Eating well in Savannah isn’t a problem. There are any number of excellent restaurants to discover, from classic barbecue joints to more modern cuisine. Upon returning after five years, we compiled a list of some of our favorites. If you’re looking for good eats, you might want to give one of these restaurants a try.
Say you’ve got a lady companion on your arm. She’s a fine lady, dainty and demure, and you wish to take a romantic stroll along the river, and perhaps even muster the courage to steal a furtive kiss on the cheek. Good sir, stay away from River Street! Now, on the other hand, if your lady is a party animal, partial to the occasional belch, and already a drunken mess at 3pm, then head on down. You guys are going to have a blast. And I bet you get more than a kiss on the cheek.
Sorry, Paula Deen, but Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is Savannah’s most famous dining establishment, with a history that stretches back to 1943. That’s when young Sema Wilkes bought a boarding house at 107 West Jones Street and began serving family-style meals to her clients. Her reputation grew quickly, and soon enough, people were lining up outside the door to get a taste of her famous home cooking.
One of the first things Jürgen did when we got to Savannah was type “German Restaurant” into Google. The nearest place bore the tongue-twisty name of Schnitzel Shack, and was a half-hour away in a town called Rincon (rhymes with Lincoln).
One of the area’s best-kept secrets is found a half hour south of Savannah, in the small village of Townsend: The Old School Diner, owned and operated by Chef Jerome. A couple friends invited us to the restaurant, where we enjoyed some deliciously unhealthy food, and had a rollicking good time that won’t be forgotten.
Let’s be honest here. Pinkie Master’s Lounge is great, but it’s not the kind of bar you’re going to take home and introduce to your parents. You won’t be taking Pinkie Master’s to the Olde Pink House for an awkward first date, and you would never conceive of one day marrying it. Pinkie Master’s just isn’t that kind of bar. But on those late weekend nights, after respectable joints have closed up, and you’re not yet ready for bed… when you’re still looking for a good time… Pinkie Master’s knows what ya want. Pinkie Master’s got what ya need.
Savannah’s coolest cafe has long been the Sentient Bean. That is, if you measure a cafe’s coolness by its hipster quotient. For us fashion-challenged, self-conscious non-hipsters, the Sentient Bean might be Savannah’s most stressful cafe. Still cool, though.
Clary’s on Abercorn is the quintessential American greasy spoon, serving breakfast all day long.
A tiny restaurant in a teensy shopping strip, just before Victory Drive merges with the Islands Expressway, Wiley’s Championship BBQ is a real find. It’s been voted the best barbecue in Savannah multiple times in its short life, and for good reason.
Unless you want an eight-hour sermon that includes nutritional charts, a Powerpoint presentation and tears of righteous fury, don’t get Jürgen started on American breads. And never use the phrase “Wonder Bread” around him. I will not be held responsible for anything that happens.
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