I think it would be safe to call this time of the year “New Restaurant Season” in Savannah. Once the calendar flips to January every year, you can count on a race against the clock for new restaurants to get their doors open in time for the ‘greening of the city’ or as I like to refer to it….2nd Christmas in Savannah.

There are a handful of spots that have opened their doors or otherwise expanded their operations a little bit but the one that is likely to draw the most attention from the locals is Bubba Garcia’s, a St. Simon’s Island-based eatery that has been a Golden Isles fixture for over 20 years.

They officially opened to the public on Monday, March 10th ending a years long journey to expand into Savannah.

“We’d been looking for a long while. Probably before COVID” said Allan Tullos, one of the partners in the project. They got close a few times, but ultimately settled on 7 East Bay Street in the space formerly occupied by Tondee’s Tavern, which closed a couple of years ago.

Those that are familiar with the brand will know it as a good spot to hang out for a ball game. The bar is large, so is the food menu, which for this week only will be an abbreviated version. Once we get beyond St. Patrick’s Day, they plan to roll out their full menu to include not only their mainstay tacos and burritos, but also chicken wings and much more.

Yes, if you couldn’t tell by the name, the theme here is Mexican. Or as Allan put it “We don’t claim to be anything authentic. We kinda call it ‘rednexican’.

Perfect, actually.

I tried a few tacos for lunch. The Al Pastor and the Rostizada (marinated and grilled steak) were tasty, I did enjoy them.

For those that aren’t familiar with the name, Bubba Garcia’s started on St. Simon’s Island in 2004. In 2021 they expanded to Brunswick and now they have opened their 3rd spot here in Savannah. The space has been cleaned up beautifully post-Tondee’s Tavern. The walls are now bright and inviting. The lighting is great. Even the downstairs space has been made over with couches and could serve as an event space in the future.

The makeover alone was a job very well done. Especially if you remember what the space used to look like.

Like we said, there’s a limited menu this week. They’ll be open every day going forward so you can stop by and Eat It and Like It.

Bubba Garcia's
7 East Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401

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