At any given point over the last handful of years, you could safely count on a hand and a half how many new restaurants we knew were on the horizon in the Hostess City. Entering the Fall of 2025, we now need more than 2 hands to count the number of new spaces and places in the works for Savannah into 2026. Joining Jesse is Savannah chef Rae Robertson to talk about a little about each one that we know about and what you can expect.

Jesse Blanco: There was a time here in Savannah where all I did was talk about new restaurants. And it was taking so much of our time up, that it was kind of almost a disservice in keeping us from talking about other things that already exist, not coming attractions. Putting together a list for this conversation, I came up with 10 to 15 restaurants that are just about to open or coming probably in the next six to eight months. And joining me now to talk a little bit about our food scene and what we’re doing and what that looks like is Rae Robertson. Good morning, how are you? 

Rae Robertson: Good morning, I’m wonderful. How are you? 

JB: Good! Rae, if you don’t know, if you’re not a regular listener, is a Savannah chef, Savannah native, and she is equally as excited as this list I keep glancing down at that she doesn’t know what’s on it. I’m sure you know some of them, but not all of them. The question to you is, are you surprised that I look at this list, that there’s 15 restaurants that we know of coming in the next six months? 

RR: Fifteen. I wouldn’t have expected fifteen, I’m not going to lie. But that’s amazing. 

JB: It is. It is. 

RR: It’s really exciting. 

JB: It is really exciting. For those of us that love food and what is becoming of the food scene, that’s a pretty hot and heavy clip, would you say? 

RR: Absolutely. 

JB: And people say there’s always room for more. There is always room for more. I’m sure you would agree with that. 

RR: Yeah, always. 

JB: We had a conversation here a few weeks back, probably a couple of months ago now, where we talked about the lack of depth. It’s kind of like we’re checking boxes around town. And OK, we need this and we need that. And people are opening them kind of like that, “oh, we need something like this or we need something like that.” But we don’t have 10 Chinese restaurants to choose from. You know, we don’t have five steakhouses. We don’t have that kind of depth yet unless it’s seafood. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: Is that fair? 

RR: No, 100% 

JB: Yeah. Yeah, okay, so how have you been? We haven’t spoken in a couple of minutes. 

RR: I’m good. Busy, you know, busy going into fall. It’s oyster season. My favorite time of the year. 

JB: Is it? 

RR: Yeah.

JB: It’s funny you would bring that up because the other day–I didn’t grow up with oysters in South Florida, it was more crab, shrimp, fish, lobster. My dad would make a lobster stew, I guess, and it would stink up the house and I hated it. I grew up not liking seafood for that reason. 

RR: Really? 

JB: Yeah. 

RR: Okay. That’s fair though. The smell, the smell is one of the main triggers.

JB: The main trigger, number one. And then number two, me and my cousins would always want to go with our dads fishing, and most times they wouldn’t take us, but the times that they did, we’d come back with whatever fish they’d catch and they’d make us clean them. 

RR: Okay. Not your favorite thing. 

JB: No, I won’t touch it to this day. What? Noooooo. Gut the fish, scale them, gut them, and then you’re going to stink up the house…

RR: Just to cook it. Yeah. 

JB: Yeah, no, you know, I get Vietnam flashbacks and just, you know, nervous twitches when I think about that stuff. And it wasn’t until, no joke, about a decade ago with Eat It and Like It that I’m like, OK, well, if you’re going to be this food guy, you need to start at least trying it. 

RR: Mhm. 

JB: Sushi, I didn’t touch until– I did not touch sushi until 2011. 

RR: Okay. 

JB: I was not having any of it. And we went up to this place called Taco Sushi. It was a Mexican sushi concept in Augusta. And the owner [said], “you don’t eat sushi?” “No.” “Then why are you here?” “Well, we’re–” this was all on TV, it’s a segment that I still get poked about by viewers sometimes, because it was so very obvious in that episode that I didn’t eat sushi. And he showed me, “well, it doesn’t have to be fishy. Try this.” And we did that on TV. And now I will tell you, in fact, it’s on my list of things to bring up with you, I am, I would like to think, on a scale of one to ten, an eight sushi snob. 

RR: Okay! 

JB: These days. 

RR: Alright. 

JB: Like, I don’t think we have any great sushi in Savannah. 

RR: See, my experience with sushi, like from a young age was, you know, you were lucky if it was at Kroger or Publix, that was like my exposure to good sushi for the longest time. (laughing) 

JB: Right. 

