My Sister's Kitchen opens new store in Mazomanie

Shelley Skinner said she had been looking to keep her popular breakfast and lunch spot in Middleton, but decided to buy the former R&J's Saloon building at 8 American Legion Road instead.

She found the location after a six-month search, and Skinner said because she's lived in Arena for the past three years, coming to Mazomanie is a shorter drive.

Skinner said business has been booming at R&J's and while they've never served alcohol before, the new location will allow customers to have a Bloody Mary or Screwdriver with their meal.

She plans to add a salad bar, but until then, she will use the salad bar station as a Bloody Mary bar.

“I run a restaurant. I don't want to run a bar, you know that?” she said.

Skinner said he plans to offer dinner two nights a week once he hires more employees.

She hasn't been able to bring it to her attention yet: “I just wanted to be open. Construction has been hard,” she says.

Skinner ran My Sister's Kitchen on Parmenter Street in Middleton for eight years, making all the specials, soups and chilis herself, sometimes using vegetables from her own garden.

Before taking on the restaurant role, she worked at the Three Sisters Old Town Inn in the same location for eight years, doing nearly every job: cooking, cleaning, serving and prep work.

Skinner and her sister, Karen Grove, took over the business in 2015 and renamed it My Sister's Kitchen. Grove left the business in 2021 but continues to help out when she can. Skinner closed the Middleton restaurant when her lease expired.