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.
The same family friendly spots, sorted by the reasons people actually pick them.
3 spots
The building at Jones and Jefferson opened in the early 1900s as the Gerken Family Grocery Store. William 'Blocko' Manning and his wife Connie bought it in the early 1930s, and the house history says it is rumored Blocko ran illegal hooch and a speakeasy during Prohibition. The Crystal calls itself one of the first American eating establishments to serve alcohol after repeal ... burgers were 30 cents and draft beer a dime. The Monroe Room is named for Monroe Whitlock, who worked there about 45 years. John Nichols runs it now, and Savannah Magazine readers picked it for the best burger in 2026.
A soul food cafe opened by four siblings in memory of their mother, Kimberly, who died in 2021. The venue calls itself the home of the Oxtails and Grit Bowl and says it looks out for homeless families in the community. A local's post about the meatloaf drew one of the bigger food threads of the year, with others chiming in on the oxtails, shrimp and grits, and spaghetti made on Sundays and Wednesdays.
In 1943 a young Sema Wilkes took over a boardinghouse on Jones Street and began feeding lodgers Southern food served family-style. The lodging is gone but the lunch table is not ... guests are seated at large tables for ten and share the platters with strangers. It is lunch only on weekdays, dine-in only, and the house takes cash or checks, with an ATM on site. Savannah Magazine readers named it the 2026 winner for both fried chicken and Southern cooking.
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