Barnes has cooked on Waters Avenue for over 45 years by its own count. It describes pit-cooked barbecue with a homemade secret sauce and fresh, regional Southern food prepared daily. It is a daytime room that closes at 4.
Andrew and Sophie Brochu opened this room with partners Georgia and Dave Baker and Jessica Kimbrough. Andrew came back to the Southeast after more than a decade running Chicago kitchens, and Sophie is a Savannah native who came home after 13 years away ... the two met working in a Chicago restaurant. The site says the place is modeled on the family gatherings Andrew grew up with. Savannah Magazine readers named it best Oysters and runner-up for Fried Chicken in 2026. Walk-ins are welcome and it opens every day at 5.
Bull Street Taco is a taco room on Bull Street south of Forsyth Park. Savannah Magazine put it on its family dining list for the outdoor patio where children eat tacos. Two guides say the menu marks vegan and vegetarian tacos, which this research could not confirm on the venue's own menu.
Carey Hilliard hitchhiked to Savannah from Jesup and opened his first restaurant in 1960 in a converted root beer stand, where he and his wife Kathleen kept curbside service going instead of switching to a drive-thru. The company calls itself Savannah's oldest family-owned restaurant. This Southside room opened in 1976 near Savannah Mall, with tall booths, a neon sign and a banquet hall behind it for 60 to 250 guests. It serves until midnight every day.
BellyUp Savannah / Family
Savannah rooms that say on their own sites that the whole crew is welcome, with the yard, the dock or the kids menu to back it up.
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The Crab Shack is the creekside seafood yard on Chimney Creek whose motto is 'Where the Elite Eat in Their Bare Feet'. The signature order is Captain Crab's Sampler Platter ... crab legs, Georgia shrimp, mussels, crawfish, corn, sausage and potatoes. The grounds hold a gator lagoon the site says has 78 baby alligators, an aviary of rescued and adopted birds, a game room and a gift shop. Boats can tie up, parking is free, and leashed pets are welcome outside. No reservations ... the site says just show up and grab a seat.
The Sugar Shack is the ice cream stop on First Street, also serving coffee drinks, pastries and desserts, the AJC noted in August 2026. The Main Street directory marks it pet friendly. It was one of eight Tybee Island Restaurant Week participants that month.
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