8 Southern Dishes You Need to Try in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah’s food scene runs on butter, coastal seafood, and family-style tables where strangers end up sharing a meal. Eight dishes keep showing up as the ones worth planning a trip around.
Shrimp and Grits
Savannah’s version of this Lowcountry staple leans into plump, garlicky shrimp sautéed in a rich sauce over stone-ground grits cooked until custardy and thick. The sauce should coat every bite without drowning the texture of the grits underneath.
The Public Kitchen & Bar has held onto its reputation for the city’s best version for years running, according to regulars. Theirs comes with crumbled sausage and a deeply flavorful sauce that keeps people coming back specifically for this dish.
Fried Chicken
A proper Southern fried chicken plate here means a crisp, well-seasoned crust giving way to genuinely juicy meat underneath. Nothing about it should taste rushed, from the seasoning in the flour to the oil temperature it’s fried in.
Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room serves its chicken family-style at shared tables of ten, and diners routinely call it the best they’ve ever had. The wait outside can stretch past an hour, and almost everyone who’s tried it says it was worth standing in line.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Firm, tart green tomatoes get sliced thick, coated in a crisp cornmeal crust, and fried until golden while the inside stays slightly tangy and soft. The contrast between the crunchy exterior and the tomato’s tartness is the whole appeal.
The Lady & Sons has built a loyal following around its version, often served alongside a remoulade or comeback sauce for dipping. It’s one of the dishes regulars specifically request when introducing out-of-town guests to Savannah cooking.
Savannah Red Rice
This dish looks similar to jambalaya but carries its own identity, built from rice simmered in a tomato-based broth with bacon and bell pepper until every grain turns a deep reddish-orange. It’s smoky and slightly sweet, hearty enough to serve as a meal on its own.
Sisters of the New South has earned a strong local reputation for its soul food menu, red rice included, served in generous portions. It’s the kind of unpretentious cooking that doesn’t need any garnish to prove itself.
Deviled Crab
Deviled crab packs seasoned crab meat, breadcrumbs, and a touch of mustard and Worcestershire into a crab shell or ramekin, then bakes it until the top turns golden and slightly crisp. The inside stays moist and rich, with the crab flavor coming through clearly rather than getting buried in filler.
The Olde Pink House, one of the city’s oldest dining institutions, serves a version worth ordering as a starter before anything else arrives. Its historic setting, inside an 18th-century mansion, makes the dish feel like part of a bigger occasion.
Pralines
A good praline is a flat, sandy-textured candy made from sugar, butter, cream, and pecans, sweet enough to satisfy in just a couple of bites. The texture should crumble slightly rather than turning chewy or hard.
River Street Sweets has been making them fresh in-house for decades, and the smell alone tends to pull people in off the sidewalk. Watching the candy get poured and cooled through the shop window is part of the experience.
Peach Cobbler
Georgia peaches get baked under a buttery, slightly crisp topping until the fruit turns soft and syrupy underneath. A scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the warm cobbler is how most people finish the dish here.
The Shrimp Factory has drawn praise for capping off seafood meals with a genuinely excellent version, made from scratch rather than a shortcut mix. Diners have specifically called it out as a highlight even after an already strong meal.
Oysters
Local oysters here are briny and mineral-forward, served raw on the half shell or roasted until they pop open over an open flame. Either way, a squeeze of lemon or a dash of hot sauce is usually all they need.
The Wyld Dock Bar, set right on the water in nearby Thunderbolt, has become a go-to for fresh oysters with a view of the marsh. Eating them outside as the sun goes down is part of why people keep coming back.
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