RR: Until, you know, later, until my late twenties when it became, like, an explosion all over the place. 

JB: That happened to me in the last 10 years. Where were you when you had it and said, “Oh! This is what it’s supposed to be.”

RR: It was… I want to say it was at a festival where a bunch of chefs were doing their own thing, you know, and this one chef really sold me on it. And, because for me too, it’s the smell, you know, it doesn’t always smell the best. So in my brain I’m like, Hmm, this is questionable. But it smelled amazing, I watched him hand roll it right there in front of everybody, and I was like, okay I’ll give it a try. And it was incredible, and I haven’t had anything, like you said, come close to that one, but I also am still hesitant. It’s one of those realms that I’m still not sure if I love sushi or not. 

JB: No, I love it, I go for it, when you get the good stuff, I hate to say this, but I don’t—I’m not fired up by anything that we’ve got here, outside of Ukiyo, in Savannah. 

RR: Mhm.Yup.

JB: That’s it. You know, you’ve got the little, I call them–I’m going to try to be nice here–fast food sushi that you get a lot of around town, with your mayos and your cream cheeses and all of that.

RR: And that’s where I think that I don’t–that’s where I don’t care for it. 

JB: Right! Right, when everybody says, “oh, we’re going for sushi…” (laughing) I have to out myself, chatting with a gal pal yesterday via text, she’s telling me about her weekend, she goes, “yeah, we went, I got home bloated from sushi.” And I immediately, I didn’t tell her this, but I judged the fool out of her. Like yeah, you went and bloated yourself up on white girl sushi, I mean that’s… (laughing) that’s not my term, I didn’t invent it, please don’t crucify me, but it is a thing, I know plenty of people who call it that.

RR: (laughing) It is. Mhm.

JB: Yeah, we don’t, outside of Ukiyo, again, we need more, because people love it. 

RR: They do and it’s the same thing, like for me, I said I love oysters, I grew up on oysters, my dad, growing up, would get giant clusters, and to me as a kid it was absolutely repulsive. It smelled amazing, but the texture, all of it, I was like absolutely not. And it wasn’t until about four or five years ago that I had some really good oysters, not in a cluster, and I was like, okay, okay, I can see what’s happening here. And then slowly after that, I’m kind of an oyster connoisseur now, which is funny. 

JB: Yeah, I love me some oysters in a restaurant where they’ve been shucked and you got your nice little, what’s my word? The topping. 

RR: Oh, the mignonette, and the horseradish. 

JB: Yes, all of that. Give me—you know, let me just sit there and work it, or… you know, some of the best oysters I’ve ever had have been here at Common Thread, the way they work those. But I won’t engage in what I call the knife fight. The oyster roast. 

RR: That’s okay, we can go together and I’ll just shuck all of your oysters for you. (laughing)

JB: No, you all have fun with that, you see everybody in their gloves and their little knives and all that, and I’m like, no. No, I just could never get into that. 

RR: Yeah.

JB: And I think it’s in part because I didn’t grow up with it. 

RR: Mhm. 

JB: Yeah, yeah, that’ll happen. But I still won’t clean or scale a fish, I won’t catch a lobster, I won’t do any of that that I did grow up with. 

RR: Yeah. 

JB: So anyway, okay, so we have a list, and this exercise is as much sharing with you, a local chef, as it is just spending a couple of minutes talking about stuff that is coming to Savannah, either here as we record this late 2025, or I would say by the middle of 2026, most of these should be open. And if it’s going to be longer than that, then I will reference that. The first one is we’re getting Spanish tapas. 

RR: Okay!

JB: It’s a place called Sela. Sela is owned by Daniel Reed Hospitality, who own Local, Public Kitchen and Bar, Franklin’s with their fabulous tomato soup. Have you had that soup? 

RR: No, I haven’t. 

JB: Yeah, now that we’re going into winter, you need to try it. Franklin’s, Public, Local 11ten, those are their restaurants. They are doing Spanish tapas at the intersection of Bull and Liberty Streets, which is kind of where all of their restaurants are. The DeSoto Hilton is there. And I don’t know how—you know, I would think they’re not going to cut corners, this isn’t going to be, you know, 7-Eleven tapas, this is going to be good. And if it’s anything—I wrote about this on the website a couple of weeks ago, if it’s anything like one of my favorites in Charleston, Malagón, have you been there by chance? 

