As seen in The Island Packet, 9/25/07

Lowcountry Tastes: Skillets Cafe

By Mike McDonell
Published Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I first started visiting Skillets Cafe

10 years ago. It’s been a favorite place to indulge in the types of breakfast I normally don’t get at home. When I feel like skipping my Froot Loops, chances are good I’m heading to Skillets.

“Skillets Cafe … Not just for Breakfast!” So proclaimed a card on my table during a recent visit to this venerable Hilton Head Island eatery. And it’s true. Several things have changed at Skillets since it opened in 1994. For one thing, due to a fire next door in 2002, Skillets reopened in 2004, expanding from 1,000-square-feet to 5,000-square-feet. And it shows. This is a bright, airy restaurant. But there’s something else.

Owner Amie Baima filled me in. That menu I’ve been perusing these many years? The first two pages still are filled with wonderful breakfast fare. The signature “Skillets” still are tempting medleys of delightful breakfast items served in their own porcelain “skillet.“My favorite, “The Brisket” ($7.75), is homemade corned beef hash topped with two poached eggs.

There also are three-egg omelets($7.50 to $8.95), Belgian waffles ($5.95 to $6.95) breakfast crepes ($6.95 and $8.95), wonderful Benedicts ($8.50 and $10.50), French Toast the Skillets Way ($6.25 for a full order and $4.50 a half order) and Stuffed French Toast ($7.25 for a full order and $5.50 a half order), more styles of pancakes than should be legal ($5.95 to $6.95) and breakfast sandwiches ($6.25). Then Amie turned the page.

Lunch. Who knew there were two more pages of luncheon items served after 11 a.m.? There are more than soups, salads and good-looking sandwiches, too. Stir fry is available in veggie ($7.25), chicken ($7.95) and beef ($9.95). There’s traditional fare such as meat loaf, chicken pot pie and shepherd’s pie ($7.95), as well as jambalaya and Beef Tips Marsala ($10.95).

Southern-style specialties and a kid’s menu are served, too.

For those arriving at dinnertime, daily blackboard specials offer tempting selections, with the operative word being “fresh.”

Naturally, breakfast and lunch are served until closing.