Sly's Chill And Grill To Offer New Food Options For Neligh

By Logan Lawson
logan@pitzerdigital.com​

Beginning Tuesday, Neligh will have one more new restaurant option in a familiar place downtown.

Sly’s Chill and Grill, owned and operated by Brian and Teresa Legate, is set to open in the former White Spot building. 

The opening has been a long time coming for the Legate family. After receiving encouragement from friends and family to start their own restaurant, the couple decided to purchase the property at 408 M Street when Brian sold his trucking equipment and retired from the industry in February. They purchased the property in January in anticipation of his retirement and began remodeling it on their own. 

“It was something Brian’s always kind of had in the back of his head,” disclosed Teresa.

Teresa, who currently also works as a rural route carrier, has experience in various restaurants throughout the area, including Imperial Steakhouse under Ray Ahrens. She intends to keep her job while working during nights and weekends at the restaurant. To start with, the restaurant will be operated mostly by the family.

“Brian will work full-time here and he will be the main guy the customers will see during the day,” Teresa explained. “Our children will all help us, too.”

The couple chose the new name to let people know who they are and to represent what they want the company to be. 

“Brian’s nickname is high school was Sly,” Teresa explained. “He said, ‘Everybody when they come to town and they see Sly on the board, they’re going to know who’s in that place.’ ”

The second half of the name, Chill and Grill, came from a sign the two saw while in Lincoln visiting their son. It embodies what the two would like the restaurant to be, a place where people can come to relax and enjoy good food as a family.

“To me, it’s important that there is a place that you can bring your kids that’s not just a bar,” Teresa said. 

The menu will grow with the company. To start, there will be a variety of broasted items such as chicken, catfish and pork chops, as well as fried foods and items from their flat grill such as different hamburgers. Sly’s will also offer prime rib and potentially grilled items in the evenings. There are plans in the works for an eventual lunch and Sunday buffet. Teresa is especially excited for what she calls “off the wall specials” that will come out in the future, such as shark and wild game.

Currently, the couple intends to have business hours from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. The restaurant does not yet have a liquor license so they will not be able to serve alcohol to patrons right away. Once that changes, they will stay open later to fit the usual bar hours. They also intend to keep the grill hot regardless of how busy it is to help cater to the people of the area at any time.

“Brian was raised on a farm and he was like ‘I want to be there for the farmers,’ “ said Teresa. “The farmers don’t usually eat at six o’clock at night. They eat at ten and eleven.”

The Legates also want to be available for people after sporting events and high school activities once the school year starts. They want people to know that when they come to Neligh for an event, they will be open after the event to give visitors a place to eat in town before they make their way home. 

If anyone is looking to contact Sly's Chill and Grill, you can call them at (402) 887-4728 or check out their Facebook page for daily updates. The Legates plan to expand many aspects of the restaurant in the future, including adding more staff, menu items and eventually even catering options. Until then, they simply want to provide the City of Neligh one more delicious food option to enjoy.

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