Sometimes life is just going to take its course and you have no idea how things are going to shake out.
Tod Whitaker and Michael Higgins would most certainly attest to that fact. The long and the short of their story is they met over 3 decades ago in New York City. Tod moved to Savannah to run a cafe. It took Michael being frozen in Indianapolis one too many times for him to press eject on that situation and head South.
By day, Michael worked in marketing. On the weekends, he worked with show dogs. Opening a restaurant together? They’d discussed it, but it didn’t seem like it was much of a priority.
In fact, when they were told the space occupied by the very popular Wright Square Cafe on York Street was for sale, they thought they’d take a look, only to find out that it was already under contract.
A month later, they got the call that the first deal had fallen through.
“So i said, let’s just go take a look at it.” Michael recalls now.
And here they are.
Michael and Tod took over Wright Square Cafe with a vision to both not mess with a winning formula, but also enhance what they were doing. Wright Square had been largely known for chocolates, other sweets and coffee. In fact, it is one of the spots where Savannah’s All-world chocolatier Adam Turoni got his start in this town. Many many moons ago.
“We took a road trip to Texas.” Michael says “During the 8 hour ride back, we made a menu. We came back with a strong vision. It all fell into place.”
The original vision was to name their sandwiches after their dogs. Squares had been done. Streets had been done. Using the puppies names was not only different, but a personal touch.
The original vision included getting a beer and wine license and eventually opening for dinner and tweak the name to Wright Square Bistro. The main dining room was just too inviting not to. They had a local craftsman make tables and brightened an already good looking space.
But what about the food? The sandwiches are now among their most popular. The meatloaf sandwich, a recipe Tod says he’s been tweaking for about 20 years, is the one they know they couldn’t pull off of the menu. Sometimes they do anyway. It always finds its way back though.
What I like about what they are doing is they are towing the seasonal rope very well. A lot of times, a cafe will open using all the buzz words like ‘local’ ‘fresh’ ‘seasonal’ and then ultimately go their own way within weeks.
Sweets are provided largely by local bakers Wicked Cakes. That would include some gluten free options.
What I love about Wright Square Bistro is the location. The Bull Street corridor is so heavily traveled by visitors to our city, that you sometimes get caught up just moving North/South without taking a look at what you can find down a relatively quiet side street facing Wright Square.
Still, this spot is no secret anymore. Word of mouth has done its thing. B&B owners are regularly recommending it to their guests as a less crowded and/or pretentious option to a lot of what we are finding in downtown Savannah these days.
“We get a lot of couples who will come in during the evening, grab a bottle of wine and two sandwiches to take back to their room.” Michael says. More than likely a couple who has spent the day walking the city seeing the sights and they are done.
Wright Square offers a great selection of salads, sandwiches and sweets. You can grab charcuterie and a glass of wine if that is your speed as well. Weekends you will find your eggs, biscuits and gravy. Bagel and a schmear? They’ve got that too.
Stop by and see the guys at Wright Square Bistro. They still haven’t taken the plunge into dinner service. But if it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it. And there is nothing broken about this spot. You will Eat It and Like It.
Wright Square Bistro 21 West York Street Savannah, GA 31401 wrightsquarecafe.com
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