The Cheesy Skillet, ‘the home of gourmet macaroni and cheese’, will open a second location in Topsham

With dreams of running his own restaurant for 10 years, Auburn’s Danny Caron will open his second location of The Cheesy Skillet at The Topsham Fair Mall this summer.

“We are starting construction right now and the carpenters are there. We are excited,” Caron said.

The Cheesy Skillet offers more than 25 gourmet cheese-infused dishes on its menu. Caron said some of the customer favorites are the lobster mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich and cheese rite, a tortilla wrap stuffed with tater tots, mac and cheese and a selection of beef stew, crispy chicken or pulled pork.

The Topsham location will be in the former Little Ceasars in Unit 3 of the Topsham Fair Mall, two doors down from Hannaford.

Caron said he hopes to open 10 or more locations in the next few years.

Caron’s first location opened in April at the Auburn airport and he said he expects his Topsham restaurant to be up and running in late August or early September.

“I came up with the idea 10 years ago,” Caron said. “I said it would be my retirement project. I think it’s a unique concept, with a touch of Mexican and Asian cuisine. But it all has to do with the cheese.”

Caron is a seasoned chef and culinary arts teacher at The Green Ladle in Lewiston and has hired alumni to work at his restaurant in Auburn. Caron also works alongside his sons Danny Caron Jr. and Dustin Caron. Dustin handles anything other than cooking, like IT and heavy lifting, according to his father.

“I have the experience and he has a good back and good knees,” Caron said.

Macaroni and Cheese Tacos available at The Cheesy Skillet. facebook photo

Originally, Caron planned to open The Cheesy Skillet with a “full-scale dining room and wait staff”. After seeing how local restaurants struggled to keep their doors open during the COVID-19 pandemic, Caron adjusted his business plan.

“We made some changes. So instead of running it with 20 employees, we can run it with eight,” she said. “Now all of our locations are takeout or counter.”

Caron said she has already filled most of the positions at the new Topsham location with alumni.

As of September 2020, nearly 100,000 restaurants in the US closed during the first six months of the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. By the end of 2021, the association reported a $65 billion decline in restaurant sales and a 1 million drop in restaurant employees.

Many indoor dining restaurants were challenged in 2020 after the Maine Legislature limited all restaurants to takeout and delivery services only. It wasn’t until June 2021 that Gov. Janet Mills relaxed dining restrictions and allowed customers to eat indoors once again, according to Maine.gov.

Danny Caron, left, and Dustin Caron at The Cheesy Skillet’s new Topsham location. facebook photo

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