I took a quick long weekend jaunt to Savannah before I started my new job. While Savannah hasn't necessarily been one of my top places to visit, I'm glad I went as it's a quick 2 hour plane ride and it's definitely quite a change from being in NYC. It's as pretty as people say it is - dripping Spanish moss everywhere, cute squares and friendly people. Unfortunately, the food scene isn't as spot on as it is in it's competing sisters of the South, New Orleans and Charleston. I would say that overall, the food is good in this city but not spectacular.
One of the restaurants that came up on every food list of Savannah was The Olde Pink House - it's exactly what you would think of in terms of a typical Southern restaurant. Old mansion dripping with charm and elegance. Allison and I didn't actually have reservations but we strolled in around 2pm and were easily able to get a seat. It's very old school there with waiters in bowties and formal wear. While there isn't a formal dress code, I felt a bit out of place in my jeans and flip flops. The menu here is typical Southern fare - lots of fried food, grits, collard greens, etc. We had a dinner reservation for later that night only 5 hours later, so I decided that I wasn't going to do a full blown lunch and I got the crab cakes which came with fried green tomatoes and fries. Allison got the arugula salad with salmon - one of the few healthy choices on the menu. The crab cake was nicely stacked between 2 fried green tomatoes which were lightly battered in corn meal and fried. While it was a nice dish and the crab cake was fairly full of legit meat, as someone who's had the best crab cakes in MD, these didn't quite measure up but I guess few do. Allison mentioned that her salad was also good but nothing mind blowing.
Overall, this place is a lovely quintessential charming Southern restaurant. You should go for the ambience even if it's albeit a bit toursity. Total bill: $21/pp with tax and tip
The only reservation I made while visiting Savannah was at The Grey. It was mentioned in Eater as a top restaurant in Savannah - they were especially wow'd by the design of the place. It's located in an old Greyhound bus depot (hence the name) and it is quite lovely in there. It's got an Art Deco vibe but with a modern twist. The menu is New American with a focus on meat and seafood. We split the country pasta ($16), the fisherman's stew ($28) and a side of roasted sweet potato ($8). While I didn't necessarily regret my order, I did see the guy next to me get the pork shank which looked AMAZING - it was basically a giant leg of meat.
The country pasta was a small bowl of pasta, rock shrimp, tomato and botarga. While it was tasty and I love anything with rock shrimp, the portion was small and it could have used a bit more heat. It was essentially tossed with some olive oil and salt and not much else. The same can be said for the strew as well - but for $28, I expected a large pot of seafood but it was a fairly small bowl of monkfish, clams, mussels, tomato and saffron. When I hear the word "stew", I envision something hearty and chunky. This was like a few pieces of seafood tossed into a bowl with not much broth or base to it. While I enjoyed the saffron flavor, the overall dish was a bit of a let down given how much it was. The roasted sweet potato was exactly what you would think it would be - a roasted sweet potato.
I agree with Eater that the decor was lovely and they make a great cocktail. I can see this as a nice place to grab a few cocktails and snacks - but if you do want to stay for dinner, I would probably steer you towards the meat dishes. Total bill: $39/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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