Business hops in Lake Wylie area with new restaurant and more

It’s only been a week for Bruce and Theresa Allen. But it’s been a good week.

The owners of The Casual Pint in RiverGate shopping center in Steele Creek, N.C., opened their doors Nov. 10.

“People really seem to appreciate what we brought to RiverGate,” Bruce Allen said Friday morning. “It fills a void.”

Casual Pint has homemade beer cheese, pretzels, guacamole, humus and pico de gallo. They have several versions of bratwurst marinated in a different beer weekly. They have sidewinders on flatbread and wraps. They serve a variety of meals, though many come for the beverages.

“Most important is we have 35 taps on our wall,” Allen said. “We have over 300 varieties of beer in our store.”

The restaurant also has board games for families, and a dog-friendly patio area. Allen, a home brewer and beer enthusiast, said The Casual Pint is his family’s first venture into the restaurant industry.

“This is the first one,” Allen said. “I was kind of tired of the corporate rat race, so I thought I’d join this rat race.”

The Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting opening day at The Casual Pint. If the ribbon clippings are any indication, business is doing well in Lake Wylie. Another followed Nov. 15 at the new McSpadden Home and Design Center in Lake Wylie. A day later, the chamber was celebrating the opening of Fairway Mortgage in Lake Wylie.

The McSpadden project adds to Shoppes at the Landing, where the home builder set up shop years ago with a professional center drawing more businesses.

“The design center is beautiful and such a practical and nice way for customers to have professional services and samples to select all the many details that go into designing a home,” said Susan Bromfield, chamber president. “Everything is coordinated and laid out nicely, so people can see what they are selecting and how it looks with the many other components that go into the design and detail.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Business hops in Lake Wylie area with new restaurant and more."