Our Favorite
Savannah Restaurants

Savannah restaurants are some of the best in the USA!

From back alley barbecue joints to temples of haute cuisine, Savannah restaurants have the very tastiest food no matter the genre or the budget.

And we've enjoyed a lot of them!

Here are just a few of our favorite places to belly up and savor the goodness of this culinary kingdom.

Do you have a favorite? Please share it here!

ELIZABETH ON 37TH
105 East 37th Street
(912) 236-5547

Before foodies were cool, Elizabeth On 37th raised the bar for seasonal, Southern Cuisine high over the roof beams. In 1981, Elizabeth Terry and her husband, Michael, decided to leave their comfortable life in Atlanta and move to Savannah to start a new kind of restaurant.

Their decision is now legendary.

Located in an early 20th Century mansion just outside The Historic District and now owned and operated by long-time employees, brothers Greg and Gary Butch, Elizabeth's still serves up ambitious and delicious meals nightly.

Chef Kelly Yambor has carried on the tradition of Chef Elizabeth Terry and kicked it up a notch, in our opinion.

Elizabeth On 37th is not just dinner; it's an event and will prove to be a memory for years afterward.

Might we suggest you begin your evening with their Duck Spring Rolls, Local Blue Crab Two Ways or a plump Bluffton Oyster With Caviar. Then, maybe you might want to feast on the Spicy Savannah Red Rice (with Georgia Shrimp) or the Pecan And Molasses Crusted Rack Of Lamb (with okra and tomatoes and braised greens).

Their desserts will blow your mind!

MRS. WILKES' BOARDING HOUSE
107 West Jones Street
(912) 232-5997

Decades before Paula Deen became The Queen Of Southern Cooking, people from all over the South were lining up (and we mean that LITERALLY) for blocks on end to sit at Mrs. Sema Wilkes tables, say Grace and then proceed to stuff themselves with the most delicious Dixiefied, family-style victuals in the land.

We still do!!!

Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House is not a buffet; it is family-style, which means that you sit at big tables, probably with people whom you've never met, and pass heaping, steaming bowls of sumptuous fried chicken, cornbread dressing, snap beans, okra gumbo, sweet potato souflee and many more Deep South delicacies around to each other and leave afterward in a wheel barrow.

Be careful! You might even get to know your table-side neighbors while striking up a conversation about how fantastic the lunch is.

Only lunch is served so get there around 9 or 10 in the morning. When the dining room opens at 11 o'clock, the line of customers will be about two blocks long.

THE CRYSTAL BEER PARLOR
301 West Jones Street (at Jefferson Street)
(912) 349-1000

Since 1933, and probably before that during Prohibition, The Crystal Beer Parlor has been serving up the coldest beer and hottest, creamy Crab Stew in all of Savannah.

It's recently gotten a nice scrubbing and refurbishing, with some new menu items in tow, but the old stand-by classics like the Fried Oyster Sandwich and the Chili Cheeseburger are just as lip smackingly dee-lish as ever.

You cannot leave without trying the aforementioned Crab Stew.

I first came there for lunch in 1994 and was served by Monroe, who was the kindest, sweetest spirit who ever took on the form of a waiter. After the first bite into the Fried Oyster Sandwich, I became forevermore hooked on the Parlor.

Now, I cannot let a week go by without at least a cup of the Crab Stew and Tami and I both love their Mama's Greek Salad.

At the bar, you can order micro-brews, swanky imports or, what they call, Beers Of Our Fathers, cheap, lager style beers like Mickey's Wide Mouth or Pabst Blue Ribbon.

I love those on typically hot, summer Savannah afternoons...after I've finished my chores, of course.

Here's a tip that not many know. If you're visiting Savannah for the first time, chances are you might not get into Mrs. Wilkes' or Paula Deen's Lady And Sons because the lines are so long. Run on over here.

You'll probably not have to wait long, if at all, and you will LOVE the vibe, the food and the beer.

PIRATES HOUSE
20 East Broad Street
(912) 233-5757

Foodies with children rejoice!