RR: No. 

JB: Malagón is, you know, they’ve got the bottles of wine, it is legit a tapas place, which I did grow up on those in Miami, you know, with the small plates and the toothpicks and the hams…  

RR: Ugh, I love that so much. 

JB: You know, the ibèrico ham, and all of that stuff. 

RR: Mhm. 

JB: I’m hoping that Sela is that.

RR: Okay, I like that one. 

JB: Yes. Marbled and Fin (Photo above) is coming to Savannah. It’s being built up now by a restaurant group that I know you’re familiar with, that’s Neighborhood Dining. 

RR: Okay. Yep.

JB: Is it NDG that owns Husk? Neighborhood Dining Group.

RR: Yeah, I think so. 

JB: Yeah, they own Husk, McCrady’s, and I guess a couple others up in Charleston. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: But they are building out—they have a Marbled and Fin location in Charleston, which I’m dying to get to, but I’m watching the construction here, this is going to be on Oglethorpe Street, right across from that shopping center where E. Tang and Screamin’ Mimi’s are and all that. 

RR: OK. Yep. 

JB: It’s going to be over there, and, as obviously you can tell by the name of it, it’s going to be steaks and seafood, Marbled and Fin, I mean, that’s kind of what they are…

RR: I’m always down for a good steak. 

JB: It’s fine dining, it’s bougie AF, as the kids say. It’s—you look up pictures of the location in Charleston and it’s like, fancy schmancy, but it’s down on the other end of downtown of the historic district.

RR: Which I like. 

JB: Yeah!

RR: That’s a great spot. It’s expanding, it’s pushing people to walk more out, you know, to find those good spots. 

JB: Yes, yes. Nickel and Oak, I believe it’s called, Jazz Club. That is going into Congress Street, right in front of Lady and Sons, which obviously we know is now closed. Have you seen the construction there? 

RR: No, I haven’t walked down there recently. 

JB: Congress Street right off of Whitaker, not even a half block. Órale Tacos used to be there. 

RR: Okay, yep. I know exactly where you’re talking about.

JB: Right there, it’s being built, it’s two stories, it’s gonna be super bougie, from the pictures I’ve seen.

RR: Super bougie. 

JB: Yeah, and truth be told, Rancho Alegre, the Cuban place, is probably our most popular live music dinner venue. 

RR: Mhm.

JB: I don’t know that we have another.

RR: We don’t. I mean, we used to have a lot more, you know, places where you could go and sit outside and watch the band, listen to music, and I feel like that’s kind of diminished in the last year or two. 

JB: Yeah. Hilton Head Island has one that’s legendary and incredibly popular because of how good the food is, and the music, it’s called The Jazz Corner. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: And you go, and the food, it’s not inexpensive and you pay a cover charge and all that, but it’s that, you know, elevated supper club experience. That’s what I believe this is going to be. So that will be exciting. Next on my list is one that we’ve been waiting a hot minute for. A hot minute for. She’s laughing! She’s laughing!

RR: (laughing) A hot minute. It’s been a minute. 

JB: A couple of hot minutes. The Darling Oyster Bar. We know all about it from Charleston, we know all about it because I have reported ad nauseum at eatitandlikeit.com. But it is finally set to open this fall. Are we confident in saying that it will open this fall in Savannah?

RR: I’m very confident on saying that it will open this fall. (laughing)

JB: (laughing) We laugh because you have no idea, you have no idea how many people, when I’d write about it a year ago, a year and a half ago, “when is it going to open? When is it going to open?” How many conspiracy theories, how many people said you couldn’t get a liquor license, “they couldn’t get a liquor license because it’s next to a church,” and [they said] I’m lying, I’m making stuff up, and [they said] “why are you covering for them?” I got accused of all kinds of nonsense over the Darling Oyster Bar. And you know, because I know you were reading my stuff, a couple of years ago I wrote, they’re on their own timetable, not yours. You know? Beep off! Period! You know, whatever. So anyway, all that to say, we can expect to see the Darling Oyster Bar with the Raw Bar, and have you been to the one in Charleston? 

RR: Yep. 

JB: Do you like it? 

RR: I love the one in Charleston. My favorite thing is the Raw Bar.

JB: Yeah. 

RR: I love that it’s like, you come to talk to people, you get the show, also just looking from the outside in, you see all the fresh oysters, the clams, the seafoods, the towers going out, and it’s just, I like the vibe that it puts out. 

