Ty’s Roadside

 By Brian Sherman

 (Photos credit: Photos courtesy of 12.pt Creative)

Ty Neal has been in the restaurant business most of his life, getting his foot in the door as a dishwasher and working his way up the “food chain” by handling just about every eatery-related job there is. After 30 years as an owner and manager, however, he’s back to wearing a variety of hats – from food preparation to running the pizza station – not because he sees some nostalgic value in taking on jobs he learned as a teenager but because he realizes that today’s business environment requires flexibility, innovation and the vision to succeed where others have failed.

Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, Neal is confident that Ty’s Roadside, which offers a traditional American grill with a few nontraditional twists, will survive and thrive on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. He signed the lease in January 2020 and was in the process of totally remodeling the building, with the work scheduled for completion a few months later. Unfortunately, the pandemic arrived just in time to delay the opening by almost a year, until February 2021. By then, employees were hard to find in the restaurant business and in other industries.

“No one can staff their restaurants,” Neal explained. “But we have a small but mighty staff.”

The group that keeps the restaurant up and running includes Jon McArthur, Neal’s business partner and chef, who, like Neal, relocated from the Washington, D.C., area to open Ty’s Roadside.

Remaking the main dining room — now bigger and brighter than the eight other restaurants that have occupied the building — took a year, but there’s still work to be done, according to Neal. He said the room used as a smokehouse for a previous eatery will eventually become a brewhouse, enhancing the full bar and 20 beers on tap, 13 to 15 of them from local breweries. The main draw at Ty’s, however, comes on a plate rather than in a glass or a bottle.

“The food here is no joke. There’s a serious attention to detail,” Neal pointed out. “It’s casual dining, but the food is a notch above. Nothing is frozen here. Everything is made from scratch.”

 The menu offers a wide range of culinary possibilities, from burgers, wings and pizza to chicken, pasta and steaks – and fresh fish and shrimp are available every day, much of it purchased locally.

 The burger, featuring onion jam, cheddar cheese, pickles, arugula and “fast times” sauce, is a popular item at Ty’s, and the Tarvin shrimp toast, with chili-lime butter, white wine and garlic, also is a big seller. Neal is especially proud of the restaurant’s fire-roasted meatballs, which come with tomato sauce, ricotta and parmesan cheese, basil and rustic bread.

 Neal pointed out that the short rib, braised for three to four hours and served with “super creamy” Yukon gold mashed potatoes and baby carrots, also is a sought after choice. He didn’t know how popular it was until he removed it from the menu temporarily.

 “It’s a hearty, cold weather dish. When we took it off the menu for the summer, people complained, so we put it back on,” he explained.

 He added that one of the most unusual items on the menu is the shrimp & chorizo burger, a “super unique” offering that includes sausage with shrimp mixed into the patty, avocado, smoked gouda, arugula and harissa aioli.

 While some items at Ty’s garner more attention than others, Neal pointed out that many customers prefer to try everything at least once.

 “People come here and eat their way through the menu,” he said, adding that “We work hard at what we do. We want to sneak up on people and surprise them with the quality of our food.”

Food is vital to the success of a restaurant, and drink is important, but what about amusement? To enjoy a meaningful dining experience, is it necessary to be entertained before, during and after your meal? Is it fun to eat at Ty’s Roadside?

“It better be, or we haven’t done our job,” Neal said.

He added that youngsters who visit the family-friendly restaurant won’t just be given crayons to color with while they wait for their meal. Instead, they’ll be able to pass the time while playing with a ball of pizza dough – just one more unique aspect of the Ty’s Roadside dining experience.