One Nine 3 BBQ: A Review of Savannah, One Restaurant at a Time

For Christmas, I bought Dawn tickets to see Alton Brown Live at the Savannah Civic Center. The show was on Monday night, so we hit the road Friday after work for a long weekend.

The trip started with breakfast at Clary's. If you think you recognize this place. It's because they film part of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil here. If the movie didn't raise the cool factor, they have a menu item called "The Elvis".

Dawn had a pecan waffle,

and their chocolate chip pancakes won the battle over gravy biscuits for me.

Both were absolutely delicious. You definitely need to go here on your next trip ... just make sure to let me know how the huge desserts are. They look amazing, but we were strong (just this once) and refused to get one.

After breakfast the shopping began. Last time we went, Dawn found this little shop called Savannah Belle. It's a chick shop, but the owner is an absolute genius. When you walk in, she has her boutique with hats, dressings, and shoes, but if you walk on in and go up the stairs ... she has a man cave for the guys.

It's not just a cool place because it has a man cave. Dawn did buy a hat there last time that she got compliments on the whole rest of the day.

For lunch we road over to Wiley's Competition BBQ. BBQ restaurants from competition teams are always so tricky, but they had great reviews, so we took the internet for its word. If a place has a combo basket, you know we're going for it. We ordered their Sampler Plate, which came with brisket, pulled pork, and 1/4 chicken. We added 3 bones of ribs and 2 of their "premium" sides ... duh, macaroni and cheese and baked beans.

As you can see, it was absolutely horrible (that's a joke, since you can't read sarcasm in my tone). Their sauces (pictured below) are delicious and made everything even better than it already was. As good as the ribs and brisket were, the pulled pork, brace yourself, was as close to mine as I've had in any restaurant. However, the surprise of plate was definitely the chicken. This was some of the best chicken I have ever eaten in my life.

After lunch we did a tour of Old Fort Jackson. It was a self guided tour, but they did have guide doing demonstrations of the muskets and cannons.

In the kitchen area we found their stash. I asked Dawn if she wanted to see if anything was in it, but said no. What a party pooper.

After the fort, we went back downtown for more site seeing. It was good that we had been walking around all day, because as we were I looked up and saw a sign for Wicked Cakes. As we started looking at the display case, Dawn spotted the s'mores cookie and I was eyeing the chocolate madness brownie with nuts. Well, that was until I spotted their last German Chocolate cupcake and Dawn saw the S'mores cupcake.

Diets were officially out the window, but it was worth every single bazillion calorie.

She kept talking about this martini place, Jen's and Friends, and as we were waddling down the street trying to recover she looked over and we just happen to see it across the street. She wasn't quit s'moresed out, so she ordered a S'mores martini and I went with the Bourbon Pecan Pie.

Yes, they were as delicious as they sound.

We didn't have anything planned for dinner, so we searched and found The Public Kitchen and Bar. Apparently the day of eating and drinking caught up, because Dawn skipped the Shrimp and Grits for a caesar salad. I was going to go with a burger until the waitress told me that the special was a New York Strip with asparagus and au gratin potatoes.

The strip was cooked to the absolute perfect temperature, but it just didn't have much flavor to it. The green, snake looking sauce definitely enhanced it. Now, those potatoes and asparagus were amazing. I'm not a big baked asparagus fan, but these were delicious, and the potatoes were probably the best I've ever had. On that note, Dawn said the caesar salad was one of the best she's ever had, so I guess that's good.

Day 2 was up, and we opted for an easy breakfast at the Panera down the street. I think we were still miserable from everything the day before.

We did some more sight seeing by parking at the park and walking to some of the squares we didn't get to see on our first trip. While we were walking, we ran up on the police station. Which, like everything else, is a very old police station. On the side of the building they had these old police cars that were too cool to not take a picture of.

They also had this taxi/police car combo that was hilarious. It basically says if you drink you can end up in the back seat of one of these. A taxi is always cheaper than a DUI.

We made our way back to the more downtown area where all of the restaurants are for lunch. On our first trip to Savannah we were going to try this pizza place but they were closed. I asked someone near by and he said they were closed for that day. This random guy hears us talking and says that we should go down a block to Sweet Melissa's. We weren't sure if we should trust the guy or not, but we said what the heck.

We've come to realize that pizza houses are in the same category as BBQ joints. If the building makes you scared for your life, it's probably delicious. Pizzeria Di Giovanni in Charleston is in the corner of a back alley, and Sweet Melissa's, well, although it was vastly improved since our first trip, could use some touching up.

