Savannah has long been known as a historic, artsy college town that was, perhaps, just a little sleepy. Visitors might stroll the riverfront, have an early dinner, and call it a night. In the 2010s, top Southern chefs opened spots in town and then jetted back home to the cities where they really lived. But in the past few years, Savannah’s heart rate has begun to quicken with an energy all its own.
“Every day I am surrounded by people who think differently, see the world differently, and bring perspectives shaped by cultures from all over the globe,” says Dominica Baird, who in 2023 joined the Savannah College of Art and Design to chair its new Business of Beauty and Fragrance program. She arrived at a time when some of the South’s most strikingly designed new hotels were opening downtown, and when chefs began following in the footsteps of Mashama Bailey, of the cherished restaurant the Grey, by planting their flags in Savannah—and staying.
Now the community of hoteliers, restaurateurs, and artists clamor to offer a recommendation for their new favorite bar, shop, or café, picks anchored by the leafy squares that encourage exploring the city on foot. “The magic of Savannah reveals itself slowly through all the details you notice when you are not rushing,” Baird says. “Spend time off the main paths, wander the residential streets, and let yourself get a little lost.”
SEE & DO
Bonaventure Cemetery
Before diving into the new and noteworthy, set the stage for an otherworldly weekend by strolling through this rambling graveyard, where city legends lie. There’s something about meandering among the headstones along the Wilmington River that opens the mind to the surprises traveling might bring. The late and lauded local photographer Jack Leigh snapped the image for the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil here, but you won’t find the iconic Bird Girl statue on-site any longer—caretakers moved her downtown to the Telfair Academy for safekeeping and display.
Broughton Street Bowl and Brew
In the heart of the downtown action, this playful newcomer hides within the cavernous basement of the historic Woolworth’s building and doubles as a retro duckpin bowling alley and one of Savannah’s welcoming small concert venues. Regional rock, funk, and blues bands play on a stage comfortably set back from the pool tables, Skee-Ball lanes, and sweet Star Wars pinball machines.
Darling Lemon
Cozied into a brick town house on Jones Street, this tiny secret of a stationery and linen shop features the hand-painted greeting cards and table linens of a former honoree of G&G’s Made in the South Awards. “You can often find the owner, Ksenia Phillips, inside painting her original designs, which makes the experience feel really special,” Baird says.
Gray Line and Underground Tours of Savannah
Near the conclusion of her From Slavery to Freedom Tour, “Sistah Patt” Gunn offers her candid take on the past. “History is history,” she says. “It is what it is. None of us are responsible for the deeds of our ancestors, and I’m releasing you from taking that burden on. We’re only responsible for our generation.” She translated her own words into action when she led the successful charge to rename a Savannah square after Susie King Taylor, who was born into slavery and became the first African American nurse for the Union during the Civil War. Now Gunn’s tours often cross through Taylor Square, as she and her fellow Gullah Geechee Master Truth-Tellers lead daily storytelling adventures. Her Underground Tours partners with the Gray Line group to offer the relief of air-conditioned bus tours, but her Sunday walking tour delights on mild spring days. The Friday culinary tour ends with a lunch buffet that might include local seafood and, in the summer, peach cobbler served communally in a deep cast-iron pan.
Laney Contemporary
Before she opened her own chic art space just west of the Historic District, SCAD graduate Susan Laney directed photographer Jack Leigh’s eponymous gallery. This spring, she’ll honor the late photographer with a show that pairs his work with that of Parker Stewart, whose misty tidal landscapes evoke both the spirit of Leigh and something ethereal that’s entirely his own.
shopSCAD
Naturally, “shopSCAD is one of my favorite stores, period,” Baird says of the expansive emporium set in a redbrick manse on Bull Street. “Everything feels meaningful because it is created by SCAD students, alumni, and faculty. With ceramics, jewelry, and artwork you will not see anywhere else, it’s the perfect place to pick up a keepsake that carries a connection to Savannah.”
V&J Duncan
After John Duncan’s death in 2022, fans of the longtime Savannah historian maintained the captivating collection of maps, engravings, lithographs, and antique postcards he had amassed and sold for decades. His V&J Duncan shop, in business since 1983, has moved from its original location to Madison Square but retains the wooden card catalogues and endless shelves of artwork, so regulars can still get their treasure-hunting fix.
