Running her family’s restaurant, the TC Diner, may seem like a drastic step from the time she spent as a coordinator for “The Late Show with David Letterman,” but Meral Yilmaz said she couldn’t be happier.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
TC Diner will be expanding from their West Ocean City location into Fenwick Island this summer. The new restaurant sits at the corner of Route 1 and Route 54, beside the new Fisher’s Popcorn.
Now that the business is expanding into Fenwick Island, she said she hopes to establish more customer loyalty and provide the service that her family’s diner has done for West Ocean City for decades.
Yilmaz — who also spends her time as a Realtor with Remax — came to Ocean City, Md., four years ago.
“My family has been in this business for years and years,” she said. “It seems like forever.”
When she was visiting some friends at the Maryland shore, she learned that her family was planning to sell the diner, and she was determined not to let that happen. She bought the restaurant to keep it running, and moved to southeastern Maryland from her New Jersey home, where she has been operating it ever since.
Expansion had been an ambition of hers ever since she started, and when the opportunity came, she jumped at the chance and didn’t give up.
“In Fenwick, they have some breakfast places, but there aren’t a lot of diner-style ones,” she said. “I’ve also heard that, sometimes, it’s hard for people to get into some of the ones that are around because so many people like to eat out in the mornings.”
The new diner, which is planned to open near Memorial Day, is located at the corner of Coastal Highway and Lighthouse Road, in the same building as the newly relocated Fisher’s Popcorn, at the site of the former Pep-Up gas station.
“I had always seen that gas station at the corner and thought, ‘What a waste. That would be a great breakfast location.’” said Yilmaz. “I never thought that I’d actually end up there.” When she learned that the area had gone up for sale, she hit the phones. “I had been watching that place for a year,” she said. “I called the owner over and over, begging and pleading, and finally, he said, ‘OK.’”
The prominent corner in Fenwick Island will be the second location for the diner, though Yilmaz assures fans that the West Ocean City restaurant isn’t going anywhere.
“Some people have been panicking, worried that we’re closing the one down here, but it will still be around.”
Yilmaz added that she hopes this is the start of something great for the business. “I’d like to have our diner become more of a chain, eventually,” she admitted — though, for now, the two alone should keep her busy enough.
TC Diner has been credited with providing one of the best breakfast and lunch menus in Ocean City, including the some of the area’s top-ranked chipped beef gravy. “Everyone likes our food because it’s all made from scratch,” said Yilmaz.
Pancakes, French toast and omelets are some of the headliners on the all-day breakfast menu, with lunch serving up hot and cold sandwiches, subs, cheesesteaks and soups from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Children’s menus are available as well. “We make everything by hand, and that seems to be why people enjoy it more.”
But it’s not just the home-style cooking that brings the locals back each morning and afternoon.
“All of our customers tell us that they like coming here because it feels like one big family,” Yilmaz said. “It’s not like, ‘Eat your food and get out.’ We give them attention and we’re loyal to our customers, and they’re loyal back. We do whatever we can to keep them happy, and if someone comes up to us with a suggestion, we always take the time to listen to them.”
Regular customers frequently return to the diner for both the food and the sociable atmosphere. “There are couples who first met here in our restaurant and are now happily married,” she said. “Many people have made friends with other customers who eat here. It’s nice, because it brings everybody together.”
Yilmaz admitted that running even one restaurant can get stressful. “It’s like any job, though,” she said.
With the opening of the new diner, she said she is more excited and anxious than she is stressed out. “It’s all a matter of how you handle it. I’ve been fortunate to find reliable people to work with, too, and that makes the job a lot of fun.”
Rows of autographed photos from celebrities and politicians line the wall, including her former boss, Letterman, as well as actor Adam Sandler and Maryland Rep. Wayne Gilcrest.
“We get a lot of big names coming in here,” Yilmaz said. She also meets many recognizable faces through her work with “The Late Show.” “I’ve always loved the entertainment business,” she said. “Here, I get to entertain the customers.”
TC Diner in Fenwick is now accepting applications for employment at all positions. For details and information, call (443) 365-0309.