This morning a memory from 3 years ago showed up on my Facebook page. It was a t-shirt that reads “in wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.” It was from one of our favorite restaurants in Carrboro. Sadly, they closed early in the pandemic. The t-shirt brought up lots of Tyler’s memories that I thought would be fun to share. (Remember, writing is my therapy).
When I first think of Tyler’s, I immediately think of middle school dances. It was the place to be pre-dance (Tyler’s kids went to my kids’ middle school) and there were 3 each year of 5th-8th grade. My son and his 2 best buddies would chow down on the Buffalo chicken sandwich and fries. I encouraged all of them to pass on the garlic fries pre-dance. More on the garlic fries later. This sandwich required many, many napkins. A true sign of a tasty sandwich. Another middle school memory around dances is Aidan’s friendship/hatred towards a girl in his grade. We all know they really didn’t hate each other, and they were so similar in personalities. As we were parking for a pre-dance dinner, he saw this girl and her friends heading into Tyler’s. He leaned over and whispered “E is wearing too much make up, but I am not going to say anything.” I responded that was a good call and that maybe he was starting to develop a filter (then had to explain what that was to him).
Now for the food. My go to was the Carolina Cuban with garlic fries. I apologized in advance to my husband if he got the regular fries. The amount of garlic on these fries was insane… and, oh so good. The Carolina Cuban was shaved ham, Eastern NC pulled pork BBQ, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard on a locally made hoagie roll. Pressed and grilled until golden brown. The rest of my family were die hard Buffalo chicken sandwich people. They needed all the napkins, and then some.
We were at the Speakeasy next door to Tyler’s last February, just me and the husband, having some drinks trying to make a big family decision. We ordered take out from the bar because it was getting close to dinner time and neither one of us felt motivated to cook. So strange that was our last Tyler’s experience.
While we did not shop a lot at the Carrboro Bottle Shop on the other side of Tyler’s, I always loved their street signs. Super witty and always made me laugh.
It is hard to believe all 3 of these Carrboro greats are gone, but honestly my biggest regret is not telling our favorite waiter thank you for being awesome and that he was our favorite. For some reason I am thinking his name was Kevin, but I am not 100%. If/when we ever get to do things like go out to dinner again, I am committed to being more aware and grateful for the people who make that experience amazing. I just pictured our family sitting at Kevin’s table when my kids had their own kids and still eating the Buffalo chicken sandwiches… with all the extra napkins.
Thanks for the memories Tyler’s. We will miss you.