It's funny because as we were sitting there I noticed others walk by, look at the place, and you could almost see them turn up their nose and walk on by. This is perfect definition of "don't judge a book by its cover." For lunch it's $5 for 2 slices and a drink. You can't beat that.

You will be hard pressed to find a better pizza than Sweet Melissa's. The dough is some of the best I've ever had.

We went from scary greasy pizza place at lunch to the fancy upscale The Olde Pink House for dinner.

We're not big appetizer people, but decided to order the Southern Sushi. It's smoked shrimp and grits rolled in coconut crusted nori. They were ok, I thought, but Dawn love them.

For my entree, I wouldn't order a New York Strip 2 days in a row would I? I absolutely would, and it was dang good too.

She ordered the Bourbon Pecan Crusted Chicken, and that's where this story takes a turn. On the menu they have Shrimp and Grits as an appetizer (I think you can see where I'm heading with this). While we were eating, and after she said how great her food was, we over heard our waitress telling another table "We also have Shrimp and Grits as an entree. It's just on the menu under appetizers." Dawn does this slow look up from her chicken dinner, and without saying a word I knew that the thought of murder had crept into her mind. Needless to say, as good as her food was ... it wasn't THAT good anymore.

Monday was Outlet day in Hilton Head, so we had breakfast at Palmetto Bay Sunrise Cafe. Dawn, as she does, branched out and ordered the Strata and really enjoyed it, but said it was a little heavy on the chili sauce.

I stayed true and went with scrambled eggs, grits, bacon, and dry toast. You just can't go wrong.

In her longing for shrimp after the heartbreak at The Olde Pink House, Dawn found Hudson's Seafood House on the Dock. That's all find and dandy for her, but as we look at the menu and I'm seeing a very, VERY, limited list of items that I might eat. I realize, she was more focused on her shrimp than worrying about her husband that doesn't eat seafood.

I did find a grilled chicken sandwich that came with bacon and cheese, so to not starve, that's what I went with. It was actually pretty good, but the scent of seafood (that you have in a seafood restaurant) definitely altered my enjoyment.

We had a little extra time before we needed to be at the show, so I recommended we go to the Mighty Eight Air Force Museum that was 1 exit from ours. We haven't been to many (if any) other military museums, but this was a really cool place to walk through. I am thankful every day for the men and women that put themselves in these situations for my freedom. I couldn't imagine.

After the museum, we went back and got ready for the show. We decided to just wing it for dinner. We parked near the Savannah Civic Center and walked around until we found something that looked good. We didn't have a whole lot of time, and we didn't feel like spending a fortune ... again. As we turned a corner I looked up and saw a sign for B&D Burgers. I kind of chuckled as I asked if she wanted to "just go there." You see, if you've never been to Savannah. There's a B&D Burgers on, what feels like, every single street. Per their website, there's only 4, but there's 2 downtown, and one on the exit that we stayed.

As we looked over the menu, she got a beer and I opted for one of their signature drinks. I can't remember what it was called, but it was 2 liquors and an orange peel. The lighting looks funny on these pictures, because we were sitting outside underneath heat lamps.

B&D Burgers is a "Premium Burger" restaurant, so it can get a little pricey (for a burger). They have named burgers on their menu, or you can build your own burger. Dawn got the Turkey burger with Swiss cheese and Pico DE Gallo.

I did the Bison burger with habanero cheese and bacon. As you can see, we both ordered the curly fries. When you order curly fries, you do so with the understanding that they're either going to be great, or horrible. Well, these could be the best curly fries I've ever eaten. There's nothing special about them, they're just delicious. As was both of our burgers. Again, it's not the cheapest burger place to eat, but it's worth the price tag.

We had to hurry up and finish our meal, because the rain clouds were moving in fast. As we're walking the quarter mile it starts to lightly sprinkle. The closer we get, the quicker the drops fall. As we approach the awning I say, "Ok, I think we can slow down now." About that time, the sprinkle turns into a light rain and Dawn says, "Um, no we can't." We get inside, very lightly damp, and pick up our tickets. As we turn around I see a guy coming through the door, and he is absolutely drenched. In a matter of a minute or two, it had gone from a light mist to an absolute down pour.

We made our way to our seats and proceeded to enjoy Alton Brown Live. If you've never seen his show, I would highly recommend it. Don't go in expecting him to cook. Just go in expecting to have a great time, because you will.