For Colleen’s spring break, we headed down to Savannah for a couple of days to scout for an apartment for her pending move.

Come Monday, we were making the requisite food plans and Jo wanted to go to Paula Dean’s restaurant, Lady & Sons.  I had read about Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room for years, but we had only been in Savannah on the weekends previously.  This was the day.

We started the morning by putting in our name for a dinner reservation at Lady & Sons, then made our way over to Mrs. Wilkes to wait in line there.  They open at 11:00.  We got there at 11:30 and ended up waiting about 90 minutes to get inside.   The view above is as you walk in the front door.  Mrs. Wilkes has been open since the 40s, originally as a boarding house.  It was converted into a restaurant and now has family-style lunches at tables that seat ten.

The table was covered in a veritable cornucopia of food – fried chicken, barbecue, roast beef, macaroni and cheese, green beans, field peas, butter beans, fried okra, squash, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, biscuits and cornbread, and at least ten more bowls. 

The result for me:

The biscuit?  It was okay.

The vegetables?  Fresh and flavorful.

The fried chicken?  It deserved a blue ribbon.  It was among the top 10 pieces of fried chicken I’ve ever eaten.

If you’re in Savannah, and only have time for one truly Southern meal, make the right decision and dine at Mrs. Wilkes.