New Savage Skillet becoming island hot spot
Carla Arguello and Erika Barrabi are the proud new owners of Savage Skillet in Bokeelia, which opened on Dec. 6, 2025. Barrabi said the pair never met in the cooking industry when they both had their own separate food trucks in Miami, and stressed that this is very uncommon.
“I saw her name on social media, but never knew who she was,” said Barrabi of Arguello.
Once they both happened in the same place at the same time, they finally met and seemed to know they both wanted to do something different, which she described as something that has never been done before in this area.
“A lot of people told us that breakfast is a hit here on the island,” she said, so they decided to open a place that serves breakfast, even though their skills are far beyond one type of meal or even culture.
Although she said they are not going to add dinner options to the menu at this time, it may very well be in their future.
Currently, they are working hard to incorporate some South African items to the menu, as Arguello names the area as her country of origin and said she came here in 2014.
Barrabi said they are going to release another menu, one which will feature a little more South African combined with a modern Cuban background.
“Not your traditional rice and beans, but more of a modern style, with that Cuban flair,” Barrabi said, adding that there has been some interest in the possibility of this new exciting addition to the menu.
Although Barrabi and Arguello are, in reality, good friends and business partners, they both admit they feel more like twins. Barrabi said she feels she’s known Arguello for her entire life, and that when folks meet them, they assume they’ve known one another for a much longer time than they have.
Running the Savage Skillet is giving them an opportunity to get to know Pine Islanders and what they want. For now, the current menu items which seem to be most popular, said Barrabi and Arguello, are biscuits and gravy with country fried steak and also avocado hash and their cinnamon rolls.
As quickly as something becomes the most popular, the most selected menu items seem to change, they agreed.
“I can tell you one dish and then, all of a sudden, that week — it blows us away — it’s a different dish,” Barrabi said.
Another top seller, said Barrabi, is the capri chicken sandwich. The owners would also like people to know there will be a brunch buffet for Easter and that the restaurant space is available for private parties.
Savage Skillet is at 5110 Pine Island Road, Ste 140E, Bokeelia, FL 33922
The restaurant is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week. Call (402) 803-8254 for additional information.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email