The vibe is kitschy, true, but it's housed in the oldest house in Georgia, circa 1734, and was made famous in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel of high seas swashbucklery, "Treasure Island". Pirates House in Savannah Georgia (In the book, Old Captain Flint, himself, supposedly died in one of the upstairs rooms of the main building.)

It is built on the former site of the original Trustees Garden, planted by Oglethorpe, in 1733. The first peach trees in the State of Georgia were planted on this lot of land so you could say that The Peach State got its name right here.

The she crab soup is creamy and crabby and the Pecan Encrusted Salmon is divine also.

If you want something really hearty, try their special of the house, Flounder Belle Franklin. It's sort of a gratin of flounder, local crabmeat and shrimp cooked in wine, herbs and white sauce then topped with cheese and toasted almonds. Not light but righteous!

There's a full gift shop so you can pillage and plunder plenty of booty.

The restaurant is located on East Broad Street just a dagger's throw away from River Street.

THE OLDE PINK HOUSE
23 Abercorn Street
912-232-4286

The Olde Pink House is the oldest and finest restaurant in Georgia! If you can imagine French Haute Cuisine combined with intense Southern Cookery, you might have an idea how good it can be.

Located in the heart of Savannah's Historic District, you can't miss the restaurant's stately pinkness and you won't want to miss their wonderfully crafted food.

Whether you choose upstairs in the formal dining rooms or downstairs in the trendy, new bar and bistro, you'll find this restaurant and tavern to be quintessential Savannah...cozy yet impeccable.

Try their Pan Seared Jumbo Lump Crab Cake And Fried Green Tomatoes for starters and then move on to their famous She Crab Soup or perhaps those spicy Mac And Cheese Jalapeno Poppers. This is not your Grandma's Southern Food! The Crab Stuffed Grouper and the Fried Lobster Tails are to die for and they are served with Sweet Chili Dijon And Bacon Buttermilk Whipped Mash Potatoes. (Dear Lord Have Mercy!!!)

The 18th Century Mansion is only a couple of blocks from River Street and near most of the Savannah Historic District attractions.

CHA-BELLA
102 East Broad Street
(912) 790-7888

The food does not get any fresher than Cha-Bella. They have their own farm!

Every bite is organic and lovingly tended to by the staff. Chances are your server had a hand in growing the salad she just served you.

That's pretty cool to us.

Start with an appetizer of Sapelo Clams and Georgia White Shrimp Scampi or linger over the hand crafted cheeses or perhaps the seared North Carolina Scallops.

If you're really hungry, you owe it to yourself to indulge in the Local Black Grouper with farm pea, sweet corn and lump crab succotash.Music Events in Savannah GA "Great time of day", that is good eating!

Cha-Bella is gourmet yet seasonably simple and elegantly accessible.

You won't want to miss the place on your visit to Savannah.

AJ'S DOCKSIDE (Tybee Island)
1315 Chatham Avenue
912-786-9533

AJ's Dockside has the best restaurant, table side view on all of Tybee Island.

Whether you just want to nibble on their Conch Fritters, Deviled Crab or Boiled Shrimp or dig into the amazing Crispy Scored Flounder or enormous Fried Dinner Trio (shrimp, oysters and scallops), you won't be disappointed. They serve around 46 different flavors of cold, bottled beer and, later, you probably don't want to miss out on their Triple Chocolate Mousse Pie.

You can start the diet later.

The Crab Shack

For a great outdoor restaurant vibe on the water, The Crab Shack on Tybee Island is, as they self-proclaim, "Where The Elite Eat In Their Bare Feet."

I suppose the elite don't dangle those feet too close to the alligator pond out front or their fingers too close to the parrot cages. (They rescue neglected exotic birds from animal shelters and give them a home at The Shack.)

However, the food is good and the view of Chimney Creek and the marsh is worth the trip.

Beautiful!

Most of the seating is outdoors on a large deck with live oaks overhead and Spanish moss drooping down and there are three fully stocked bars to keep those Hurricanes and Margaritas flowing.

They do a fine low country boil and the oysters are about as fresh as you can get them.

If you're a Jimmy Buffett fan but couldn't get to Key West this year, check this place out....just watch your fingers and toes.

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