I think it would be fair to call Savannah’s Eastern Wharf development the biggest “Hurry up and wait” situation in Savannah history. It was years ago that we were preparing for Savannah’s newest waterfront development to come along and change the way we visited downtown. The phase one condo was built, then it burned, then it was re-built.
The Thompson Hotel went up and remains the only draw for visitors in an otherwise empty field.
Now we’ve learned about the first real tenant (besides the hotel) to go in to Eastern Wharf. It’s the Starland District’s Squirrel’s Pizza.
Squirrel’s at Eastern Wharf made it official via social media over the weekend with some photos of the shipping canisters being lowered into place at what will be the project’s first food venue outside the Thompson.
“We’ve been discussing it for about 2 years.” says Chris Dickerson, Squirrel’s owner. “Putting this together has been a big puzzle.”
Chris tells me the challenges have been significant, but it isn’t really any different than what others are going through these days. Would you like a for example? Chris says they went ahead and ordered walk in coolers because they were promised a 12-16 WEEK delivery time. Fair enough, right? That buys you time to get everything else in place.
They showed up 12 DAYS later. Which led to a mad scramble to find a place to store them while the rest of the project is built. It’s just a day in the life.
Once it is built, Chris says it’s going to be different than what they do at Squirrel’s on Bull Street. Slightly. The wood fired pies will not be available at the riverfront. They have a different oven.
“We are going to be doing more pan pizzas and New York style pies by the slice,” Is how he described it. “The oven we have will handle the workload we’ll see there.” Of course, anyone wanting a whole pie will be able to do that as well. They also plan to offer a few flavors of chicken wings, plus beer battered cheese sticks and a few more items.
The pizza will be a draw, but you can hear the excitement in his voice about the beverage program they are planning to offer there as well. “Lindsay Sparmann is our Beverage Director at Squirrel’s. She’s done a great job and will as well at Eastern Wharf.”
They are planning somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 beers on tap, but there will be a full beverage program.
“It will be as much a bar as it will be a pizza spot.” Chris says. Seating will be entirely outdoors with some umbrellas to protect you from the sun or rain.
Sounds great. When can we expect it?
“We are hoping for November sometime. We just can’t say yet,” He says. “Our biggest issue has been finding the right staff. We have a great staff at Squirrel’s. We just want to find the right fit with people here too.”
Of course, there are other eateries planned for that Eastern Wharf project. Confirmed as of August 2022 are Latin Chicks/Mint to Be Mojito and Honeysuckle Gelato, a North Carolina-based gelato maker.
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