Lunch in Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is like a typical family meal in households across the South. Community tables of 10 are filled with family, friends and strangers, and close to two dozen shareable platters and bowls filled with rotating Southern staples like fried chicken (sinful and, thankfully, available every day), beef stew, meat loaf, cornbread dressing, candied yams, black-eyed peas, okra and tomatoes, butter beans, mashed potatoes, pickled beets, collard greens — you get the idea. The menu also changes daily, so regulars never get bored with their meal. To make it feel even more like home, it's first-come-first-served. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. sharp, you clear your own dishes and they only take cash (but there is an ATM on site).

Editor’s note: This guide was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated with the latest information on these restaurants.

Forming lines that often snake down the block, people flock to this throwback ice cream parlor, which has been around for over 100 years. Founded by three brothers from Greece and now run by descendants of that original family, this spot serves up its legendary hand-crafted ice cream in two dozen classic flavors (including the original 1919 Tutti Fruitti — rum ice cream with candied fruit and fresh-roasted Georgia pecans), rotating seasonal flavors like Japanese Cherry Blossom and Pumpkin Spice, decadent banana splits (pictured), overstuffed sundaes, ice cream sandwiches on scratch-made cookies, milkshakes, ice cream sodas, floats and specialty hot beverages. Many of the ice cream ingredients and toppings are prepared in-house, as are the sandwiches and signature salads.

New on the scene in 2018, but a sister to outposts in Charleston, Greenville and Nashville, Husk pays homage to the indigenous ingredients and heirloom products of coastal Georgia. Located in the heart of the historic district, it has a Southern-inspired menu that highlights local and regional ingredients and farmers, and changes daily, based on seasonality and availability. Dishes like sea scallops with summer squash, cornbread, padron peppers, and marigold, and Hunter Cattle Farm pork, confit leeks, mojo rattlesnake beans and black garlic celebrate the region's bounty while striving to refine Savannah cooking and changing the way we look at Southern cuisine.

Hoping to fill a void of true big-city pizza, father and son Russell and Parker Lee found the sweet spot with Green Fire Pizza. Using an 800-degree wood-fired pizza oven imported from Italy, they are cooking up perfectly charred Old World Neapolitan-style pizza with a thin and crunchy — yet still slightly doughy — crust filled with local and organic ingredients. Available by the slice or the pie, the classic margherita sets the bar with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, garlic and locally grown Genovese basil. But don't overlook the Lemon Chicken Cheddar pizza or the famous Giardino, with Calabrian chile pesto, broccolini, cherry tomatoes and sausage. Or create your own with more than two dozen out-of-the-(pizza)-box toppings.