Savannah - Local Color

[Ducky]

We are spending five days in Savannah beginning the end of next week and would appreciate any leads to restaurants and bars that combine good local atmosphere with good local food. These do not need to be "fine dining" restaurants - though they might be - but should in any case be establishments to which locals would go for good, honest and authentic southern cuisine. Restaurants within a 50 mile radius of Savannah would also be of interest. We have wheels and are prepared to travel.

[Andrew Fenton]

Okay, here are a few recommendations for local atmosphere-type places.

Sweet Potatoes is a great spot for solid Southern food. Their catfish is first-rate, and I like their greens as well; I haven't had anything bad there, in fact. It's a low-key, locals-only sort of place, well off the beaten tourist path (in a strip mall). Their sister restaurant, Toucan, is good as well.

On the way to Tybee Island, go to the Crab Shack. Pretty good seafood, and a fun setting (outdoors, very casual.) Early March isn't the best time to go there: it's a little cold (though they do have heaters) and blue crabs are out of season. Still, the low country shrimp boil is worth a try. On Tybee, Tango serves solid "global beach cuisine". I've never had a bad meal there (but never had an amazing one, either).

Johnny Harris is an old-school Savannah institution: they have a great octagonal dining room with what used to be a bandstand in the middle. The food is generally good, and some of their specialties are interesting (for example, they serve BBQ lamb, which I've never seen outside of Kentucky).

The buffet at the Lady and Sons is excellent, but it's very crowded, and the crowd is 95% tourist. Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House has a little more personality; try them for lunch.

If you're in the mood to splurge, the only fine dining restaurant I can wholeheartedly recommend is Gottlieb's. It's excellent, and the Gottlieb family is a Savannah culinary institution.

With five days, you should think about heading to Charleston. Lots and lots of good eating there, but I don't know it as well as I do Savannah.

Edited February 28, 2005 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

This is an excellent way to check out the various restaurants and the factors you may be interested in:

Savannah Now Restaurant Guide

Restaurants are rated by:

Cost (Dinner for two, w/o wine),

Ambience,

Service,

Food,

Credit cards,

Non-smoking area,

Wheelchair access,

Reservations,

and Bar.

thread on Savannah food

NYT article from their Travel section

[Ducky]

Many thanks for these helpful posts.

[DaleJ]

If the beginning of the end of next week includes 12 March, that is Winefest on Hilton Head Island (about 50 miles north of Savannah) attended by about four thousand people who will sample from 1,000 wines assembled.

There will be food, music and live and silent auctions featuring collectible vintages. Tickets are $30 at the gate at Shelter Cove Community Park. The event is held in tents, rain or shine.

[maf]

Savannah has more choices than you might think, especially in the upper tier. What it doesn't have much of is ethnic food, but you can probably get that at home. Do you have any particular ideas?

Many people come to the South seeking regional food. Truth be told, we don't eat shrimp and grits or collards with fatback every day, but if that's what you have in mind there are two ways to go: upscale or meat-and three (ignoring breakfast for the time being).

On the upscale side, I think the best in town is 45 South, There's some game (quail, rabbit) on the menu, and a nice wine list. It's also formal, perhaps even a little stuffy. Elizabeth's receives constant glowing reviews, and they do a good job of forcing Southern ingredients into their dishes (think grit cake in an iron skillet w/ country ham and collard greens topped with red eye gravy). There are others: Bistro Savannah, Olde Pink House (great basement bar), Il Pasticcio, Gottliebs and Sapphire Grill all turn out a good meal.

I'm sorry to say we don't do as well as we should on the meat-and three category. The Lady & Sons is good, but the constant line keeps most locals away. As mentioned in Mr. Fenton's post, Ms. Wilkes (a somewhat faded Savannah institution) is also good. The best part there is eating family style, with bowls you pass aroung the table. I once sat next to a gentleman from California who could not identify most of the vegetables on the table, but he showed us by loudly proclaiming that we had probably never heard of artichokes. Here's a strange thing about the South: it's not as close to dueling banjos as you may imagine.

Depending on your adventure level, here's my recommendation if you want to try Southern lunch food: The United House of Prayer for all People. They run a cafeteria out of the church kitchen during the week with traditional food. They serve the foods (especially vegetables) that most Southerners grew up on. They won't try to change your religion (to my delight, they leave you alone), but you are eating in a church cafeteria, so no alcohol (by the way, plan ahead, Georgia law prohibits off premises sales on Sunday).

If you want barbeque (as you should), try Sweet Leaf (not a BBQ dive, much too upscale) or the Rib Hut (only during daylight) or, if you really want barbeque, drive an hour to Statesboro and find Vandy's downtown. Best Brunswick stew, ever. If you are going further south on I-95, I can also suggest some places near Brunswick.

Another Southern institution is Love's catfish barn about 20 miles SW of town. Popular with the church crowd on Sunday afternons, but good any time.

For breakfast, the Breakfast Club on Tybee Island is the only choice. Should you find yourself on Tybee at night, check out Doc's Bar, a great dive bar and a trip in a time machine. Don't miss the bumper pool or neglect to play the communal bongoes with the house musician.

[Andrew Fenton]

maf, those are some great suggestions. The Breakfast Club is absolutely the best place to go for breakfast (especially if you're on or near Tybee). I don't know for sure whether it's worth the drive from town just for that, but then, I'm not much of a breakfast person. On the other hand, weren't they the original selection to cater JFK Jr's wedding? Can't be all bad.

