restaurant recommendations in Savannah

[azauthor]

Heading East in my RV from Phoenix to Jersey. I'm stopping in Memphis and Savannah. Know any good restaurants? I know that have to have tons, but I am looking for personal favorites. thx beforehand

 

[Sarah in SC]

Heading East in my RV from Phoenix to Jersey. I'm stopping in Memphis and Savannah. Know any good restaurants? I know that have to have tons, but I am looking for personal favorites. thx beforehand

You do have a map, right? Lol-Savannah is nowhere near on the way to or from any of those places!

We don't have any real faves there, lots of very touristy spots and pretty decent seafood, but nothing that compares to Charleston (the best city in the world, says Conde Nast). .

Memphis has fantastic barbecue. Can't go wrong there at all. It has been years since we visited but I can still taste the food! And the music is great, too.

 

[jclarksnakes]

I assume you are looking for something along the river or adjacent in the historic district? If looking for southern family style food Paula Deans restaurant, The Lady and Sons in City Market is the one that gets the most tourist traffic. Mrs Wilkes Boarding House on Jones Street (America's most beautiful neighborhood) has better and more authentic southern style food but is only open for lunch and there is usually a line waiting for the family style seating. Spankys on River Street has really great chicken fingers. My favorite for crab chowder and other very good food is The Exchange Tavern on the river. The Six Pence Pub on Bull Street has really good and somewhat Britishy pub style food. Huey's also on river street serves great breakfasts. The takeout ElConquistador sandwich from Zunzi's has been rated as the third best sandwich in America. Savannah is full of restaurants.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I assume you are looking for something along the river or adjacent in the historic district? If looking for southern family style food Paula Deans restaurant, The Lady and Sons in City Market is the one that gets the most tourist traffic. Mrs Wilkes Boarding House on Jones Street (America's most beautiful neighborhood) has better and more authentic southern style food but is only open for lunch and there is usually a line waiting for the family style seating. Spankys on River Street has really great chicken fingers. My favorite for crab chowder and other very good food is The Exchange Tavern on the river. The Six Pence Pub on Bull Street has really good and somewhat Britishy pub style food. Huey's also on river street serves great breakfasts. The takeout ElConquistador sandwich from Zunzi's has been rated as the third best sandwich in America. Savannah is full of restaurants.

Is there still that Cuban place down there? We had some great food there years ago but I can't remember the name. A couple of good pubs, and maybe a good Thai place as well. We are headed down for a girls weekend in a few weeks and I'm planning for the hearse tour as a definite! Man, is that fun!

 

[jclarksnakes]

Is there still that Cuban place down there? We had some great food there years ago but I can't remember the name. A couple of good pubs, and maybe a good Thai place as well. We are headed down for a girls weekend in a few weeks and I'm planning for the hearse tour as a definite! Man, is that fun!

Rancho Alegre on MLK? I have not been there. They used to be on Posey Street here on the southside and we ate there several times. I really liked the food but DW is not a fan of Cuban food. For Thai we go to Pad Thai also here on the southside. The noodle dishes are tasty but the roast duck is especially good. Pad Thai is affiliated with Fusion (also on the southside) which is trendier with higher prices and more Japanese food on the menu including very good sushi. For even better Sushi try Wasabis downtown on MLK or amazingly bargain priced Asian River in midtown. The hearse tour is goofy. Just keep in mind that before the movie "Midnight in the Garden Of Good and Evil" there were maybe a dozen "real" Savannah ghost stories. Now there are hundreds of silly ghost stories here. DD is a carriage tour driver. She can give a pretty good ghost tour but shares my doubts on the subject.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Rancho Alegre on MLK? I have not been there. They used to be on Posey Street here on the southside and we ate there several times. I really liked the food but DW is not a fan of Cuban food. For Thai we go to Pad Thai also here on the southside. The noodle dishes are tasty but the roast duck is especially good. Pad Thai is affiliated with Fusion (also on the southside) which is trendier with higher prices and more Japanese food on the menu including very good sushi. For even better Sushi try Wasabis downtown on MLK or amazingly bargain priced Asian River in midtown. The hearse tour is goofy. Just keep in mind that before the movie "Midnight in the Garden Of Good and Evil" there were maybe a dozen "real" Savannah ghost stories. Now there are hundreds of silly ghost stories here. DD is a carriage tour driver. She can give a pretty good ghost tour but shares my doubts on the subject.