JB: That energy, that energy. I’ve not sat at the one in Charleston, but right off the windows there on King Street, it’s inviting. You’re seeing the guys in the knife fight. 

RR: Yeah, their shucker shirts. And it brings that element of community when you’re sitting at that raw bar, because you’re not only talking about the city you’re talking, “where are you from?” You know, while you’re just sitting around sharing oysters. 

JB: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that’s gonna be a good one, and we need—you know, right now all we have downtown… people ask me, as I’m sure you’ve been asked, “hey, where do we go for seafood?” We don’t have a quintessential seafood restaurant in downtown Savannah, outside of Sorry Charlie’s. There are restaurants that do seafood. 

RR: Correct. 

JB: But, “hey, this is a middle to higher end seafood place where you can get a tower or stuff like that,” there just isn’t one. 

RR: No.

JB: Outside of Sorry Charlie’s. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: But now there will be two, and they will offer a little bit of everything for everybody. I heard a rumor, I don’t know if you’ve heard it or not, is there gonna be fried chicken on the menu in Savannah? 

RR: In here? 

JB: In Savannah, yeah. 

RR: I know that they offer a half chicken in Charleston, so I’m assuming that it will be pretty much the same. 

JB: Okay, all right. Moving along, we can look forward to that. Another seafood place will open in Starland, it’s called Fish Bar Savannah. Have you heard of that one yet? 

RR: I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t heard a lot of information about it. 

JB: No, Fish Bar Savannah is brought to you by Southern Cross Hospitality, who owns Collins Quarter and all of those restaurants, Fitzroy… they are going into the Starland area, and they were supposed to open around the 4th of July, but I was told that they had some ventilation issues… people just don’t understand what it takes to put a proper restaurant into a space that didn’t have one before.

RR: Correct. Especially when you’re working with old bones, like there’s not there’s not just one thing that can happen, there’s a multitude of things that can happen. I mean look at the—a great example is The Laundry. I mean, how many hoops did they have to jump through, not only in their building, but outside of their building as well, before they could even get to a place where they’re ready to put equipment in the building? 

JB: Right, right. There’s power issues, there’s water, there’s ventilation, all of that stuff. I’m going to tell you a ventilation story here in a minute that’s going to blow your mind. But, Fish Bar Savannah is gonna have… what is it called? A hearth? The big fire cauldron, if you will. And they’re gonna be grilling, and vegetables and that type of concept. 

RR: Oh, sweet. 

JB: Yeah, that’s what they’re gonna be doing there, and that’s why they needed more ventilation. 

RR: Yeah, that makes sense. 

JB: Yeah, and it’s taken a minute. They didn’t have enough for what they wanted to do. 

RR: Especially with something that caliber, yeah, that big. It’s not like we’re talking about The Thompson and their wood fire. 

JB: Right, right. Yeah, that one is smaller, and that was a brand new hotel, so you could build it however you want. 

RR: Correct, the ventilation was so much easier to plan out, versus going into an old space. 

JB: Right, right. So, Fish Bar Savannah is coming to Starland. For those of you who are familiar with Starland, it’s going to go into where Squirrel’s Pizza used to be, right next to Water Witch and Ukiyo, on that little strip there. Yeah, that’s where that’s going to go, and as we record this now, early October, I would expect to see… I think it’s fair to say we’ll see Fish Bar Savannah by the end of the year. 

RR: Are they doing any of the canned fish or 10 fish service, or are they just doing fresh fish? 

JB: I don’t know. Good question.

RR: Because that’s like, all the rage right now. 

JB: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what Max is going to do. He cooked for a supper club of mine at the top of the summer, and it was kind of a preview of their menu, and there was a lot of grilled vegetables… it was the top of the summer, so he went that route. He grilled vegetables, a lot of nice light sauces that went with… we ate like savages that night, he grilled filet and whole fish, you should have seen my guests, they left fish carcasses, it looked like the cartoons when they were holding it up… (laughing)

RR: (laughing) They were just naked.

JB: Yeah, they went crazy. 

RR: That’s awesome. That makes me excited, I love to see that type of that open cooking, it’s almost gotten lost sometimes.

JB: Yeah, and Max is a Savannah guy who moved away and had several opportunities to come back, and didn’t until it was the right thing. And this attracted him, what you just said, you like that kind of open cooking, he was like, “oh! That’s different.” 

RR: It is. 

JB: “I kind of like that.”

