Here’s how to try these 15 top York County restaurant dishes — and get a T-shirt
Bringing together some of the top chefs and restaurant dishes York County has to offer fits like knife and fork with the tourism charge given to Visit York County. Plus, it just tastes good.
“We’ve created the perfect curated, culinary experience,” said Billy Dunlap, Visit York County president and CEO.
On Wednesday morning Dunlap’s team unveiled the inaugural signature dishes for the YoCo Taste Trail. The 15 appetizer, main course and dessert offerings come from restaurants throughout the county. Participants can download or scroll back to the Visit York County app, check in at restaurants along the trail with snaps of the signature dishes and enjoy the meals.
If you try at least 12 of the 15 dishes, you earn YoCo Taste Bud status, and a T-shirt.
Amy Fortes, co-owner and chef at Flipside Cafe and Flipside Restaurant, is a former state chef ambassador. Her braised beef shortribs made the trail.
“This is a great opportunity for us, for not only exposure but repeat clientele from people we might not otherwise get to take care of in our establishments,” Fortes said.
The trail also helps busy chefs with social media and marketing that’s critical to what they do, but can get shuffled aside with so many orders to fill.
“It’s such a huge part of our industry right now,” Fortes said.
Gene Courtney at Courtney’s BBQ made the list with his rack of ribs. Courtney’s gets plenty of customers from Charlotte, Spartanburg, Gastonia, N.C., and is well-known in the Clover and Lake Wylie communities.
“That made us feel good,” Courtney said of learning he’d made the trail. “I said, are you sure about that? No, but we enjoy it. We’ve got a real good customer base and we appreciate them.”
Courtney mans the buffet line on Sundays, telling customers if they weren’t there he wouldn’t be, either. For YoCo trail restaurants, exposure means more diners from more places.
“If you just moved to Fort Mill, you don’t know where half these place are,” Dunlap said. “You definitely don’t know where the Sharon Grill is, but good gosh if you’ve ever eaten over there, the food’s great.”
Visit York County picked from about 30 nominated dishes and chose restaurants from all parts of the county.
The dishes on the 2020 YoCo Taste Trail are:
▪ Burgers & Barley: Brinner Burger
▪ Courtney’s BBQ: Rack of Ribs Plate
▪ Fish Market Bar & Grill: Chilean Sea Bass
▪ Flipside Restaurant: Braised Beef Shortribs
▪ Hoof & Barrel: Chop “O” Pork
▪ Legal Remedy Brewing: Southern Poutine
▪ Lily’s Bistro: Filet Mignon with Jumbo Scallops and Lobster Tail
▪ Napa at Kingsley: Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
▪ Papa Doc’s Shore Club: Smack Down Shrimp
▪ Sharon Grill: Fried Catfish Plate
▪ Sonny’s BBQ: Banana Pudding
▪ The Lucky Duck: Fried Chicken Sandwich
▪ The Shore Club: Lobster Nachos
▪ The Pump House: Shrimp and Anson Mill Grits
▪ Z Bakery and Cafe: Stuffed Strawberry Croissant French Toast
For Dunlap, the taste trail is fun but also strategic. He and his staff make their living selling York County to tourists. That work means attractions, hotels, venues and certainly restaurants.
“When you visit a destination, you always want to know, where’s the best place to go eat?” Dunlap said. “Where’s the best burger? Where’s the best steak? Where’s the best dessert?”
The beauty of the trail, he said, is it isn’t just for guests.
“We also want to showcase those dishes to the people that live in York County,” Dunlap said. “So this is just as much about the residents of York County as it is the people who visit here.”
Andy Clark understands the balance of good business and hometown flavor when it comes to the restaurant scene. Clark is area president with US Foods, major YoCo Taste Trail sponsor and host of the chefs and dishes Wednesday from its Fort Mill distribution site.
“It’s right up our ally,” Clark said. “We’re foodies here. We’re passionate about food, and we’re excited to have a room full of passionate foodies here to share the experience.”
The Fort Mill site is a regional hub, similar to how the Charlotte airport is for flights. US Foods sends out 150 tractor trailers and a half million cases of food per week, and serves many restaurants in York County and several beyond it. A York County taste trail, though, is special for Clark.
“York County is our home,” he said. “This is our backyard. Our employees live here. Their kids go to school here. And they eat here, and they love to dine out.”
As a regional site US Foods brings in visitors from across the country. Like other large businesses in the area that may do the same, there’s a benefit to a strong food scene, Clark said.
“Once upon a time, there were a lot of limited options if we were going to take some folks out to dine in the local market,” he said. “But man are we lucky now because we have so many great choices, such a diverse culinary landscape.”
YoCo Taste Trail comes less than two years after Visit York County and local brewers launched the YoCo Brew Trail. It’s the drink version of what the taste trail is for food. Thousands of people checked in to complete the brew trail, which won a major tourism award for a new event.
“That became a big deal overnight,” Dunlap said.
Like the brew trail, Dunlap expects more interest in year two for the taste trail as restaurants and participants become familiar with the concept. Dunlap believes there may be twice as many nominations for signature dishes for the 2021 trail.
“I have a feeling that the taste trail is going to be the same way,” he said, “that once we launch this and people see the marketing that’s going behind it and the exposure it’s going to get, that the restaurants that did not participate this year, they’re going to want to participate next year.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