Thanks-I think you nailed it on both restaurants! And the hearse tour is really a pub crawl! I don't think our driver took us anywhere but the Irish bars, which is exactly what we wanted. These girls won't want a ghost spiel either-it is a bachelorette weekend! I just like the open air riding around with a beer in hand. Never would happen in stuffy boring downtown Charleston. We've booked five rooms at the Thunderbird Inn so we might look up Asian River. Thanks for the tip.

Stay safe next weekend--I've never seen the St Pats goings-on but I've sure heard stories!

 

[jclarksnakes]

The fairly new Savannah Slow Ride does a pretty good pub crawl and you get to pedal off some calories between pubs.
Savannah Slow Ride - Slow Ride, bike Ride, Slow Bike, Pedal Slow Ride
Have you stayed at the Thunderbird Inn before? Nothing fancy but it is ideally located for relatively easy walking to see the historic district, parks and squares and plenty of good places to eat and drink.
On your drive from Charleston you might want to stop along your journey at the ruins of the Old Sheldon Church near Yemassee. I am not a particularly religious person but that is one church I do like.
http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/beaufort-county/old-sheldon-church.html

 

[Sarah in SC]

Yeah we may do the bike if we can't get everyone in a hearse. Heard it is cool as well but the hearse is, well, cooler.

We *always* stay at the Tbird. Can't beat the price! We go to the craft beer fest every year and usually at least one other weekend for a band or something.

 

[Midpack]

Heading East in my RV from Phoenix to Jersey. I'm stopping in Memphis and Savannah. Know any good restaurants? I know that have to have tons, but I am looking for personal favorites. thx beforehand

I don't know Savannah (but you've gotten feedback above) but I know Memphis pretty well if you're interested. Can you narrow it down by cuisine/price/part of town at all?

Of course locals have their own preferences (and some undoubtedly hate ->), but the perennial favorites for BBQ/ribs are The Rendezvous (original downtown location) and Corky's (various locations), I prefer the former - unique atmosphere/story AND great BBQ. Dry or wet ribs is a big point of contention in Memphis, do you have a preference?

Best steak place to me is Folk's Folly. But I've been to many other good restaurants in the Memphis area if you can narrow your criteria...

Charles Vergos' Rendezvous :: The Restaurant
Corky's Rib's & BBQ Memphis
Folk's Folly Prime Steak House

 

[Koogie]

I can recommend one BBQ restaurant right in Savannah that we enjoyed two years ago. It was recommended by a homeless guy I asked on the street in exchange for a dollar.. and he was right. Blowin' Smoke BBQ - Savannah, Georgia
It won some awards and rightly so, I thought.

There is also a place on the highway between Savannah and Charleston that had really good southern comfort food. It was called Hog Haven or Hog Heaven, I can't remember which and my Google-Fu is failing me at the moment. A real dump of a place (they had chicken wire strung around the "dance area"!) but man was the food amazing. Maybe one of the locals knows the place ?

And funnily enough, we stayed in Savannah right across the street from the Thunderbird at the Hampton/Hilton. Sure looked like a fun throwback kind of place.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Now wait just a minute, Koogie--the bus station is across the street from the Thunderbird! That's how you know it is classy! But I do admit that the Hampton is about a block away!

It is a funky place for sure, but sometimes that old-school charm will bite you--we had no AC in our room one time we were there and had to camp out in the lobby for hours and hours until the night manager decided to let us have another room. At least we got a free stay out of the deal!

