Where We Like to Eat...

Johnny Harris Restaurant

(Click here to see c.1941 photo of Johnny Harris restaurant)

What I wouldn't give for a trip to Johnny Harris Restaurant there on Victory Drive. Really some of the very best fried chicken you have ever eaten in your life. I can almost taste that garlic cheese spread that they serve with bread and raw vegetables after they take your order. Their barbecue lamb sandwiches are toooo wonderful for words as well as the barbecue pork. Oh my gosh: and that baked chicken. Can you stand it, honey?  If you would even think of leaving there without having either a slice of coconut cream pie, Uncle John's favorite, or the Carolina Trifle, Granddaddy's favorite, well....well, you just wouldn't give that a thought.

When we were there in June, I had to replenish my supply of their world-famous barbecue sauce.  You know, Max, when Grandmomma Adele and Granddaddy Louis were teenagers—along with Grandma Helene and Papa —they would go to Johnny's on their dates. They would have dinner, and then they would dance the night away "under the stars." In the main dining area of Johnny's they have hundreds of tiny lights up in the ceiling to give the effect of being under the stars. Of course every weekend they would have a "big band" there in the main dining room for entertainment. It was really so wonderful. They continued that practice all during my teenage years. They may still be doing that.  

Do you remember Ross? He was the gentleman that always waited on Grandmomma and Granddaddy all the years that I can remember. When I started dating Uncle John he would serve us also. He would always know exactly what you'd want to drink and just how you would want your food prepared no matter what you might order. I think they still have the little buzzer on the wall in each booth that you would press if you were ready to order or if you needed anything at all. It would activate a light just outside you booth. Of course if I remember correctly you and your brothers always looked forward to a trip to Johnny's and I imagine you still do.

                (Click here to read Oct. 97 Savannah Morning News  article on Johnny Harris.)

Carey Hilliard's

Another must is Carey Hilliard's. I think they have five or six restaurants in and around Savannah, maybe even a few throughout Georgia. Our favorite is still the one at Waters Avenue and Montgomery Crossroads.  Now I still say you must go for an early lunch or an early dinner. That's when they're just starting to prepare all of that DELICIOUS FRESH SEAFOOD. Oh my gosh, I almost get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.  Have you ever in your life had better fried onion rings? What about hush puppies? We always get a huge extra order of both when we go there. Can you just taste that fried shrimp and that deviled crab? Dear Gussie—it's too good to be true. And don't forget to wash it all down with their incredibly sweet sweetened tea, or "sweet tea", as we call it in the South.

You know, I think the one on Skidaway Road and then the one on Waters may have been the first of the Carey Hilliard's. Now, there was a Bill Hilliard's on Victory Drive, and I think it is still there as a matter of fact (Editor's note: sorry Aunt Mitzie, it recently closed). Went on my first date with Uncle John there. You know—you take that left just before Bill Hilliard's to go to Bonaventure. Of course, you can also go on down to Thunderbolt, I think, and take a left there (to get to Bonaventure) if you want to. I've just always gone this other way.

Williams Seafood

Williams---------it makes me feel weak just thinking about it. I guess I've been eating at Williams restaurant as far back as I can remember, very late 40's early 50's. You know, Max, I think Granddaddy told me that Williams started out as a little small stand by the side of the road right there where the restaurant is now. They—old Pa Williams and his wife Ma Williams—would go catch the crabs right there in the river and boil 'em up in a huge kettle and sell them to people as they were driving in from the beach. Maybe folks just drove out there to buy them, I really don't know.

That was quite a drive all those years ago. You know, that used to be an old two-lane, very narrow, kind of winding road. You'd have to go over about four bridges just to get to the beach. I believe two just to get to Williams. Seems like we would always go out on a Sunday. Maybe about 5:00. You know it would already be crowded. Line would be outside sometimes wrapped all the way down the front side of the property. Sometimes wrapped down that side by the water. Granddaddy (pictured at right with daughters Mitzie and Miriam) would go up and give them our name and how many he needed the table for, and we would just stand and wait. Course back then we knew just about everybody else that was waiting so we would visit quite a bit.

