Mr Bill’s Vietnamese Canteen is leaving Belmont Bowls Club
“This is devastating,” said Belmont Bowls Club manager Shaynae Clark.
The incredibly popular Mr Bill’s Vietnamese Canteen was serving drinks to customers at the bowls club on Monday, with a steady stream of customers queuing for crispy pork banh mi.
But they will be among the last because after just nine months Mr Bill (real name Loc Nguyen) is leaving the bowling club.
Nguyen, who named his canteen Mr Bill’s after the English name of university lecturer William, wants to reopen his own small restaurant in the hope of providing a better work-life balance for his young family.
Mr. Bill’s was only closed on Tuesdays, and Nguyen spent that time running errands for the restaurant, trying to squeeze in housework and spending time with her 11-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
“I literally work seven days a week,” he said, adding that his wife drops their kids off at school, then spends the day picking fresh produce for the canteen and then doing the school run in the afternoon.
“I’d like to have a better balance before my son starts high school. Yes, you can work longer and make more money. But for now, I need to find a better balance.”
Bowls club manager Shaynae Clark desperately tried to persuade him to stay.
“We tried to understand whether he wanted to reduce his working hours because he did not like nights very much, but unfortunately he is still leaving us.
“The work, the space, organizing the dining room, our large function room, and delivering food to the tables outside—it was just too much for her.”
Like many Australian suburban bowls clubs, the low-slung, anachronistic venue on Brisbane’s southside had been struggling to survive for years, with added competition from nearby Camp Hill Bowls Club, which has city views and an on-site Pan Thai restaurant, and Carina Bowls Club, which offers Panchos Pizza.
That was until Nguyen, 35, brought with him a clientele devoted to authentic Vietnamese food from his previous restaurant in Wakerley.
“He really brought this place to life,” Clark said.
“We were open, there were people everywhere, a lot more barefoot bowls and families, and it really made it a better atmosphere around.”
Despite its name, Belmont Bowls Club is located off Creek Road in Carina, next to the police station and across from the Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC). Police officers from Holland Park and Wynnum stations, as well as the neighboring police station, were among Mr Bill’s regular customers.
While the club’s no-frills elements remained—blue, peacock-patterned carpet, Formica tables adorned with tissue boxes, plastic chairs, and cream-colored bathrooms—new, younger customers were lining up at the door.
Customers can enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine and purchase pints of beer at bowls club prices.
“It definitely helped us breathe new life into this place and helped us financially as well,” Clark said.
He also introduced the older generation of bowlers to Vietnamese cuisine. “A lot of our bowlers had never tried this before,” Clark said.
Brendan Field was among the many devotees who got their fix of Mr. Bill’s on Monday (Nguyen had sold out of banh mi by 1 p.m.).
Field spent Christmas in Port Macquarie but returned to Brisbane early to seize the opportunity.
“I’ve known him for a long time; I’m one of his best customers,” Field said as he hugged Nguyen at the front counter.
“This is the freshness of the pork,” he said.
Field added, pointing to Nguyen, that it was about more than just food.
“He’s just a character. He’s always happy to see you and remembers your name and your order.”
“I’ll follow him wherever he goes.”
Other customers, including police officers from the neighboring station, shook Nguyen’s hand and hugged her as they bid her farewell.
Some people, including Cheryl Pierce, 76, Bianca Stubbs, 46, and Katrina Logan, 54, asked for photos.
Stubbs and his mother, Pierce, agreed that Nguyen’s food was better than what they ate while vacationing in Vietnam.
“I used to meet my friends here every Monday. I’d come from Wynnum, one from Thornlands, one from Camp Hill,” Pierce said.
“It’s his service, his personality and his food.”
Stubbs is such a fan that he offered her space in a shop he owns in Alexandra Hills.
Unfortunately, Clark fears that without Mr. Bill’s, the bowling club will return to “very, very quiet.”
“We will only have limited days, we will be open again, focusing mainly on bowls and our functions.”
He hopes to launch a campaign to find a new food vendor for the club, but fears a replacement won’t draw crowds like Mr. Bill’s.
“We’ve all become very close with all of his customers and we’re going to miss them too. We still ask them to have a drink and come back and see us,” Clark said.
Nguyen was already planning to take a month-long vacation in January. He will now use this time to rest, recharge and start looking for a new place.
“I think it will take two to three months,” he said.
He’s looking for a place with a large, well-equipped kitchen and plenty of parking.
Mr. Bill’s last trading day will be Wednesday, New Year’s Eve.
Many customers told him Monday they would be back for the last Mr. Bill’s banh mi on the last day of the year.
“We love you,” a woman said as she said goodbye.
“Thank you, Mr. Bill, thank you.”
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