TC at Lock 42 Grill is a unique restaurant that recently opened next to the historic Trent Severn Waterway.
Managing partner of the restaurant, Nicole Verwey, says the grill has become popular in the Severn area for its fish and chips, burgers, and wraps.
“Wednesday wing nights, Thursday burger nights, and Friday fried chicken sandwich nights are really popular so far,” Verwey explained.
“We have a little bit of everything, and we have a new chef on board who will be revamping our entire menu come January.”
The family-style restaurant is staying open during the winter months at the request of the locals who live in the area.
“A lot of people that live out this way kind of just hibernate in the winter, but we are going to try to keep open,” Verwey said.
“We are actually installing some TVs next week so we can be the place for people to come and enjoy a meal while watching different sporting events.”
Verwey says the restaurant has been well supported by its local customers through the first three months of operation.
“The community is so supportive, people are loving the food and our staff who are serving their own community,” she said.
“Everybody seems to be spreading the word for us, without doing any advertising at first we were still getting lots of customers.”
The pandemic has made things challenging at times for TC at Lock 42 Grill to get started, but as a member of the Barrie’s Tangle Creek (TC) Golf & Country Club family, management felt confident that the restaurant would succeed.
“We sort of had Tangle Creek as a stepping stone to get started and get out there. The management on that team has been great helping us get things moving in the right direction,” Verwey said.
The main goal for the restaurant is to become a staple of the Washago community.
“I don’t see us expanding the restaurant outside of this area, but because we have two acres of property, we are talking about how we can expand right here,” Verwey said.
"We have a little retro ice cream truck onsite, our patio has done just amazing for us, and it would be nice to keep expanding on things like that as we keep getting things moving and have money coming in the door.”
Vereway thanks the community for all the support during the opening of the new establishment.
“It’s been really humbling to see how excited the community is to have us here. The restaurant was previously vacant for a good ten years, so people have been waiting for it to open and they are pretty pumped that it's finally open," she said.
