South magazine talked to some of the top names in Savannah dining to get the inside scoop on the restaurants that have shaped the city for decades. The variety of their cuisine runs the gamut from a casual golden fried basket of chicken, to an entree of fresh homegrown seafood. and while Their ingredients may vary, they all agreed, they’ve thrived through the years of changing times with their business savvy, their use of local flair and just plain, good ol’ Southern hospitality.

When you first walk into The Crypt Pub, don’t forget to look down.

“See how the flooring’s different here?” owner Brad Clapp explains. “It’s believed that a body was buried underneath after a terrible fire started by a jilted lover. Nobody’s touched that section of the floor since.”

With inspiration like that, it’s easy to see where this new establishment on Broughton Street gets its name. The Crypt Pub is definitely a place where Savannah’s ghosts will feel right at home. From the face-distorting mirrors in the bathrooms to a skeleton DJ and his devil companions that move to the music, the sensation of a haunted house doesn’t escape patrons for long.

Savannah’s new nightspot has just arrived for adventurous night owls. With an enhanced Mediterranean atmosphere, complemented by the luxurious lure of a hookah lounge, The Mirage Mediterranean Bar & Grill is a pleasure for all the senses.

As the city’s only smoking lounge, owner Red Marsid prides himself on offering something new, but was unsure of how people in Savannah—with all their gentility— would take to the idea of giant smoking devices, complete with velvet hoses and all, adorning their beloved Broughton Street.

Express Cafe and Bakery has been a Savannah staple for decades, but longtime regulars turned owners, Beth and Michael Meeks, are shaking things up a bit. The couple recently changed the name (although not the soul food) and decided to cook up a whole new business plan.

Before Beth and Michael Meeks shared a last name, they spent many a date in the dining room of the Express Café and Bakery, a quaint breakfast/lunch/brunch restaurant tucked to the side of Broughton on Barnard. “This restaurant has been here for 24 years and was a really special place for us.” Michael says. “Everyone has a Café Express story.” The Meeks’ story however is a little different from most.

Both native Savannahians, Beth and Michael left the Hostess City to pursue Michael’s career in corporate radio- a gig that had the two of them moving every two years as they traveled the country flipping radio stations. But, as Beth tells it, they never lost their love for Savannah. “We came back on vacation for five days and wondered why we ever left.” So when they heard that the Express Café and Bakery was for sale, after changing owners several times, the Meeks jumped at the chance to “be managers of our own destiny,” as Beth eloquently puts it.

THERE IS FISH AND THERE IS SEAFOOD. THERE ARE THE SCORES OF FRIED WHITE SOMETHINGS, THE STICK CRABMEAT THAT NEVER ONCE SAW A SHELL, THE GRAYED-OUT TUNA AND THE SUPERMARKET SALMON THAT’S DYED PINK. THEN THERE IS THE OTHER SORT. THERE IS THE GROUPER SO FRESH THE MUSCLES SEEM TO REPLENISH THEMSELVES AFTER THEY ARE COOKED, THE BOLD MEATY FLAVOR OF STURGEON, EVEN THE SALTY SWEETNESS OF A LITTLE LOCAL OYSTER. IN SAVANNAH, THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT.

Charlie Russo’s seafood on Abercorn Street traffics the latter category. Russo is a second-generation fishmonger who talks about Georgia fish almost like they were family. He can be found in the back of the shop, dressed in a purple rubber apron and a black University of Georgia hat, overseeing the deconstruction of loads of fish that were flapping on the deck of a boat just a few hours ago. Fish is in his blood, he says.
“It’s got to be in your blood, the fish business,” he says. “It’s a hard business.” Russo has an encyclopedic knowledge of the fish that run in the waters from Darien to Bluffton. He has many charts of fish species that line the walls of the store and his office. The greatest resource of coastal Georgia to him, however, is shrimp.
“The local shrimp we get in these waters, the greatest in the world – tastewise, the supply, the quality—we don’t fool with anything else that’s imported, no pond raised stuff,” he says. “The shrimp here is our biggest commodity.” The Russos are a fish family—Charlie’s father opened shop in 1946, and now even his grandson and great-grandson are working there. They aren’t the only ones. Savannah is filled with people who have a passion for fish. Here’s where the fish go next:

