Savannah is a small town with a larger-than-life reputation. Georgia’s first city captures the Southern imagination with tales of spirits, pirates, and a wildly popular Banana Ball team, proving that when past and present collide, legends are born. Nowhere is this more true than in Savannah’s food scene, where family recipes earn national recognition and historic spaces are given new life for a modern audience.
Whether you’re in town for a long weekend or looking to stay awhile, these are the Savannah restaurants to have on your radar.
Peregrin Rooftop Bar
Overlooking Talmadge Memorial Bridge, Perry Lane Hotel’s SCAD-designed Peregrin Rooftop Bar is a conservatory made chic: a jungle of birdcage light fixtures, hand-painted murals, and skyline views. Cocktails lean botanical, like the yuzu-and-amaro Pollinator, and the N/A menu (try the Azalea Spritz) is no lesser sibling. Bites are on equal footing—try the fried pickle spears with housemade ranch or the gochujang wings brunchified on Sundays with waffles and sorghum mayo. 256 E. Perry St., Savannah, perrylanehotel.com/peregrin
The Grey Photo
If any restaurant represents modern Savannah, it’s the Grey. James Beard Award-winning chef Mashama Bailey brings her personal take on Port City Southern food to the city of her youth from inside a meticulously restored 1938 Greyhound bus terminal downtown. The ever-changing menu might feature crab fritters with lemon roulade or pan-roasted bootleg farm chicken with mole, but you’ll almost always find fresh oysters among the offerings. 109 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Savannah, thegreyrestaurant.com
Brochu’s Family Tradition
This Starland seafood and fried chicken joint is all about family-style service. Chef Andrew Brochu’s menu draws inspiration from his childhood memories, paired with expertise gained at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Alinea. The result is locally sourced oysters (raw, roasted, and grilled) with imaginative accompaniments like Bama white butter or beef fat mignonette and sharable platters of chamomile-brined fried chicken thighs and some of the juiciest grilled white meat you’ll ever taste. 2400 Bull St., Ste. 8, Savannah, brochusfamilytradition.com
Lucia Pasta Bar
Pull up a stool at the ringside pasta bar in this Starland District spot and watch the kitchen work, or settle into the restored 1930s Art Deco dining room instead. Chef-owner Kyle Jacovino’s fatto a mano (handmade) pasta program swings from a squid ink bucatini loaded with crab, scallops, and bottarga to a straightforward tagliatelle Bolognese. The all-Italian wine list and Negronis on draft round things out. 2425 Bull St., Savannah, luciapastabar.com
Marbled & Fin
Floor-to-ceiling arched windows and a marble raw bar set the scene for a menu built on excess: caviar towers stacked with lobster and Maine clams, Miyazaki A5 wagyu alongside a 36-ounce dry-aged tomahawk, and a hamachi crudo dressed in gazpacho consommé. Specialty cocktails riff on unexpected pairings—pisco sours “inspired by” Dave Brubeck and mojitos by way of the Alps. No reservation? The bar takes walk-ins. 520 E. Oglethorpe Ave., Savannah, marbledandfinsav.com
Bobbie’s Diner
This SCAD-owned spot is a blast from the past, with stainless-steel fronting, tableside jukeboxes, and a milkshake menu guaranteed to give you a sugar rush. Pink polo-clad art school students man the front of the house, serving up brunch staples (biscuits and gravy, apple pie French toast) and twists on diner lunches (don’t skip the Frita Cubana) to hungry locals. The dining room is fairly compact, so expect a wait on weekends. A spacious patio provides extra seating. 1402 Habersham St., Savannah, bobbiesdiner.com
Fishbar
Southern Cross Hospitality—the same group behind Collins Quarter—brings its knack for international flavor to this wood-fire spot in the Starland District. The seasonally driven, Mediterranean-leaning seafood menu covers oysters dressed in cucumber aguachile, smashed pee-wee potatoes with squid-ink aioli and bottarga, and a whole grilled red snapper finished with escovitch sauce. A private lot half a block away eases the parking hunt Downtown regulars know too well. 2218 Bull St., Savannah, fishbarsav.com
Lulu’s Chocolate Bar
