Off the Beaten Path: Byrd Cookie Company's B. Tillman Restaurant and Bar

If you want a chic, sophisticated lunch, you usually don't venture too far from downtown, right? Who knew that there was a sleek restaurant and bar and tucked away on Waters Avenue and housed inside a cookie factory, to boot!

Turning right onto Waters Avenue from Stephenson Avenue, you might have noticed the massive grey-roofed industrial building peeking out from behind the Exchange restaurant. That's Byrd Cookie Company. A Savannah institution that's been baking up world-famous scotch oatmeal and key lime cooler cookies since 1942.  Inside that building, there's more than a cookie and gift shop. It's also home to B. Tillman Restaurant and Bar.

The most immediately striking thing about B. Tillman's is the decor. Cool white leather booths. A color palette of monochromatic grays and unfinished wood. It's all very Restoration Hardware. Not to mention, there's a big glass window where you can peek into the cookie factory. So I guess there's a splash of Krispy Creme playfulness there, too.

The menu matches the decor. Sophisticated, or what I like to call "Chef-y" type items dot the menu. Sandwiches are slathered with "aioli" and there's hummus made with cannelloni beans instead of chick peas. Something called a "pizzette" and a grilled romaine salad. But all that's balanced with a distinct nod to Byrd's southern heritage.  Pimento cheese served with toasted crostini and deviled eggs with chives.

With that in mind, I decided to have the best of both worlds.

For my appetizer I ordered the pimento cheese plate. It's a spicy, surprisingly un-mayonnaised twist on a southern staple. It's thick, flavorful, and much more dry than your typical store bought, church-potluck variety. It's perfect for loading onto the sturdy toasted crostini slices.

For my lunch, I ordered the grilled Caesar salad. A head of romaine, lightly seared and crisp on the outside, drizzled with creamy dressing and sprinkled with bacon and Parmesan cheese. The addition of the bacon with the seared romaine really gave the salad delicious smoky flavor.  If you've never had grilled salad before, B. Tillman's might be the place to try for it the first time.

Now you didn't think I'd dine at a place owned by a cookie company without eating some cookies, did you?

When I paid my check, the server brought my two powder sugar drenched key lime cooler cookies and instructed me to head to the gift shop.

 In the gift shop, you can show your lunch or dinner receipt for a discount and you can visit the cookie bar where you can, I kid you not, sample every single flavor of Byrd's delightful cookies for free. FOR FREE.

This cookie lover was in heaven.

So if you're looking for something different, a little bit sophisticated, a little bit southern, and very sweet, head to Byrd Cookie Company's B. Tillman Restaurant and Bar.

B. Tillman Restaurant & Bar6700 Waters Avenue(912)721-1564

Nostalgic BBQ Lunch at Sandfly BBQ

Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker's Free Falling blasts from the stereo as I walk into Sandfly, Georgia's aptly named BBQ joint, Sandfly Barbecue. Vintage license plates from states like Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee line the walls. In the small dining room, cherry red booths cozy up to framed pictures of music legends like Elvis Presley and Hank Williams. The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones.

The Dining Room

Hank Williams

Like its decor, Sandfly Barbecue is a little bit nostalgic, a little bit rock-and-roll. The chalk-written menu behind the counter has all the familiar BBQ favorites you'd expect--pulled pork, ribs, mac and cheese, Brunswick stew--making it the kind of place you used to go with your grandparents after church. Back when you still had to wear a napkin tucked in your shirt collar. Or the kind place you might stop to eat on a cross-country road trip across southern Americana. Sandfly's menu is as extensive as it is classic, so I've broken down my favorites below:

THE MAIN DISH // THE BEEF BRISKET JR. SANDWICH

Beef Jr. with Fried Okra

 It's approximately six ounces of tender, chopped just-salty-enough beef brisket on a classic hamburger bun with sliced pickles on the side. The meat is juicy (not greasy), smoky, and flavorful-- you don't even need sauce.

But the sauce  takes this little sandwich over the edge. On the table, you've got three sauce options. A creamy yellow-orange one--a sharp mustard-based Carolina style (if you opt for the Pork Jr., I highly recommend the Carolina style).  A reddish one that doesn't even need to be labeled HOT. I can see the red pepper seeds through the bottle. And a maple syrup colored one. It's a sweet, slightly tangy--more of a Memphis style. If you're a fan of "Memphis Style" barbecue sauce like me, pick the last one.  A little goes a long way. I drizzled on just a teaspoon or so, and the sweetness really heightened the flavor of the beef.  

THE DESSERT// HOUSEMADE COCONUT CAKE

The kind of cake that starts a fight. If you're lucky, you come to Sandfly Barbecue when they have a freshly baked coconut cake sitting on a stand at the order counter. Get it before it's gone. Trust me. This ain't your synthetically sweet grocery store-bought cake. This is a cakewalk style, state fair blue ribbon-winning coconut cake. The best I've had at any bakery or restaurant in Savannah. 

It's sweet, but not too sweet, fluffy white cake frosted with thick, coconut flecked frosting. It's never dry, with a hint of pineapple if my taste buds aren't fooling me. The whole cake is topped off with an indulgent flurry of shaved coconut. They serve up generous hunks of this creamy coconut cake on green checked parchment paper. If you happen to order the last slice of cake like I did, I'd watch your back. 

Come for the barbecue, stay for the coconut cake. Either way, if you don't usually venture outside of the downtown area for a good meal, I highly recommend you grab the car and hit Truman Parkway for a short road trip to Sandfly, Georgia. Roll down the windows, put some Neil Young on the radio. The nostalgic, rock-and-roll- road-trip meal awaiting you at Sandfly BBQ won't disappoint.

Sandfly BBQ

8413 Ferguson Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31406
(912) 356-5463
OPEN Monday – Saturday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Price: Meals range from $7-$15