NEWBERRY — A new family owned restaurant called The Blazi’n Skillet, located at 2064 Wilson Road, specializes in old fashioned, home grown country cooking.
The business is owned and operated by Bill Forrester Sr. along with his son and daughter, Bill Forrester Jr. and Marie Medlock and her husband, Fred Medlock.
“We do not cook from the can. We do not raise our own beef, but we furnish our own beef and our own pork. I buy them, fatten them up, keep them up in the stable for six weeks so the meat is good and and tender, that is the beef and the pork. Then I take them to a USDA approved slaughter pen and I get the meat back and I slice it up myself,” said Bill Forrester Sr.
Not only is the restaurant’s meat fresh, but so are the vegetables. Fred Medlock said that when possible they will purchase their produce from the Farmer’s Market, and Bill Forrester Sr. said that having a produce stand right next door has come in handy.
The decision to open a restaurant in Newberry came from the desire for the family to work for themselves.
“He (Bill Forrester Jr.) was working 14 hours a day for a salary. These two (Marie and Fred Medlock) lived in Beaufort and were working for salary, and the family was all over the country. I decided why not open a place where we can be self employed. If we were going to work 14 hours a day, might as well be working for ourselves, and we came up with this,” Bill Forrester Sr. said.
Bill Forrester Jr. said the original plan was to open a meat market because they started raising cows and hogs to sell the meat.
“When we started looking for locations to do that, Newberry has a couple of meat markets and we wanted something close to home and we did not want to go too far out of town. To go to Irmo or Lexington, or somewhere like that, where something like a meat market would do pretty good, was just kind of a stretch,” he said. “We found a couple of different restaurant locations that were available for lease, and I think that kind of sparked the idea. Instead of offering our meats through a meat market, maybe we can do it and offer even more through a restaurant and include everybody in the family.”
Bill Forrester Sr. added that Marie and Fred Medlock have had experience in the food and beverage industry for many years, which helps give the business added experience.
Since opening almost a month ago, the family has noticed some popular items on their menu. Marie Medlock said that the hamburgers and hamburger steaks are some customers top picks, as well as the cheesesteaks.
“They love our country cooking, every day we put a new menu out, for a special meat. On the weekend we do a meat and three, have two or three choices of meat,” Bill Forrester Sr. said.
Marie Medlock said that along with her husband, who is the kitchen manager, and her father and brother, they decide what will be on the menu for the meat and threes.
“We have alternatives to our sandwich items that we offer on the menu. You can get fried okra or an ear of corn, rather than have fries and cole slaw,” she said.
When it comes to the family’s favorite recipes, Bill Forrester Sr. said he enjoys the homemade baked pinto beans, he says that is something you cannot find anywhere else. Marie Medlock said that her favorite is the sausage, with Bill Forrester Sr. adding that everyone has been enjoying the onion sausage that he makes. Fred Medlock said he likes the country ham that is cured by Bill Forrester Sr. himself. Bill Forrester Jr. said he could not pick a favorite and that he liked everything on the menu.
“We are really looking forward to people putting in their perspective on how good our food really is, if there is something wrong we need to know about it. If somebody leaves here and they got something that was not good, they will tell 40 people and if we do not know about it, than we cannot fix it,” Bill Forrester Sr said.
Marie Medlock added that they are trying to listen to their customers to see what it is that they want, and try to accommodate and put forth the kind of food they want.
“We are looking at the items that are being ordered and the items that are not and replacing the ones that are not holding up,” she said.
Starting today, the Blazi’n Skillet will offer a self serve buffet during breakfast 6-10:30 a.m., and then during lunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., at which point buffet will be served by server.
The Blazi’n Skillet’s current hours are Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Wednesday through Sunday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Monday they are closed. Bill Forrester Sr. said that these hours are only temporary, and they will be open for dinner before long. He added that they are going to try and be open for dinner during the Total Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21. Marie Medlock then added that the plan is to be open for dinner the Friday before.
If you are interested in learning more about The Blazi’n Skillet you can find them on Facebook at Blazi’n Skillet Restaurant.