RR: It’s one of my favorite things, like when I did a pop-up at the Thompson, I worked the wood fire, and I absolutely love it. I love open cooking. There’s just something about having to manipulate the fire, as well as what you’re cooking on the fire, it’s not just putting it in a pan and walking away.

JB: Yeah, that was I think the first time you and I actually had a conversation, when I was sitting there. 

RR: Yeah. In-depth conversation, yeah. At the chef’s table. 

JB: Yeah, because it was always, “hey, what’s up?” “Hey, what’s up?” “Hey, what’s up?” But yeah, when you were working that thing. Okay. 

RR: What’s next? 

JB: Next. 

RR: Do we have pasta on there somewhere? 

JB: Garden Square is next. Garden Square is a modern bar, they’re calling it, a modern bar with small plates and cocktails. You know that courtyard where Brochu’s Family Tradition is? 

RR: Mhm.

JB: There. 

RR: Okay!

JB: Yes. 

RR: I love Brochu’s. 

JB: This is kind of a, from the visuals that they put out, @gardensquaresav on Instagram, if you want to follow, it looks like a rooftop kind of concept, but it’s not. Does that make sense? 

RR: Yeah.

JB: Small plates, cocktails, everything’s painted green, it’s called Garden Square. It’s kind of looking a little like Peregrine, if you will. 

RR: Okay. 

JB: That kind of vibe. but it’s not a rooftop. I think it will—well, I know it’s gonna attract a younger crowd, the Instagram girls, and all that stuff, will be there. 

RR: Yep. Pet friendly?

JB: I would bet not. It’s not that kind of place. I could be wrong, but from the visuals I’ve seen, it’s gonna skew… I don’t wanna call it bougie, because that’s not fair– 

RR: What a different concept, though. I love that it’s not a rooftop. You know what I mean? 

JB: Right, but it is a rooftop. 

RR: The city of Savannah has great views, but…

JB: Yes. Okay, Garden Square. The next one is, the Douglas Hotel has a restaurant, and I was told the name and I apologize, I forgot, the Douglas Hotel was just built out next to the Girl Scout house on Oglethorpe near Bull. 

RR: Okay. 

JB: Where the Ballastone Inn used to be. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: That’s gonna be a restaurant, and if I’ve not gotten my wires crossed, the people doing that restaurant are the people behind The Obstinate Daughter in Charleston. 

RR: Oooh I love that. 

JB: Yes. Yes, however—and again, I hope I’m not getting my wires crossed with this, I apologize in advance if I got it wrong, but it’s only going to be available to guests. 

RR: I don’t hate that. 

JB: No, I don’t either. But we’re here talking about it, like, “hey, go to this restaurant, same people as Obstinate Daughter!” But you gotta stay there in order to enjoy it. Womp, womp, as they say. 

RR: (laughing) Womp, womp, womp. 

JB: (laughing) Back to Southern Cross Hospitality, people behind Collins Quarter, et al, is Lavetta. 

RR: OK. 

JB: Lavetta is a way super upscale Italian…

RR: Yes!

JB: Coming to Broughton Street. 

RR: Even better. 

JB: Yes. And if you walk Broughton Street at all, you’ve seen the paper up in the windows, a couple of doors down from Flying Monk. 

RR: Okay. 

JB: In that block there. 

RR: Yep, I’ve seen the construction going on.

JB: Yes, that is Lavetta, and I just found this out a couple of weeks ago when I called and asked for information, apparently there’s going to be a speakeasy attached to that with a separate entrance called V. 

RR: Okay! This is exciting! I’m like super excited right now.

JB: The word speakeasy has gotten so overused, like bodega. 

RR: Yeah 

JB: Drives me crazy.

RR: Yeah.

JB: Just because you sell tylenol and tampons doesn’t make you a bodega. 

RR: Thank you so much. 

JB: Oh my goodness. But that’s, you know, “oh, we got a little bit of everything in there!” No, it’s not a bodega. Sorry. Anyway, so speakeasy has gotten overused as well, if I know Anthony, this will be a classic speakeasy. I could picture—no one’s told me this, but I could picture an entrance off the lane in the back. 

RR: Yeah.

JB: With a tiny neon V next to the door. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: So that you know where it is. 

RR: Something inconspicuous, but also, you know, you’re not being kidnapped down a dark alley somewhere. 

JB: Right. You got to know. 

RR: You got to know at least something. 

