2 cuisine edit a ribeye steak beans and iceberg lettuce at the willo . the willo is a steakhouse . the house speciality is a strip steak . 1 reception edit the san francisco bay guardian called the willo a roadhouse extraordinaire and rated it as the 2nd best reason to love nevada city . they describe the willo as part redneck party in the rowdy bar part retro dream with neon sign shining like a beacon from the dark ... 3 it has also been compared to a place that could be seen in the television program twin peaks . 4 the news & review called the willo one of the few bastions of culinary americana and the reviewer acknowledges that they were surprised to see that they still serve catalina dressing and that the martini glasses are smaller than most used today . 2 7x7 calls it a dive bar and called the bartender surly . 5 references edit a b c brown laura . the willo good food good company . the union . swift communications . retrieved 29 july 2014 . a b grunewald becky . steaks steaks and more steaks . news review . chico community publishing . retrieved 29 july 2014 . miller virginia . appetite 12 reasons to love nevada city and grass valley . san francisco bay guardian . retrieved 29 july 2014 . robert christgau ; daphne carr 23 october 2007 . best music writing 2007 . da capo press . p. 121 . mccarthy allison . the road to rough & ready a gold country getaway . 7x7 . retrieved 30 july 2014 . coordinates 39 16 07 n 121 03 26 w 39.2687 n 121.0572 w 39.2687 ; 121.0572 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the willo steakhouse & oldid 642446118 categories 1947 establishments in californiacompanies based in nevada county californianevada city californiasteakhouses in the united stateshidden categories coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 january 2015 at 12 29 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view