STAY
The Douglas
With just sixteen rooms, this jewel box of a hotel has a quietly elegant personality underscored by interior designer Kirby Caldwell’s respect for the mansion’s original plasterwork and heart pine floors. Her light-handed touches—moody paint colors, modern artwork, sumptuous linens—might tempt you to tuck in with a book for hours, but every evening’s cocktail and canapé reception will entice you downstairs to mingle. Breakfast is included, too, and perfected classics like shrimp and grits come courtesy of chef Jacques Larson, known for helming Charleston, South Carolina’s Obstinate Daughter and Wild Olive restaurants. This spring, Larson and the team will open Lester’s, a French bistro and oyster bar in an adjacent building that will also house a few more guest rooms.
Hotel Bardo
Set along the city’s central Forsyth Park, this new urban resort and private club has already set Savannah abuzz with its palm-lined pool, stately rooms, and gorgeous on-site Italian restaurant, Saint Bibiana. Begin with an olive-oil-washed martini and oysters, put in your order for grilled redfish and any of the pastas, and then start sipping on the Infinite Negroni, made from a continuous batch of mixed spirits and liqueurs that’s been going strong since the spot opened in 2024.
Municipal Grand
All sleek lines and curvy furniture, this temple to midcentury-modern design opened last year as both a forty-four-room hotel and a cocktail mecca—no wonder, considering it’s the first property for hotelier Midnight Auteur, cofounded by the folks behind the nationwide drinks empire Death & Co. Guest or not, do visit both bars and the restaurant, where hash browns come topped with caviar and the staff impresses with personalized recs. “The bar manager, James Nowicki, is the best of the best in Savannah,” says the local novelist Taylor Brown. “I highly recommend the Sazerac made with mezcal, Japanese whisky, and root beer.”
EAT & DRINK
Bobbie’s Diner
SCAD recently reopened Bobbie’s, a popular 1950s-era diner that shuttered in late 2023. “Named for Bobbie Gautreau,” Baird says, “a SCAD alumna and longtime residence hall director who was known for her hospitality and homemade treats, it brings back that nostalgic diner charm with heart and history behind it.” (And the much-missed chocolate shakes.)
Brochu’s
This sophisticated comfort-food spot is the brainchild of the Michelin-starred chef Andrew Brochu, who has served crème brûlée pie with an icy shot of Jägermeister. The author and local Patricia Lockwood ordered that surprising combo around the holidays. “But my go-to order is the Half Bird plus Dirty Rice,” she says, “and if reservations are hard to come by, walk up to the window in the courtyard and order there.”
Flora and Fauna
For twenty years, Cheryl Day’s Back in the Day Bakery brought good times and epic biscuits to 2403 Bull Street. When she closed the shop in 2024, Day handed the building’s keys to chef Brandon Carter, who opened the buzzy breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot Flora and Fauna. At the top of a menu that includes crisp salads and a smoked turkey BLT comes Cheryl’s Biscuit, an homage to the queen herself, topped with your choice of gravy, bacon, fried chicken, or pimento cheese.
Late Air
When he’s not cooking at the Douglas, you’ll find chef Jacques Larson chilling at this sunlit wine bar and snug Midtown neighborhood restaurant. “It’s the kind of food that resonates with me,” Larson says, “simple but executed flawlessly, and a wine list that’s just fun.” Lockwood agrees: “Everything is amazing, but the Caesar salad and the Kanpachi crudo are favorites.”
Lucia Pasta Bar and Vittoria Pizzeria
Chef Kyle Jacovino’s Vittoria Pizzeria occupies a humble but bumping stall at Starland Yard, a food court with rotating vendors and a retro photo booth. “I think Kyle has the best pizza in the Southeast,” Larson says. “The crust is so delicate.” Steps away sits Jacovino’s new Lucia Pasta Bar, which chef Mashama Bailey says “is fire,” adding, “This chef has been a part of shaping the Savannah restaurant scene since 2014. His pastas are handmade in house, seasonal, and most importantly delicious.” Gallerist Susan Laney agrees, lauding the “meticulous care with every dish, beautiful and fresh ingredients, yummy cocktails by Ashley Simeone—I’m getting an appetite just thinking about it.”
Narobia’s Grits & Gravy
“Narobia’s represents the apex of what Gullah Geechee cooking is all about,” Patt Gunn says of this cherished brunch spot that reopened after a remodel in 2021. “It’s the local ingredients, the whiting fish and grits—they know when I walk in the door, that’s what Sistah Patt wants.”
CJ Lotz Diego is a Garden & Gun deputy editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.
