25 Must-visit restaurants in Savannah
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Open since March 2023, Dottie’s Market was inspired by and named for co-owner Ericka Phillips’ great-grandmother. “She always embodied that hospitality and warmth that we wanted to create," Phillips said.
Thanks to Phillips’ husband, Chris Meenan, a veteran chef whose career has taken him to restaurants in Santa Fe, New Orleans and New York, Dottie’s Market is enveloped in the smells of a scratch kitchen from sunup to sundown.
At breakfast, the aroma of buttery croissants mingles with the sweet scent of ginormous apple fritters, yeasty bagels and freshly brewed coffee. Eggs, bacon and hashbrowns sizzle on the griddle, served as a morning blue-plate special or piled into savory breakfast sandwiches.
Lunchtime brings a line of customers for Meenan’s sandwiches, including the popular crispy chicken with burrata pesto and oven-dried tomato on a sourdough brioche bun.
Come dinnertime, there are contemporary takes on Southern fare, such as tater tots dressed up with pimento cheese and pancetta, or bologna, burrata and peach jam layered between slices of fried green tomato. Entrees, from seafood gumbo to chilled crab rice to barbecue spareribs, celebrate the local bounty of surf and turf, all served on vintage mix-and-match china.
Seating is cozy along the banquette in the small dining area, at the chef’s counter or on the sidewalk patio, but Dottie’s also offers all the provisions for a fine picnic at a nearby square or in Forsyth Park. Grab a craft soda or house-bottled lemonade from the drinks cooler or order a split of white or red wine — and don’t forget the chocolates for dessert.
— Ligaya Figueras
