We couldn’t leave Georgia without visiting Savannah and eating some of their incredible low country food. I had my first taste of low country food in Charleston, South Carolina, which is just a few hours north of us, and have been in love with this style of food ever since.
Vic’s On the River
On our first day we visited the riverfront and ate lunch at Vic’s On the River. It was bustling inside, and the food was very well done! I had a kale salad, then shrimp and grits. The kale wasn’t too tough and well dressed, the shrimp was perfectly cooked, served with a smoky sauce over smooth, cheesy grits. Yum! 😋 Matt had the ever-delicious she-crab soup and a fried green tomato BLT. It was a creative twist on a classic and also very good. It’s a beautiful space with a relaxed ambiance and excellent service.
Mirabelle Savannah
On our way back from lunch on our first day exploring the Savannah Historic District, we stopped by Mirabelle Savannah for a coffee. They make liège waffles, serve Stay Golden Roasters coffee, and sell gourmet chocolate bars and delectable pastries. You can sit out front and admire the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and its towering spires across the way. We went back again the next day to try some more goodies when our bellies weren’t so full, and I picked up a few of their exotically flavored chocolate bars. 🍫
The Public Bar & Grill
After our architectural tour, we had a delightful lunch at the Public bar & grill based on our guide’s recommendation. The weather was perfect for sitting out on the rooftop deck. I had a cup of their lentil, kale and turkey soup and their Havannah sandwich, and they were both perfectly seasoned and cooked. Early March really is a lovely time to enjoy this idyllic spot for lunch or dinner. You can sit at an outside table at street level and people watch, sit among the trees on the rooftop in a slightly more intimate setting, or sit inside if the weather isn’t as cooperative as we had experienced. Regardless, the food and service is wonderful.
The Grey
We had seen in this Savannah blog entry a recommendation to eat at The Grey. Matt found two reservations available that night, and little did we realize how fortunate we were to get one! It turns out that this CBS news piece about The Grey’s owners had just come out about The Grey a few days earlier. 😯
Well, The Grey did not disappoint. The food, drinks and especially the service were all top notch! I cannot recommend this place enough if you want to get a taste of the South and enjoy the history of this place. The atmosphere is buzzing with excitement, yet we didn’t feel rushed at all. Here you are encouraged to relax and have a real dining experience. We also ran into fellow participants Roy and Beth from our architectural tour earlier in the day. What a neat coincidence! They are visiting from Portland, Maine and we look forward to seeing them again later on in our journeys.
Cotton & Rye
After exploring botanical gardens all day, we went to dinner at Cotton & Rye, another top notch restaurant in downtown Savannah. It’s a warm and inviting atmosphere, and our food was delightful. I had the chicken and dumplings starter and a veggie pot pie with some unique flavors, and Matt had their jambalaya special. We simply could not eat it all, so we saved half of it for lunch the next day, and it was so good both times!
Lo and behold, as we were wrapping up for the evening, I looked across the dining room and saw Roy and Beth from Portland, Maine that we had met just a few days earlier. We laughed about how we had run into them twice now, and how we must all have excellent taste in food. 😂😉 It was a surprising way to end the night, and it will be fun to see them later this year in Maine and share food again together.
Raw Ingredients
After spending time on Cockspur Island, we went to Tybee Island for lunch, which is more low-key compared to our adventures on Jekyll Island. We ate sushi at Raw Ingredients, which ended up being tastier than expected. They were playing chill music, had some inspiring chalk art on the walls and a nice back patio as well. I recommend it if you are visiting Tybee Island. Later, we wandered out to the public beach for a little stroll before we left the area.
Collins Quarter
After heading back from our Skidaway Island hike and getting cleaned up, we went out to enjoy one last dinner in downtown Savannah. This time we tried out a recommendation from Beth and Roy, the couple visiting from Maine. They had gone to brunch at Collins Quarter on Bull Street twice and loved it, so we decided to go for dinner. Both downtown locations are busy, so reservations are recommended.
We had seared scallops to start, and both of us chose fish dishes. Matt had a striped bass with snap peas, bok choy, an umami broth, egg and mushrooms. I chose a mahi mahi fish with rice noodles in a Vietnamese-inspired sweet and spicy sauce, and garnished with radishes, carrot and cilantro. Matt thought there were too many mushrooms…he likes mushrooms, but they overwhelmed the rest of the dish. The fish was cooked just right for my dish, though I wish it had more sauce. I couldn’t resist getting a dessert, so had a chai caramel tart and loved it. It capped off the evening and our culinary explorations in Savannah. 😋
We obviously loved our experiences eating out in Savannah. If you don’t try one of these places, I still honestly think it would be difficult to go wrong there. 🤤 It is a beautiful city with a lot of history and the food is dangerously decadent, but oh so good. For a week, I can handle this place, but I would need to seriously up my exercise regiment if I lived here all of the time, because I would gain so much weight! 😂
Next up we are spending two weeks near Greenville, South Carolina. I am so excited to return to the mountains and check out this place. It has a lot of promising features that we will be seeing first hand during our stay. If it works out, then we will be just a few hours from both Savannah AND Charleston. That could be dangerous, but also wonderful.
Highways and Honeybees 