I'm passionate about food but when it comes to drinks, I'm somewhat more limited. I mostly stick with water, coffee, and the occasional adult beverage, that's about it. However, upon visiting Skillets breakfast in southwest Florida, I tripped across the best juice I have ever had the joy of trying.
Before I get into the details of this delightful and cheerful beverage, let's set the table for the overall experience. Upon visiting family in who live in the area, they insisted upon us going out for breakfast just once during the week-long trip. We were not given options as to what our preference would be. It was more along the lines of, "This is a place we need to take you to while you are here."
We get seated inside a packed house. With ice waters already on the table I simply order a standard hot coffee. My kids, who usually opt for apple juice or chocolate milk then had the orange juice suggested to them by our fantastic waitress. "You're going to want to try this," she says, and they surprisingly obliged.
When I saw this tray of sunshine in glass get placed down on the table, I was immediately drawn to it. It's just orange juice, right? Wrong. It was more like an orange juice experience, unlike anything else I'd ever tried.
As a kid, my grandparents, who lived in Naples, would send us boxes of fresh (and huge) Florida oranges each winter. Somehow, even straight out of the delivery box left at our doorstep, they seemed cold and bursting with juice. It was a rush of taste that nothing else compared to in my area.
How Skillets Serves The Best Juice
On this particular morning, I had to order my own. It must have been at least 25 years since I ordered a fruit juice for myself at a restaurant.
The orange juice at Skillets is just that—simply orange juice. No other flavors are added, it's not mixed with anything, and it's not fancy. What does put it on another level is that it is served in a frozen mug. Much like your favorite draft beer, the mug is frosty, but the drink inside is still liquid but ice cold.
Orange juice at Skillets is fresh-squeezed juice by Kennesaw, who is based out of Pompano Beach. Dating back to 1923, they pride themselves on creating 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice from the grove. "Most store-bought juice has been stripped of all the things we truly love about a fresh squeezed orange juice and pumped with flavor packs," they explain.
I'm sure it would be much easier and perhaps more cost-effective for Skillets to source their orange juice, something so seemingly small on their menu, from a location that is not all the way on the opposite coast. But the care that they put into the juice truly pays off.
It's been just about a year since my visit, and I don't recall what I ate for breakfast at Skillets (I'm sure it was good, though). However, I can tell you every detail about the best orange juice I've ever had and will return for.
I suppose there was a sentimental value to indulging in this citrus experience. The way Skillets takes pride in and serves their orange just results in a mug that beautifully represents a joyous Florida morning.
You can get a glimpse of this sunshine in a glass via Skillets' Instagram post here.
