By Ben Lawson
When Cheryl and Ron Martin made the decision to uproot from their lives in Chicago, they were not yet thinking of pizza, but of the weather.
Ron was not a fan of the cold, while Cheryl had no interest in going somewhere too hot.  So they compromised by choosing East Tennessee, which they had passed through five years earlier and fallen in love with.
So after their two children went off to college, the Martins headed for Seymour to start “Our next chapter in life,” Cheryl said.
They started this new chapter without a clear plan in mind.  Ron enjoys home renovation and they toyed with the idea of getting into that business when the housing market went under.  This started them down their current path, opening a Chicago pizza-style family restaurant.
“We were kind of taking a leap of faith,” Cheryl said.
The decision to open their first restaurant was not a random one.  Cheryl’s grandfather has built restaurants for nearly 30 years, and they have worked off and on with the family in the field.  After settling in the area, they surveyed the local eating establishments.
“There’s no good pizza,” Cheryl said.
With this discovery, Ron suggested filling that gap, and so Skyline was born.  They wanted to open a place that offered fresh home cooking that would remind people of family meals.
“A lot of the recipes are home made, they come from my family, from Sunday dinners with grandma.  The spaghetti sauce here is her recipe,” Cheryl relates.
In addition to the food, they also tackled the building, putting down new floors, painting, and updating the interior for a more cozy feeling.
    They currently have five employees, including Cheryl and Ron, who both work in the kitchen.  Although the sizable menu is not strictly Italian, the pizza is certainly the specialty.
“You have two places really for pizza,” according to Cheryl.  “New York and Chicago, and we’re from Chicago.
“We do a stuffed version of Chicago deep dish which is about two inches thick and full of cheese. A piece will fill a normal person up very easily.”
Having been open for six months now, Cheryl indicated that things have been slow going at first, but she’s optimistic about the future.
“We enjoy being here, we enjoy doing what we’re doing, we’ve met a lot of nice, interesting people,” she said.  “This is really where we’d like to be.”
Skyline is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

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