JB: There’s a million doors in the lane. You’re not going to go pulling on any door. You never know what you might see in downtown Savannah. Anyway, Anthony, if you end up doing that, I need at least partial credit for the idea. Little script V. 

RR: (laughing) Yeah. 

JB: You know, red neon. Anywho. Okay, I said earlier we need five chop houses, steak houses. We have a couple, but Bowdie’s Chophouse is a tiny chain out of Michigan who has been planning to come to Savannah for almost as long as the Darling Oyster Bar has been planning to come to Savannah. A couple of years, but this is the story I was going to tell you, I’ll make it quick, about ventilation. They’re opening a chophouse at the Eastern Wharf Project. Above them is all the condos that are over there now, this is where the Riverfront Marriott is and the Thompson Hotel and all of that… I was told by a reliable source that they didn’t have enough ventilation to operate this chophouse, so they had to drill through the floor, ceiling, floor, ceiling, but you got condos above. 

RR: Yep.

JB: So what does that do? It displaced a handful of people who were living there already.

RR: I can believe that. 

JB: It took a minute to move them out, do the work, and then, as I understand it, either move them back in, or get new people in there… anyway, it has turned into a nightmare of a project that was supposed to be done right the first time and it wasn’t. So Bowdie’s Chophouse has been delayed forever. I was told by the person who told me all of this that, yeah, they were hoping to be open in November, they haven’t even started on that work yet. So I think we’d be lucky to see them spring/summer of 26.

RR: Yeah, I mean still, kudos to them for wanting to put in the effort to make sure it’s done right, you know, instead of just forcing it and then getting yourself into a bind after you’re open and trying to backpedal and get that stuff fixed. So I’m excited for them. 

JB: There’s also a duck duck bowling concept that was supposed to come to Eastern Wharf, I forget the name…

RR: I heard that rumor!

JB: Yeah, I was told just recently that that concept has changed, I forget the name of it, but something else is coming to Eastern Wharf, let’s just leave it at that. (laughing) Supposed to have fried chicken and duck bowling, but I think it’s skewing a little more upscale as I understand it. Anyway.

RR: Makes sense for that area. 

JB: Yeah, and it’s not hard to believe that stuff is coming to Eastern Wharf. 

RR: Mhm. Well I’m excited about that, because it’s been, like… I feel like when Eastern Wharf opened, it was exciting, but not a lot of people ventured to that side of River Street to even know that it existed. So now the word’s starting to get out, and they’re bolstering it up. I’m excited about that. 

JB: Yeah! Yeah, and then, I’ve been told this is something that is hopefully planned, I’d like to see it come to fruition, but it was being discussed, and I’ll go ahead and share this here… on Bull Street in Starland, there’s gonna be sister concepts right next to each other, Starland Burgers and Starland Chicken. 

RR: Okay. Where’s that gonna be, in front, behind Starland Yard? 

JB: Where Trix Barbecue used to be. In that general—on that side of Starland. And then there’s the other one that was supposed to be a little food hall, a wine and food hall that’s going in next to Sey Hey Lounge, you know, right there on that corner in front of Popeyes. 

RR: Oh really? 

JB: Yeah. 

RR: Okay! 

JB: That side of Starland is starting to get developed, between there and 520 Wings, which is down on the corner. 

RR: Nice. Yeah. 

JB: Starland Chicken and Burgers will be right in there. 

RR: Okay. I’m not mad at that. 

JB: No, me either. I mean, you know, people screamed bloody murder when Trix had to move over to the West side, but I mean, progress is progress. It will certainly clean it up from what it used to be. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: So, looking forward to that. And then a couple more that we have no idea what they’re going to be, but we know they’re coming, is a construction that’s going on right now at Johnson Square. We know the Ritz Carlton is going in on one side, on the City Hall side of Johnson Squar. But on the other side is the sister hotel to Bardot. 

RR: Yep. 

JB: I believe it’s called Recess, that hotel. That’s going to have a couple of different concepts, I think a rooftop pool with Mediterranean food, and then another restaurant. I’m sure it has to have another restaurant in there. So there’s two more. And then the Ritz-Carlton obviously will have its own venue. 

RR: It’ll have it’s own, yeah.

JB: So that’s three right there on the square. 

RR: Which is incredible.

JB: I’ll add to that, on the opposite corner of Johnson Square there, where the old Truist Bank is, that white building that’s there, was brick, there was a room of a restaurant going into that corner, facing, you know the hot dog guy that’s always there?