If you aren’t looking for T-Rex Mex Restaurant, you just might miss it as the restaurant is tucked deep beneath the pavement of Broughton Street, off the well-worn tourist track. However, the one thing that does stand out is its glass door painted with a ferocious, lime-green Tyrannosaurus in a sombrero, and it’s just a taste of what lurks inside.
Owners Anton and Tammy Withington brought their burrito-brimming menu to life about a year and a half ago, after eight years working in a burrito restaurant in Atlanta. Their inspiration for the theme of the restaurant was twofold: first, their son, Thurston Rex (the initials behind the T-Rex moniker) and second, their friends who happen to be artists.
“When we started, this place was just four walls,” Tammy Withington says, gesturing to the warm, ragged brick walls that envelop the restaurant. They got to work dividing the space and, more importantly, filling it with art. “We passed out tables to our friends who are local artists,” Withington says. The result: vibrantly colorful, skull-centric table art that is Mexican Day of the Dead mixed with a sense of humor and whimsy.

A quest for the tastiest tenderloin takes The South to new levels of divine bovine.

The charm begins with the sound of its French name, filet mignon: It’s exotic, sultry. Considered the best cut of bovine beef because it runs along both sides of the animal’s spine and receives very little exercise, the filet is the top shelf of tender beef (and usually one of the most expensive).

Four Savannah restaurants offering U.S. Prime beef, the highest grade available, opened their doors to us in our quest to find the best filet. Bull Street Chophouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Sapphire Grill were on our radar. We added the fourth candidate, Il Pasticcio, at the suggestion of its proprietor, Pino Venetico, who also owns its upstairs neighbor, Bull Street Chophouse. Venetico claims the filet at Il Pasticcio “was the impetus for the Chophouse concept.” So, the gauntlet was thrown with four restaurants in the mix, the focus of our search resting on each chef’s method of delivery for a flawless filet.

The South’s guest dining editors use their legal know-how to judge one of Savannah’s hottest restaurants.

As litigious lawyers, my wife and I seldom agree on anything. So we jumped at the chance to take our respective sides and put the fare at Eos—a casually hip food and wine bar tucked away in the Thomas Square neighborhood of the Victorian District—up for debate. The old brick bank building had been empty for some time when owner Shelley Smith happened upon it one rainy Savannah afternoon. Eos’s concept is small plates—bigger than tapas, smaller than entrees but perfect to share—along with 130 wines, including 50 by the glass. We wanted to see if Eos could prove its case.  

With a throwback to Prohibition, The Distillery serves up spirits–and sustenance–with history.

Nearly four years ago, a broad-shouldered, dark-haired Maryland Yankee walked into my downtown office bearing a huge, rolled-up color printout of a historic Savannah map. Introducing himself as Michael Volen, this stranger proceeded to tell me that he had just purchased a three-story building directly across from my office and was looking for an appropriate use for the property. Four years and many strange twists and turns later, Michael Volen is the proprietor of Savannah’s hottest new pub.

The Distillery is located inside an old nightclub building at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Liberty Street—a place, in the words of local personality Murray Silver, cursed with an address “that does not front on any street.” In fact, it may be the largest building in town you’ve never seen. But The Distillery’s beguiling secrecy hasn’t stopped folks—Savannahians and tourists alike—from entering its doors since the day they first opened in mid-November of last year.

Two Savannah eateries are taking organic dining to a whole new level by tapping local farmers to help create the freshest dishes around.

We like to think things are better here in the Lowcountry. Boasting beaches, marshes, pine and maritime forests, Savannah and the Coastal Empire certainly plays host to a slew of scenery to appreciate. Still, it is hard to scrub that provincial habit of looking over your shoulder and wondering, telling and asking about what’s going on in the bigger cities of Dixie. But just because the cities are larger doesn’t mean you have to run off towards sparkling skylines to fix every craving—especially when the craving is of the epicurean sort. After all, what are provinces if not the breadbasket of the cities?