Known for its happy hour and bar-like atmosphere, The Loose Cockaboose — now called TLC Sports Bar and Grill — has been transformed to boast surprising and tasty lunch choices on weekdays.
What’s good here?
“Our pesto chicken salad is excellent,” says executive chef Jennifer Zagata. “Order it melted with provolone on wheat ... yum. And I added the bacon ranch chicken because I love it so much. It’s a breaded chicken breast with bacon, provolone, a zesty ranch sauce, lettuce, tomato and onion. And, the new product of our assistant chef, Jason Gajda, is the Cuban sandwich, which is ham and Swiss with honey mustard and pickles pressed on a grill. Everything is oven-toasted here and made to order ... we have no microwave.”
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What else?
Zagata added all the vegetables she could think of to her Veggin’ Out pizza, including corn. “It’s so good. That’s another one of my favorites,” she says. Vegetables come from the farmers market or local farmers. Zagata says she does not like to buy in bulk so that the vegetables are fresh.
A variety of specialty sandwiches are served with chips, pasta salad or baked potato salad, as well as pizzas, including the Winger, which is chicken tossed in a buffalo sauce on a ranch white sauce base with mozzarella and Swiss. TLC’s large salads can also be served in a wrap.
The create-your-own menu, which enables customers to customize their pizza, burger, chicken, wrap, sandwich or salad is also a draw.
What does the place look like?
Despite the original name — The Loose Cockaboose, which has been shortened to TLC — the restaurant is not in a caboose. It is, however, within earshot of the stadium in an unassuming brick building. Inside, the bar-like atmosphere features dark cafe tables and chairs, a large bar with stools, a pool table, big-screen televisions and games. Outside is a covered patio, another bar, a stage and a sandy “beach” with a volleyball net. The facility can be rented for children or adult birthday parties, fundraising events, sports banquets, college parties, etc.
Who eats here?
College students as well as the increasing number of residents and business people in the stadium and fairgrounds area are regular customers. Many have known about the establishment from the bar side and are now experiencing the lunch choices. Plus, TLC is beginning to draw customers, due to word-of-mouth, from some parts of the downtown area, Bluff Road and Rosewood Drive. “Some people are eating here three to four times a week, including the mailman,” says Zagata. “They have their favorites. I love to interact with the customers. A perfect day for me is for customers to be well fed and enjoying being here and then stick around for the afternoon and then the evening for some drinks and bar food.”
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