Great tip on the BBQ--maybe we'll check them out for our girls weekend.

 

[jclarksnakes]

I can recommend one BBQ restaurant right in Savannah that we enjoyed two years ago. It was recommended by a homeless guy I asked on the street in exchange for a dollar.. and he was right. Blowin' Smoke BBQ - Savannah, Georgia
It won some awards and rightly so, I thought.

There is also a place on the highway between Savannah and Charleston that had really good southern comfort food. It was called Hog Haven or Hog Heaven, I can't remember which and my Google-Fu is failing me at the moment. A real dump of a place (they had chicken wire strung around the "dance area"!) but man was the food amazing. Maybe one of the locals knows the place ?

And funnily enough, we stayed in Savannah right across the street from the Thunderbird at the Hampton/Hilton. Sure looked like a fun throwback kind of place.

We used to eat at Blowin Smoke. Over the last year I think the quality of the food has declined a bit. Their MLK location has recently closed and they are in the process of opening in a new location on Habersham. Hog Heaven is on Pawleys Island north of Charleston. Maybe you were thinking of the the Pink Pig on hiway 17 in Levy SC?
The Pink Pig
It is a very colorful little place with excellent BBQ and seafood.
As a true southerner and longtime Savannah resident I am duty bound to hate chain restaurants but recently we have had really good BBQ and service at Sticky Fingers on Abercorn here on the southside.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I'll admit to a fondness for Sticky Fingers as well, as even though it is a chain, it was started here in Charleston by a couple of local boys and they've done pretty well with carrying out the quality of that first restaurant on down the line to the newer places.

I think you can go crazy reading reviews on those Yelp things, though--it would seem that people find the strangest stuff to complain about.

 

[Midpack]

I think you can go crazy reading reviews on those Yelp things, though--it would seem that people find the strangest stuff to complain about.

And you never know which ones are organized campaigns (often restaurant employees) to create good/bad ratings. Especially these days with social media, easy to recruit lots of "reviews."

A mediocre restaurant in Chicago scored a best in Chicago rating a few years ago, when locals knew there was no way. It was later found the restaurant just solicited employees, friends and friends of friends to write in to dupe the magazine. It was a successful hoax...and it happens on a smaller scale all the time.

 

[Koogie]

We used to eat at Blowin Smoke. Over the last year I think the quality of the food has declined a bit. Their MLK location has recently closed and they are in the process of opening in a new location on Habersham. Hog Heaven is on Pawleys Island north of Charleston. Maybe you were thinking of the the Pink Pig on hiway 17 in Levy SC?
The Pink Pig
It is a very colorful little place with excellent BBQ and seafood.
As a true southerner and longtime Savannah resident I am duty bound to hate chain restaurants but recently we have had really good BBQ and service at Sticky Fingers on Abercorn here on the southside.

That's the place ! Hog Heaven Restaurant,Pawleys Island SC, offering Seafood, BBQ, Catering and buffet And I mean roadside dump in the most affectionate way. Great food. My memory remembers it as being in betwixt Savannah and Charleston.. thanks for reminding me !
Actually, we did also eat at the Pink Pig. Wasn't overly impressed, especially compared to the other two.
Sorry to hear that Blowin Smoke is going downhill. Those guys seemed to really care about their food.
Man... all this talk is making me miss Savannah. And hungry ! lol

 

[steelyman]

Of course locals have their own preferences (and some undoubtedly hate ->), but the perennial favorites for BBQ/ribs are The Rendezvous (original downtown location) and Corky's (various locations), I prefer the former - unique atmosphere/story AND great

Rendezvous sauce is fantastic. It was recommended to me by a person at a deli, and I was hooked (the hot version). Then the deli closed and I panicked, 'cause no one else in town sold it

But I asked a store to stock it, and now there are about 10 bottles in my kitchen in case of zombie apocalypse.