Well, here is my second post of the day.
I had 267 e-mails to look through(deleting265) and now I am ready to vent.
Savannah is a beautiful historic city-take a tour it is worth it. The Historic downtown area and Riverfront are fabulous and full of shopping, restaurants and a very walkable area. When those of us in the north think of Savannah and food I think many of our thoughts go to Paula Deen-the food network phenom with cookbooks, magazines and of course, her famous restaurant, Lady and Sons located in the historic section of Savannah by the City Market. Since we had heard so much about Paula we thought it would be fun to go to her restaurant for dinner. We called her restaurant where a recording informed us that to sign up for prioity seating(NOT Reservations-those are only for groups of 10 or more) we would need to come in person to the restaurant at 3:30 PM and leave our names. Being the best Grandma ever, I walked to PD"S arriving about 3:20 PM. The line was over a block long. I assumed the hoard was there for a late lunch-how naive of me- no, they were all there to put in their names for prioirty seating. I should have kept walking and shopped at the city market-I should have kept walking and gone back to the hotel. I did not. I got in line.
One hour and a half later we had seats for the 9:00 seating. We were told to be there at no later than 8:45 or risk losing our precious place.
We arrived at 8:30. We were greeted by a thundering hoard of people-all with 9:oo priority seating. We were escorted into the restaurant at 9:30 PM. We should have kept walking.
The inside of the restaurant on the main floor is small with small tables and a spot to buy everything Paula's marketing group has thought of that someone might want to spend a fortune on. We were escorted to the 3 rd floor- they said the "banquet area"-I say a warehouse! It was dingy, for the most part undecorated,loud as it has warehouse ceilings and full of long , old wooden tables with wooden chairs. It reminded me of my elementary school which was old (really old) in the 50's and 60's. The lighting was the old school type lighting. There were no tablecloths, no ambiance at all. It was so crowded that squeezing between tables was an effort.
There was a buffet(the specialty of the restaurant) or a small menu. On the menu the Chicken Pot Pie (Paula's trademark) was $24.oo. It could easily feed 4 but ... The buffet was okay-stocked with her fried chicken, catfish, assorted southern veggies and dishes, potatoes and her Mac and Cheese. It had a small uninspriring salad bar. It was crowded-but they kept it well stocked. In other words-a giant disappointment and a tourist trap rip off. It was so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you speak-thus making everyone yell and adding to the chaos.
There are many wonderful small Mom and Pop restaurants in the area with wonderful southern ambiance and homemade seafood. Go to them. PD's made Yoders in Shipshewana look like a four star Hollywood restaurant. We ate at several of the small Mom and Pop's-wonderful.
If you still have even an inkling of desire to go-walk in the restaurant area on the main floor-go to the booth where the mixes and cookbooks,etc. are located, spend your money for a overpriced item and keep walking til the smell of fresh seafood fills your nostrils -then go in to a small Mom and Pop's and dine on some of Savannah's best. You won't find it at Paula Deen's.
My work is done here-don't say I didn't warn you. There is also no yarn.
I had 267 e-mails to look through(deleting265) and now I am ready to vent.
Savannah is a beautiful historic city-take a tour it is worth it. The Historic downtown area and Riverfront are fabulous and full of shopping, restaurants and a very walkable area. When those of us in the north think of Savannah and food I think many of our thoughts go to Paula Deen-the food network phenom with cookbooks, magazines and of course, her famous restaurant, Lady and Sons located in the historic section of Savannah by the City Market. Since we had heard so much about Paula we thought it would be fun to go to her restaurant for dinner. We called her restaurant where a recording informed us that to sign up for prioity seating(NOT Reservations-those are only for groups of 10 or more) we would need to come in person to the restaurant at 3:30 PM and leave our names. Being the best Grandma ever, I walked to PD"S arriving about 3:20 PM. The line was over a block long. I assumed the hoard was there for a late lunch-how naive of me- no, they were all there to put in their names for prioirty seating. I should have kept walking and shopped at the city market-I should have kept walking and gone back to the hotel. I did not. I got in line.
One hour and a half later we had seats for the 9:00 seating. We were told to be there at no later than 8:45 or risk losing our precious place.
We arrived at 8:30. We were greeted by a thundering hoard of people-all with 9:oo priority seating. We were escorted into the restaurant at 9:30 PM. We should have kept walking.
The inside of the restaurant on the main floor is small with small tables and a spot to buy everything Paula's marketing group has thought of that someone might want to spend a fortune on. We were escorted to the 3 rd floor- they said the "banquet area"-I say a warehouse! It was dingy, for the most part undecorated,loud as it has warehouse ceilings and full of long , old wooden tables with wooden chairs. It reminded me of my elementary school which was old (really old) in the 50's and 60's. The lighting was the old school type lighting. There were no tablecloths, no ambiance at all. It was so crowded that squeezing between tables was an effort.
There was a buffet(the specialty of the restaurant) or a small menu. On the menu the Chicken Pot Pie (Paula's trademark) was $24.oo. It could easily feed 4 but ... The buffet was okay-stocked with her fried chicken, catfish, assorted southern veggies and dishes, potatoes and her Mac and Cheese. It had a small uninspriring salad bar. It was crowded-but they kept it well stocked. In other words-a giant disappointment and a tourist trap rip off. It was so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you speak-thus making everyone yell and adding to the chaos.
There are many wonderful small Mom and Pop restaurants in the area with wonderful southern ambiance and homemade seafood. Go to them. PD's made Yoders in Shipshewana look like a four star Hollywood restaurant. We ate at several of the small Mom and Pop's-wonderful.
If you still have even an inkling of desire to go-walk in the restaurant area on the main floor-go to the booth where the mixes and cookbooks,etc. are located, spend your money for a overpriced item and keep walking til the smell of fresh seafood fills your nostrils -then go in to a small Mom and Pop's and dine on some of Savannah's best. You won't find it at Paula Deen's.
My work is done here-don't say I didn't warn you. There is also no yarn.
Labels: Love Paula Deen? Keep on walking
posted by Pat DeLeeuw at 9:39 AM
4 Comments:
No yarn? Count me out!
What a disappointment! Were you starving at 9 pm? Did you get mad and throw the biscuits? I thought there was a rule that you had to buy at least one skein of yarn in every city you visit? Oh wait! That's my rule. Sorry! :-)
I love my Shipshewana! :)
How disappointing! Not very Paula-esque! Here's a good TV chef recommendation - if you're in Chicago - Frontera Grill. We didn't go to the "real" restaurant, but the grill was great, even with a small child - wonderful food and fabulous service - a small wait, but just with those buzzer thingies - not a long line to wait in another line!
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