45 South is another good recommendation, that slipped my mind. I've only been there once, and found it indeed to be a little stuffy, but the food was good. (I think. It was three days before my wedding, and I was pretty distracted... I remember liking what I ate, but I couldn't tell you what it was.) Sapphire Grill is pretty good, too. But I have to disagree with you about Elizabeth's. I've been consistently disapointed by it. There's not much attention to food appearance (lots of brown piled on brown), and I think the food ranges between bland and oversalted. But I've only eaten there in the recent past, and have a suspicion that the place went downhill once Elizabeth left.

I've taken note of Love's and the United House of Prayer for when I'm next in town. It doesn't surprise me that the latter is good. First, because church ladies are always good cooks. And secondly, I've found that the best cooking in Savannah is often to be found in non-restaurant settings. The Savannah Golf Club, for example, can sometimes turn out amazing food- among the best fried chicken I've tasted.

I'm not wild about Savannah barbecue: it's okay, but there's better to be found elsewhere in the state, and much better to be found not far away, across the SC state line. Sweet Leaf is pretty okay (though I was a little nonplussed when I asked the waitress about what kind of wood they use and she replied "pine") and I'd give it another try. What do you think about Wall's?

It seems like the ethnic scene in Savannah is getting better and better. There's that Cuban place, which ain't half bad. And I see more and more Vietnamese restaurants every time I'm down there: nothing wrong with that at all!

[maf]

I think Walls is somewhat of a disappointment. When you find the rundown shack on an unpaved lane (don't call them alleys in Savannah) you're convinced it will be some secret treasure. As you sit in one of the two orange formica booths waiting for your food, having ordered que w/ enticing sides such as red beans & rice, you just know the place couldn't have survived so long unless the food were great. Then...the food comes.

Don't get me wrong, it's OK, and there aren't many places left that will serve you RC Cola, but it's real average at best. The meat is nothing special, the sauce is forgettable, there's no brunswick stew and the beans are canned kidney beans on white rice w/ a ring or two of cheap smoked sausage on top.

My advice for Walls is skip the BBQ, going with deviled crab, Savannah red rice (I don't want to hear that it's no different from other red rice you may have experienced) and collard greens. If you like sweet stuff, the red velvet cake is about the same sugary mess I remember my mom making.

On the plus side, it's the only barbeque within walking distance of downtown, and it scores high on ambience (by having a serious lack thereof).

[MissMel]

Hey, guys. I can't believe I'm acutally posting about where to eat in Savannah. We just moved away in December (after 10 years) and are going back for Sidewalk Arts and are bringing newbie's with us. We're looking for someplace that we can celebrate a friend's b-day on Saturday night, but (here's the kicker) without busting the bank.

While we still haven't tried Gottleib's, but it's not really everybody's style. Only 2 of us (out of 7) are true foodies, but we want someplace everybody will enjoy. We've done Bistro, Garibaldi's, Lady and Sons, Il, Sapphire, etcetera. Last time we got together, we hit Toucan Cafe, which was a hit, and may be our default this time. It's tough, we want to show Savannah off, but can't really afford to do it up right. We don't get together very often anymore, so it's got to be good!

Anything new or somewhere worth revisiting come up in the last few months? We're staying southside/midtown, but will be downtown for most of the weekend, so we're flexible for anywhere. Oh, and no asian or derivatives thereof.

Could I be more demanding? Thanks in advance!

[maf]

Sounds like you've done the usual suspects. I think Toucan is good and fun; the same people also own nearby Sweet Potatoes, which emphasizes Southern comfort food as opposed to Caribbean. These are probably the two best choices for Southside/Midtown.

In the category of new, the recently opened Mansion on Forsyth Park (the former Fox & Weeks) houses a restaurant billing itself as top notch. I believe it's called 700 Drayton. I haven't made it yet, but have sampled some of their fare at Taste of Savannah. I fear, however, it may be a budget buster. I couldn't find a menu on their web site.

Also on the new side, Paula Deen's brother opened a seafood place in the former Snapper's on Wilmington Island, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. The food's OK (there's only so much you can do with fried shrimp), and many people enjoy the Deen connection because they've seen her on TV. At least the line isn't as long as it is at her downtown restaurant.

Downtown, I like Jazz'd, the tapas bar in the basement of the old Kress building. I'm sure there are better tapas establishments elsewhere, but I like many of the dishes (the grouper wrapped in swiss chard is a favorite). It's fun for a group, as you can share. Also, the tapas for two for $45 is a good deal, and the wine list is reasonable, if limited.

[MissMel]

Thanks for the quick reply!

We really like Jazz'd, too, but is the music still so loud? Both times we went there, it was so loud we couldn't even hold a conversation-but I like the food there, too. The Martini tenderloin tips-YUM! Maybe if we could get one of the big booths, and go before nine...

So the mansion on Forsyth finally opened? By the photos alone, it certainly has the air of a budget buster, but I am still intrigued. Also, in my research, I came across La Boheme. Have you tried it yet? It's probably not going to work for us this time, but I'm still curious.

[maf]

The music at Jazz'd varies and is sometimes too loud, but if so you can usually get the table in back that's walled on 3 sides, almost a separate room. They have a Sinatra cover guy that draws a regular crowd, but I'm not sure what night he's there (also don't know if you would find that appealing or repulsive, but the guy does have his fans).

La Boheme is real new and seems to be inconsistent in its hours. They claim to be a cafe and bar, but there doesn't appear to be much in the way a a full menu there yet. Probably a good place for a glass of wine, but not dinner.