It's the most wonderful meal of the year at Billy Bob's Silver Diner.
Daniel Gilmore, a regular diner here, was shoving off from his spot at the lunch counter about 12:30 p.m. yesterday, full and soon to be on his way to another big meal with his aunt Helen Robbins that evening.
"They always have good food," he said, as he prepared to pay the bill. "It's a hold-me-over meal till about six."
Then he thought about everything he'd just eaten. The Christmas Day menu includes turkey or honey-baked spiral-cut ham, dressing and gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and bread.
"I don't know how I'm going to eat dinner at six," he said. "It was good."
Christmas at Billy Bob's on Hanes Mall Boulevard is often the busiest single day of the year, with lines out the door. Yesterday's rain meant the crowd was off a little, but it was still busy.
Line cook Tony Juarez was among the workers who spent three days getting the meal ready. They cleaned and cooked 20 turkeys, cut up 50 pounds of potatoes and prepared 40 pounds of green beans.
Juarez, who had been working since 6 a.m. yesterday and also works two other jobs, was looking forward to the after-work celebration of opening gifts on Christmas evening with his wife, Xochill, and their children, Anthony, 11; Daniel, 9; and Victoria, 4.
But he's also found a family at the diner, where workers hold their own celebration in the early morning before they get so busy.
"Everybody brings cookies, we share gifts in the morning before we start," he said. "This is your second family here, everybody gets a hug, talks about what you got for Christmas. It's really nice."
Waitress Julie Starkwell, wearing a headband with wobbly antennae decorated with snowmen, said the Christmas Day crowd is unusually generous with tips, and pleasant to wait on.
"They're all in great moods, very thankful, appreciative and hungry," she said.
As evening dropped on downtown Winston-Salem, lights were shining at a few restaurants that were open for Christmas dinner.
Souphab Daoheang, the owner of Soup's Vietnamese and its sister restaurant Downtown Thai Restaurant and Bar, said that this year will be the start of a tradition of Christmas Day dining at his places.
Stacy Inman of Mount Airy, along with eight other members of her extended family, were eating at Downtown Thai on Fourth Street. They were happy to have her Navy commander brother, Jerry Lynch, home for Christmas and took him out to celebrate and introduce him to their friend.
"We're good friends with Souphab," Lynch said. "He's like family. We love coming down and eating with him and enjoying the food."
At another table, Frank and Dell James enjoyed dinner with their daughter, Lacy James, who is heading back to Philadelphia soon.
"It's been a good Christmas," Frank James said.
mmitchell@wsjournal.com
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