Bill's BBQ in Elkhart announces closure after four decades

ELKHART, Ind. -- Bill's BBQ, a long-standing restaurant in Elkhart, announced via their Facebook page on Thursday that they'll be closing up shop with their last day being Feb. 28.

The restaurant owner lamented their closure along with other recent businesses like Big Lots and Penguin Point.

Bill's BBQ began in 1984 in a trailer on Waterfall Drive, before moving to the parking lot of Henry's Corner Store, then the red shack on Franklin, to their locations in Roseland and on Cassopolis Street, before ending up at 2426 Benham Ave.

The Facebook post also mentions the restaurant has fed customers including tailgaters at Notre Dame to inmates at Michigan City Prison.

The post adds there are no plans to open another food establishment in Elkhart.

One customer, Isaias Benitez, said, "So actually, we woke up this morning with a text from my mom, from my mom saying that the restaurant was closing. We're like, 'Oh, what the heck? Like, that's crazy.' It's been years since we've came. So, we were like, 'Why not?' We already had to come to get some pillows for a new couch we bought. So, we said, 'Why not? Why not come and check it out before it closes?'"