RR: (laughing) The hot dog guy. 

JB: Yeah. There was a rumor of a restaurant going into that corner space, which would not surprise me at all if you’ve got a brand new boutique hotel right in front, and a Ritz-Carlton right across the square. 

RR: Yep. Target market right there. 

JB: That’s over 15. 

RR: Which is so exciting. 

JB: It is exciting. And you would agree, as a chef in this area, and me as a food journalist, that yes, OK, let’s do that again next year. 

RR: Uh-huh. Agreed. 

JB: Can Savannah support 30 new restaurants in 18 months? 

RR: I think we can. I think I think we might not have all of the numbers compared to everywhere else, like if you go to New York or Philadelphia or Phoenix, but I definitely think we have more of a rotating clientele, in terms of, like, tourists, we’re smack in between two military bases… there’s just a lot that Savannah has going on around it that I think will be exciting. It’ll want to bring more people in to try out these restaurants as they get up and running and expanding. 

JB: It’s a lot. And I had a restaurateur in Charleston tell me last year, when I asked him, “hey, why don’t you guys come to Savannah?” And he lamented the fact that, yes, weekends can be great in Savannah, but midweek, Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, we’re just not seeing the numbers that we would need to support something like that. 

RR: Mhm. Yeah, and that’s what I was going to say, too, is like, because there are so many hitting the scene, kind of like right behind each other, you know, with any new thing, you always get that big push in the beginning. And then, you know, after a couple of months, when the new wears off, and the dust settles, that’s when you can genuinely see what you’re going to be able to withstand, and are you going to be able to withstand being in Savannah, and not just Savannah, but just as a restaurant as a whole.

JB: Yeah, yeah.

RR: Especially with social media and everything being what it is, if you don’t have that push, unfortunately sometimes it’s a lot harder to build those regulars and get your word out there.

JB: Yeah, circling back to how I started this conversation, you know, there was a time where it’s all I did. And we had our shiny new penny, and it was an occasion when a restaurant opened in Savannah. Now they’re so rapid fire that it’s impossible, even for me who does this for a living, to get to all of them in 30 days. 

RR: Yeah, no way. 

JB: No. Number one, I run a business, number two, my business is expanding, but number three, it’s expensive to go.

RR: It is.

JB: To go to—let’s say, four open in six weeks… oh my God, you know? Because I’m not going to go and have one app and split a glass of wine with my wife. 

RR: Yeah, no, you’re actually going to order food and eat and enjoy it. 

JB: Right. And if it costs two or three hundred bucks, well, then it does. Multiply that times whatever, and I say that, me, who’s required to do this for a living, but Joe Ardsley Park and his family can’t do that either. 

RR: No. 

JB: That’s why I make a point of it, because, you know, the average family there can’t keep up with all the stuff that’s coming as much as they would like to. 

RR: Yep, as much as they would like to. 

JB: Because what we haven’t mentioned are the ones that have just opened, like Kyle’s Lucia Pasta, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That’s a mouthful. 

RR: Mhm.

JB: But it’s exciting for Savannah.

RR: It is. I feel like it’s offering more depth. You know, we’re seeing different things, we’re also seeing some of the same things, but also done differently, elevated. And I think it’s going to bring a lot of stirring to the city in terms of food scene. 

JB: I hope so. We need more street food. 

RR: Right. That’s one of the things I miss about Phoenix so much, is when we were there, like, literally you could pull over on the side of 89th and Shea, and there’s four to five street vendors from like, you name it, it could be anything. And then you go up two more blocks, and then there’s another six or seven. I miss that so much. 

JB: Yeah, because all these restaurants, like we just said, you go and you sit down, it’s not inexpensive. We need some grub, we need, you know…

RR: We need more hot dog guys! 

JB: Yeah, and banging lunch spots, where you can just, you know… a dirty taco and keep it moving. 

RR: Yep. 100% agree. 

JB: Yeah, yeah. Well, something to hope for. 

RR: Something to wish for. Something to wish for. 

JB: (laughing) Yes. Yes, Rae, thank you for hanging out, we will do it again very soon. Happy eating this fall. And, man, it’s exciting. I just pause. I’m like, man, it’s a lot. 

RR: It is a lot.

JB: All right. We’ve said it’s a lot. 

RR: It’s a lot. 

JB: We’ve said a lot, a lot. Let’s get out of here. We’ll see you next time.