Dessert bars are an underrated concept, and Savannah has a particularly excellent one. Daily baked desserts—think crème brûlée, cappuccino walnut brownies, and coconut key lime pie—occupy the pastry case at the entrance, while a full bar serves up a dizzying array of sweet martinis and spiked hot chocolates. Bring a group and order several plates to split, or go big with the fondue for two or the booze-drizzled Rapture Sundae. 42 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Savannah, luluschocolatebar.com
Stone & Webster Chophouse
Set inside Plant Riverside District’s restored Power Plant Building, Stone & Webster splits the difference between a lively front-room brasserie and a hushed, white-tablecloth dining room in back hung with custom-commissioned artwork and matching sheer curtains. Start with Parker House rolls and chili honey butter, then work towards the wagyu steak frites. If the Russet potato gnocchi is running, don’t skip it—the dumplings are lighter than air. 400 W. River St., Savannah, plantriverside.com/savannah-restaurants-bars/stone-webster-chophouse/
Sixby
Natasha Gaskil left her post as executive pastry chef at the Grey to open this Thomas Square cafe with partner Matthew Palmerlee, turning a bare-bones former office building next to Lone Wolf Lounge into Savannah’s best breadquarters. Daily baked country sourdough and rügbrød anchor a regularly rotating menu of tartines and platters—the salmon tartine and crab BLGT are past standouts—alongside small-batch coffee and a natural wine retail program. 220 E. 41st St., Savannah, sixbysavannah.com
E-Tang
Tucked into a strip mall just outside the historic district, E-Tang has become the go-to for Savannah diners craving Sichuan heat and Shanghai-style soup dumplings rather than your basic orange chicken. Regulars order family-style around the lazy Susan—think cumin lamb, dan dan noodles, and braised beef tendon—while the hand-folded xiao long bao draw comparisons to what you’d find overseas. No liquor license yet, so it’s BYOB. 513 E. Oglethorpe Ave., Ste. H, Savannah, chineserestaurantsavannah.com
Collin’s Quarter
With locations Downtown and near Forsyth Park, Collin’s Quarter has Insta-worthy brunch down to a science. A beverage program inspired by Australian coffee culture starts the morning off strong, while gorgeous toasts, bowls, and internationally inspired scrambles—try the bulgogi Benedict with kimchi hollandaise—round out the menu. This spot is extremely popular, so plan to make a reservation, especially when dining with a group. Multiple locations, thecollinsquarter.com
Savoy Society
Set inside a retro-cool bar packed with vinyl, rattan, and a vintage TV broadcasting an animated fish tank, Savoy Society treats snacks and cocktails as equally serious business. The menu skews playful and global. The kitchen turns out an eclectic array of sliders—think Korean meatball, crispy spam, or black bean with red curry mayo—alongside a well-built raw bar, and cocktails follow suit. The Jamaican Nice blends rum with jerk seasoning, and Drinking’ & Dreamin’ pairs mezcal with tropical green tea. 102 E. Liberty St., Savannah, savoysociety.com
Untitled.
There’s no sign announcing your entry to the former Whitaker’s Bar space, just a red neon fox at the top of a flight of stairs. Untitled. trades on discretion: a dark, moody room built for quiet conversation sets the scene for a Japanese-inspired menu of sushi, kushiyaki, and small plates. Newly added omakase service currently has no competition in Savannah. Come for a cocktail, stay for the chef’s choice. 10 Whitaker St., Ste. D, Savannah, untitledsav.com
Sunday Sunday
Sunday Sunday builds its brunch-first menu around multigenerational Vietnamese family recipes filtered through French and American technique. The banh xeo crepe (a literal grandma’s recipe) and sticky rice patties sit alongside shrimp and grits and a fried chicken basket with a hot honey-chive aioli-parmesan sauce trio. Don’t skip the ca phe noir, a mezcal-and-Vietnamese-coffee cocktail unlike anything else on Whitaker Street. 116 Whitaker St., Savannah, everysundaysunday.com
Common Thread
Housed in the restored 19th-century Krouskoff House, Common Thread’s philosophy of marrying Lowcountry ingredients with global flavors earned chefs Brandon Carter and Joseph Harrison James Beard recognition. Grab a reservation to try duck lasagna with foie gras, Carolina Gold rice with Newsom’s ham, and an NY strip in mole rojo. Or, go all in with the $85 tasting menu that runs oysters to peach clafoutis. 122 E. 37th St., Savannah, commonthreadsavannah.com
