‘Live music joint’ thanks community, branches out to college students
Tin Roof Columbia, “a live music joint,” is offering free lunch Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with no strings attached.
The restaurant, bar and live music venue, located near the intersection of Assembly and Senate streets, opened in The Vista in September and for this week only, as a thank you to customers, anyone can get one item from the lunch menu for free.
“We’ve been here in Columbia for five months now and our customers have welcomed us so greatly, and we wanted a way just to give back and say thank you,” manager Amy Peterson said. “Everyone always says there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but we decided to actually do it.”
With quite an impressive menu, featuring a mix of salads, quesadillas and sandwiches, the Tin Roof prides itself on breaking away from the “bar food” stereotype.
“Some of our most popular items are the avocado pavo sandwich, which is avocado, turkey, provolone cheese and bacon, or the marinated flank steak with peppers, onions and provolone,” Peterson said. “And then our sunny quesadilla is also really popular, with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, avocado and grilled chicken.”
The restaurant and bar also boasts a nice list of appetizers, which vary from jalapeno peppers to deep fried dogs or the famous Tin Roof wings, available in honey-hot, hot or fire. Tin Roof’s “award-winning” cheese dip, served with homemade tortilla chips for just $4.95, also makes for the perfect pre-meal treat.
Although the restaurant does transform into live-music mode at 10 p.m., switching into a 21 and over atmosphere, Tin Roof is looking to expand its daytime specials to cater to the college crowd. Instead of advertising solely through the Free Times, they are looking to connect with more customers through Facebook.
“Most of the people we’ve been getting so far are in [local] businesses, but we’re hoping that maybe [free lunch] helps open some of the students’ eyes, that you can come over here for lunch,” said Peterson. “I know students’ schedules are really hectic and sometimes you don’t get a lunch break until two, but come on over and maybe grab a beer.”
Tin Roof has already made a real effort to connect with Columbia and students at USC, hosting and participating in local charity events.
“We did something called Movember -— it’s geared towards men and prostate and testicular cancer,” Peterson said. “We’ve also been hosting a happy hour with American Red Cross and are working with Kappa Delta next week to do a percent night.”
And, as spring grows closer, the restaurant is looking to host outdoor live music events in their adjacent parking lots, which are a blessing in the land of Columbia-— especially in the Vista, where parking is scarce. “We’re kind of looking and shopping around for the best act that would fit Columbia and fit the people that come in here,” said Peterson.
Free lunch is just the first step in Tin Roof’s open relationship with the Columbia community and USC campus. A wide-open space, colorfully adorned with defining decorations, a large bar area, lined with multi-colored twinkle lights and many flat screen TVs, it is the perfect afternoon off-campus hang-out spot.
Tin Roof Columbia is located at 1022 Senate St. and opens for lunch every day at 11 a.m.