SKILLETS Café and Grill
From their Family to Yours Morning, Noon, and Night BY RISA WILLIAMS MCMILLAN
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For casual, family friendly dining on the south end, there is no better option than Skillets Café and Grill, open morning, noon, and night for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Located on the periphery of Coligny Plaza which in itself is a hub for family and fun, Skillets is the perfect place to enjoy some soul-soothing southern cooking -- a memorable and affordable meal any time of the day. Owner Amie Baima and her crew at Skillets will make you feel at home from the moment you cross the threshold and have you leaving with plans to return. Having just celebrated its 25th anniversary, Skillets has withstood that difficult Darwinian endurance test of time. They have seen changes and expansions along the way and taken great pleasure in watching and welcoming generations of families swing through their doors. No stranger to the business and culinary side of owning a restaurant, Amie has run many businesses over the years in Coligny from the Coligny Bakery and Hilton Head Wedding Cakes to Just 16
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Pasta and the Corner Café. “One of my first ventures was the Bakery and I would have customers come in two or three times a week for breakfast that loved our baked goods but wanted to know where they could go for some eggs. I saw the need for Skillets,” said Amie. She set up shop in a portion of the building they now occupy and originally just served breakfast and lunch. “At first I did not think we needed to be open for dinner because I had my other restaurants and there are only so many hours in the day. I was at the bakery at 4:30 a.m. and at Just Pasta until 11:30 p.m.” But then, in 2002, the restaurant that occupied the other portion of her
building had a fire and Amie ended up taking over the whole building, extending hours and adding a dinner menu. “After the fire, I let all of my other businesses go. It was too much,” she said. “My vision has changed through the years. When we reopened after the fire, I still had all my original breakfast and lunch customers who I thought would become my dinner regulars. But I learned that people do not like to eat breakfast and dinner at the same place. Go figure. So then we tried to serve the breakfast menu through dinner but that did not work either so we changed it up again.” Through trial and error, they have certainly come up with a winning formula. Add to that the fact that Skillets is truly a family affair, and you have a ‘win-win’ situation. At any given time, the odds are greatly in favor that if Amie is not on hand, one of her family members will be there to make sure all is running smoothly. “My dad is here every day. My mom helps my sister at her Coligny stores and then comes over here. If I’m