I can still remember my mouth watering just thinking about that wonderful-to-this-day fried shrimp. Always would have a boiled shrimp cocktail, and they would always ask if you would like your shrimp warm or cold. Granddaddy would always order the seafood platter and Grandma would order the flounder or boiled shrimp. Of course we would always just die over their hush puppies, and the cole slaw was excellent. I can't remember what your mom would order but I think it might have been shrimp. The scallops were always so sweet. Gosh, Max, what more could you ask for? They just go right out the side door and catch everything that day to serve to the customers.

You know, back then the restaurant was just a small, very plain building with all square, four-top tables. Whenever we would go with other folks we'd always have to push the tables together. And of course just like almost all the restaurants in Savannah when you ask for iced tea it's already sweetened with REAL sugar. Just about everybody uses Tetley, and they BREW the tea the way it's supposed to be done. Of course now days I imagine you can ask for unsweetened, but it seems like it's almost a sacrilege to drink it that way.

Ma and Pa Williams were very particular about the way you dressed. They wanted you to always be cool and comfortable, but they would tell you right away that you could not come in if you had on something like a halter top or if your shorts were toooo short. Men always had to have on a decent T-shirt—not an undershirt. And even the little ones always had to wear shoes. You know, they would not even allow you in there with a cover-up over your bathing suit. I mean you had to be dressed. Also, you very seldom saw men in there with other than long pants.

To this day I don't believe they allow any kind of alcohol to served, but I'm not sure. I didn't get to go to Williams this past June, and I wasn't there last year either. Pa and Ma were very strict about those things. All those years ago eating out was quite a social occasion and one that we would especially look forward to. We ate out every Sunday whether it was for lunch downtown at the old Morrison's Cafeteria, or The Pink House, which may have been closed on Sunday evening but open for brunch and lunch on Sunday.

You know, Max, another thing that I remember about Williams, aside from the fact that it's some of the most wonderful, fresh seafood ever:  when we would be riding out to the beach—whether to spend the day or just for the ride—when we would get to Williams we always knew that we would only have to go over two more bridges to get to the beach. We were more than half-way there. Back then it was about an hour's drive from town. That's when we were living on Washington Avenue. It would take quite a bit longer if they had to "open" one of the bridges to let a boat go through. Back then a boat's mast did not have to be too terribly tall for them to have to open the bridge. Of course now all of that has changed: no open bridges and the drive only takes about 30 minutes. I guess it still depends if you're going out Victory Drive or if you're going out from Bay Street. Sure would love to be heading out right now. Might even make a stop at Fort Pulaski on the way.

Readers' Comments:

Don't forget Mrs. Wilkes on Jones Street. I can't tell you how many times I had to force myself to leave after eaing some of the best home cooked food this side of my mothers'!! The breakfast is even better.—Jack Silas (9/22/97)

For famous Savannah restaurants, you can't forget The Crystal Beer Parlor on Jones. Not only have they been serving great food since the 30's, but the current ambiance will take you back in time (Billie Holiday playing in the background and photos from years past on the walls). Ask to sit in the "old" part where the great old bar is located. Also, ask for Munroe, who has been working there since the early days.—Sherrill from Alabama (11/8/97)

My dad moved back to savannah from Ohio where my family lived after my parents divorced in '72. I was 12. My sister and I came down on visits for the years he lived there. He was stationed near savannah during WWII before he left for Europe. He remembered Johnny Harris and we went there a lot during our visits. I remember the restaurant booths with what seemed to us really BIG Windows looking onto Victory Drive and the avenue of palms. Johnny Harris was a great place to take two well-behaved Yankee teeneagers for their first taste of real southern fare and to enjoy the best hopsitality service anywhere. My sister and I loved JohnnyHarris and this month, I'm coming down to Savannah from NYC where I now live. One of the first places I am going back to on my memory lane trip (i'm now 43 years old) is down Victory Drive to Johnny Harris Restaurant. It's a part of my past now and one I want to revisit many more times.----Jeffrey Sowder (5/5/2003)

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