The Resy Guide to Savannah’s Best Restaurants

Within five years of opening, The Grey restaurant has become the center of attention for Savannah dining, drawing well-deserved national and international accolades for partners executive chef Mashama Bailey and Johno Morisano. The team restored a formerly segregated, 1930’s, Greyhound Bus Terminal into a restaurant that gracefully bridges Southern cuisine and regional ingredients with global, mostly African, flavors and techniques. Chef Bailey takes the traditions of her childhood and expands nearby ingredients into heady dishes such as foie gras and grits with vibrant blueberry glaze, a twist on the breakfast staple, liver and grits. Or Sapelo Island clam dumplings, a current take on chicken and dumplings. Bailey literally closes dinner with a “thrill,” a simple but wholly refreshing frozen juice treat made for kids on hot summer days.

There are two dining options at this wildly popular restaurant: opt for the main bar, where Bailey’s menu “will vary not only from evening to evening but, often, within the course of an evening’s service,” or the diner bar, where smaller plates are meant to complement one the Grey’s many excellent cocktails.

Opened in 1981 by chef Elizabeth Terry, this perennial favorite for locals and epicurean travelers is now under the stewardship of Greg and Gary Butch. Executive chef Kelly Yambor keeps the culinary momentum moving forward with contemporary and refined plates that bear the renowned wine list (more than 10,000 bottles) in mind. The Grouper Celeste, a sesame-and-almond-crusted grouper with Georgia peanut sauce, remains firmly planted on the menu, as does Savannah red rice and shrimp with Sapelo Island clams and okra, both longtime favorites. Like many restaurants in Savannah, the dining room is housed in a former mansion, where the Butches maintain a stately garden and chef Yambor reaps a steady supply of hyper-fresh herbs.

Call 912-236-5547 for more info.

The ever-changing menu at this lunch-only historic restaurant is a greatest hits collection of Southern cuisine staples from fried chicken and black-eyed peas to collards greens and okra, all served family-style in abundant portions befitting this former boardinghouse.

There are no gastronomic fireworks, but just about every dish has a wholesome Thanksgiving-ish comfort about it, such as the braised turnip greens with bits of salt pork and yam soufflé complete with marshmallows. There are no reservations, thus there’s often a bit of a wait to get into this 80-year-old favorite. If you aren’t with a family or group, make acquaintances with the folks in line: the tables are communal and the tabs are paid in cash or Venmo only.

More info at mrswilkes.com.

The people of Savannah have been celebrating special occasions in this celebrated former mansion for decades, enjoying the seafood-centric menu which is mostly updates on traditional Southern cookery. Take Southern Sushi, which could have been a campy mistake, instead of silky bites of smoked shrimp and grits, rolled within coconut-studded nori. The crispy cornbread fried oysters offer the totally satisfying crunch of hot, well-fried shellfish with a cool dollop of herbaceous green goddess dressing. Entrees, too, are inventive, but don’t stray too far afield: the pecan-crusted chicken with blackberry-bourbon glaze and sweet potatoes hits the spot.

The dining room, rumored to be haunted by friendly ghosts, is a warren of small rooms lending to privacy for special occasion ambience. The bartenders know what they’re doing, especially with bourbon, and the basement bar below jumps after dark with live music.

Call 912-232-4286 for reservations.

The shiny white tiled dining room accented with burnished metal creates an air of a clean slate, creating anticipation for what executive chef Caleb Ayers has in store. Ayers is serious about having fun with his creative take on the bounty of the waters and fields close by. Yes, there are shrimp and grits, chicken wings, and many of the usual suspects of Southern dining on the menu, but here, the cornmeal for those grits comes from a local grist mill and the shrimp and tomatoes not far from the mill. The wings (award-winning, by the way), are all at once hot, juicy, and crispy, coated with spiced honey, sour sumac, a welcome sting of heat from smoked morita peppers, and a chewy bite of kitchen-cured bacon. Most of the meats on the thoughtful charcuterie platter are cured in-house, anything pickled on the menu was fermented on site — no surprise the bread comes from their ovens as well. Don’t miss dessert from Peanut Ayers’ pantry. Her riff on peanut butter pie is rich with a turbo-charge of peanuts, cut with a sweet and sour pomegranate-grape sauce held in a cardamom graham cracker crust.

The original Fat Radish in Manhattan’s Lower East Side garnered a solid reputation for thoughtfully prepared food with a focus on vegetables. Their southern outpost carries on the owners’ commitment to small production farming and looks to the nearby rivers and ocean for some of their best dishes. Crispy fish cheeks (always the tastiest bit) are lifted higher by way of spicy harissa aioli and herb-y egg sauce gribiche. Steamed clams are sweet and briny, accompanied by piquant shishito pepper pesto and peanuts.

Bob Jeffries, author of the 1970s classic “Soul Food Cook Book,” wrote, “while not all Southern food is considered soul food, all soul food is definitely Southern.” Sisters of the New South honors this tradition with deep historical and social roots in the Black South, offering a comforting soul food menu of family recipes handed down through generations. Choices include ample portions of turkey wings, fried or baked chicken, fried seafood, and oxtails. Those large portions come with three side orders, including red rice, yams, and collard greens on the roster of options.

More info at thesistersofthenewsouth.com.

This newcomer is in fact not a yarn and craft shop, but the sister restaurant of the hugely popular Farm restaurant in South Carolina. Shadowing their sibling’s legacy, they look close to home for staple ingredients to which they add international accents, while not losing sight of the better traditions of Southern cuisine. Caesar salad, a menu stalwart for good reason, is made with verdant green long beans, collard greens, and toasted almonds. Fresh from nearby waters, sea trout gets a North African touch. A sauce of preserved lemon-laced yogurt, cucumbers, and fennel is bright and crunchy without masking the fish’s own flavor and accentuates its silky texture.

This Japanese hot pot and Korean steakhouse restaurant makes restaurant number 11 for the restaurant group Ele and the Chef, known for well-crafted Asian American concept menus and supporting the local agricultural community. Build a plate from the Korean meat selections from Meyers Ranch (all grass fed) including beef brisket, bulgolgi (thinly sliced and marinated), short ribs or the Premium selections of filet, rib eye, and New York strip cuts of Japanese A5 Kobe beef. Side orders of Parmesan and truffle fries, spinach, asparagus, and green beans complete the plate. If your party opts for more social hot pot experience, a series of decisions await: type of broth (beef, miso, chicken), meat (beef, lamb, or pork) or seafood (shellfish, snapper, or grouper), followed by a dizzying selection of more than 20 add-ons (five are mushrooms). The combinations are endless as are the conversations sparked by interactive dining.

After training alongside culinary rock star Hugh Acheson and pizzaiolo masters in Italy, chef Kyle Jacovino has mastered traditional Neapolitan pizza. His masterful pies start with a three-day fermented dough (naturally leavened and made from heritage grains from small mills) and are charred to lightly-bubbled perfection in a screaming-hot oven imported from Italy. The Margherita pizza, the standard by which Neapolitans judge, has a stain of sweet and umami charged tomato, alongside creamy, earthy fresh mozzarella and vaguely bitter basil. La Diavola (the devil), his signature pie, is afire with soppressata sausage and chiles from Calabria, garlicky marinara sauce, mozzarella, and Parm. If somehow pizza is not your thing, the sandwiches, particularly the meatball Parm, is a handheld beauty made with provolone and ricotta cheese and of course, meatballs.

More info at vittoriapizzeria.com.