Twenty-five years ago, a little frog with a big dream hopped his way south to Hilton Head Island. It didn’t take long for that frog to find a new home in Coligny Plaza and to make his dream a reality. He wanted a daiquiri bar where he could serve his frothy, frozen concoctions, and The Frosty Frog, now an island institution, was born!
“The Legend of Frosty on the menu is Pat’s story,” his widow, Angie Taylor said. “Pat was Frosty the Frog. His dream was to have a little beach bar that he could ride his bike to every day.”
The Taylors arrived on the island in the late 1990s in search of warmer weather, a beachy vibe, and a place where Patrick could wow both locals and visitors with his delicious and colorful 190-proof grain alcohol daiquiris swirling behind the bar.
“I told him he was crazy when he showed me the spot he chose,” longtime friend and Coligny neighbor/Piggly Wiggly owner David Martin, said. “I said that place is just a hole in the corner where nothing lasted very long.”
The Frosty Frog didn’t just survive in that little corner, it thrived. Within 20 years, that “hole in the corner” would expand and evolve into one of the most successful and family-friendly dining experiences on the island.
The original Frosty Frog had only five tables, nine flavors of daiquiris, and a menu of burgers, wraps, sandwiches, and salads. “In the early years, we had to be a late-night place to survive, and the drinks were the draw,” manager Shaun Brockway said. “But we always had great food.”
It didn’t take long for word to spread that the food was as delicious as the frozen drinks, and before long, there were lines out the door, which was not surprising.
Pat was a foodie, and he loved to cook for family, friends, and customers. He was devoted to quality. Martin recalled visiting multiple food shows with Pat in his quest to find the perfect pepperoni before adding his specialty pizzas to the menu.
“Pat loved good quality food and generous portions, and that’s what he gave his customers,” Brockway said. “And while Pat may not be present in the kitchen, his spirit is still there.”
“Everything we make here, we make from scratch,” Angie said. “We still use Pat’s recipes.”
Over the years, Pat acquired adjacent properties, creating an indoor-outdoor seating area where customers could dine while dipping their toes into the tiki bar area or enjoy live music on the patio. He invented dozens of new daiquiri flavors and expanded the menu, eventually adding non-alcoholic frozen drinks for the kids and a dog menu for the furry clientele. Later, he added Frosty’s Closet, a Frosty themed gift store selling island mementos, and opened the Frosty Frog Express on West River Street in Savannah. As Angie emphasized, Pat was always a big thinker with a vision for The Frosty Frog that became a reality.
“The decision to take The Frosty Frog in a family-centered direction was deliberate,” Brockway said. Pat’s daughter had been born in 2005, and fatherhood soon followed for Jaquiss and Brockway as well. “We all became more family conscious and wanted a place where we could bring our families and kids—a place we’d all be proud of.” Success continued to follow.
But success for himself and his family was not enough for Pat. He wanted to see that success extend to his employees at The Frog. Some of them have described Pat as a friend, others as a mentor, and still others as a father figure.
“Everything I know I learned from Pat—and not just about business, but life lessons,” Brockway said. “He wanted to see other people become just as successful or better yet, even more successful than he was. If he could help someone, he did.”
That help included savvy financial advice about everything from paying student loans to purchasing stocks or real estate. He helped employees obtain U.S. citizenship or find better housing conditions. He shared his wealth of knowledge and experience with them; he encouraged employees to better their career prospects, and he celebrated their successes.
It wasn’t just his staff he looked out for; he also loved mentoring other entrepreneurs. “I had years of food and beverage experience, and it was Pat who inspired me to open my own restaurant,” Erika Waronsky, owner of The Sandbar and Pat’s niece by marriage said. “I knew how to run a restaurant, but I didn’t know how to run a business. Pat had so much knowledge, and he helped me immensely with the practical and financial side of things.”
Jeff Zigelstein, owner of Stu’s Surf Side would agree. “I was looking for an exit strategy from the corporate world. Pat was just this invaluable resource who gave his time so freely. He has impacted so many people in so many ways,” Zigelstein said.
“Patrick Taylor always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone,” JR Richardson, CEO/owner of Coligny Plaza recalled. “Pat was a fixture in Coligny. He enjoyed mentoring other small business owners, especially his successors Rusty [Jaquiss] and Shaun.”
“Pat never said no when it came to helping the community,” Jaquiss said. “And it’s something he really instilled in Shaun and me.” The Frosty Frog supports local schools, youth athletics, and the Island Rec Center among many other charitable and community organizations.
The Frosty Frog partnered with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office each holiday season to collect toys for officers to keep in their cars to calm traumatized children and to donate to The Boys and Girls Club and other local charities and families in need. The Frosty Frog also holds an annual golf tournament and reception to raise money and awareness for the program.
Pat’s generosity went well beyond The Frosty Frog and Coligny Plaza. “Anything I supported, he supported too,” Martin said. When I got involved with the Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth, he donated to it and supported it, too. It was the same with other things like scholarship funds and the Sandalwood Food Pantry. His generosity knew no bounds.”
Pat was at The Frosty Frog every day. He loved his loyal locals and annual guests alike. “He remembered families from one year to the next,” Jaquiss said. “He wanted them to have a place here that felt like home—a place where families made memories together.”
He really enjoyed spending time with people and getting to know them. He once met a family that hailed from his hometown, and he invited them to join him on his boat and a tour of Daufuskie Island. He often invited friends—or even acquaintances in need of relaxation—to join him at his rustic Daufuskie cottage.
When he wasn’t at The Frog, he enjoyed relaxing with a Cuervo on Daufuskie, where he was known to blast Christmas music from his golf cart year round. “He was a holiday guy,” Angie said, “but Christmas was his favorite.” He was known to go a bit overboard both with his generosity and decorations during the holiday season. At Halloween, he enjoyed pulling pranks with other Coligny businesses; each Fourth of July the Frosty Frog holds a hotdog eating contest; New Year’s Day was celebrated with his annual croquet tournament on Daufuskie.
Of course, nothing was more important to Pat than his wife Angie—the love of his life—and his daughter Allison Daisy—the apple of his eye and now a freshman at Ole Miss.
“His whole life’s purpose changed when she was born,” Angie said. Despite his demanding food and beverage schedule, he made it to all her school and extracurricular functions.
Family is what drew the Taylors to Hilton Head. Pat’s late mother Carol had a home here, and he had nieces and nephews here, many of whom worked for Pat at one time or another. Waronsky referred to Pat as the “rock” of her family. “He was the one always bringing us together,” she said. And, of course, no mention of his family would be complete without including his beloved dogs, Oakley and Melrose, often referred to as “Little Patricks.”
Rusty and Shaun intend to continue Pat’s legacy with the Frosty Frog and the community. He will also live on through Allison Daisy. As a father, Pat focused on teaching her about the privilege of being able to help others and what he considered the most important life lessons: to love unconditionally, to give selflessly, and to cherish every moment with loved ones.
“Patrick loved life. He always said life is for the living,” Angie said. “He enjoyed his relationships with people. He’d just want us all gathering together to remember him—sharing a meal and continuing to enjoy the laughter.”
