Hillary Clinton and Nikki Haley love her chicken and waffles. She’ll serve up more in 2019

Editor’s note: We caught up with the most interesting people we wrote about in 2018. Learn what’s new with each this week.

For Kiki Cyrus, chef at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles, 2019 could prove to be a breakout year.

Kiki’s is opening a second location in the Columbiana Station shopping center on Bower Parkway, just off Harbison Boulevard. The spacious room formerly housed HuHot Mongolian Grill beside the Regal Columbiana Grande movie theater.

“We’ll have more seating than they did,” Cyrus said. “We’ll have bar seats where the grill used to be and an event room for 40.”

The target date for opening is April.

So, is this the beginning of a Kiki chain?

“Oh yes,” she said. “We’re not going to stop there.”

Cyrus said she and her husband, Tyrone, will probably look at other cities like Charleston, Charlotte or Augusta rather than put more stores in the Midlands.

“We don’t want to be too close together,” she said.

The original Kiki’s on Parklane Road near Columbia Place mall, launched in 2012, became a dining destination. The restaurant’s popularity got a big boost In 2017, when then-presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden visited the restaurant.

“It was nice having them in my restaurant; not a lot of people can say that,” she said. “Meeting them and having them call me by my name, Kiki, is something I will never forget.”

Then Cyrus had a an incredible springboard in 2018, when then-Gov. Nikki Haley named Cyrus one of only four S.C. Chef Ambassadors.

She was one of the chefs at food and wine festivals in Charleston and Atlanta, and flew to New York to participate on a panel with one of her heroes, celebrity chef Rachael Ray.

It was amazing ... being able to sit on a panel with Rachael Ray, talking to her about women taking over the food world,” Cyrus said

And for fans of Gamecock basketball, Kiki’s also serves inside the Colonial Life Arena’s concourse.

“All the women’s and men’s games. “ she said.