Lady & Sons in Savannah, GA?

[Tina]

Has anyone ever been to Lady & Sons? I'm doing a quick 1 1/2 day (2 nights) stopover in Savannah with a friend on our way to WDW in October. We'd like to eat here - lunch or dinner. I've heard that you need to line up hours in advance, which takes a big bite of time out of our stop in Savannah. Do we need to line up to eat at less popular times? Say 2pm for lunch? Or a later dinner?

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have never been but your plans sound wonderful. Have a fantastic time.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We went in January. Yes, you have to line up ahead of time to put your name on a waiting list. We were doing Sunday brunch so we went early. DH was the second person in line. For some reason we were like the 20th party called for seating. It truly made him angry. When he asked the woman, she said that those people had made reservations. He said "But you don't take reservations?!!" She just shrugged her shoulders. So maybe call ahead of time.

Brunch was a buffet. It was extremely heavy, Southern cooking. Our service was horrible. They asked if anyone wanted fried green tomatoes as they brought them directly to your table. I said yes as I had never had them before. I never got the tomatoes. When it came time for desert, we were watching the table with another server and they got an entire tray full of selections (at least 5 items). We were offered only 2. When I inquired about the other items the server was like "Fine, I can go check if you really want me to." Umm, yup - go check!! The place was very expensive and I wasn't impressed with either the food or the service. We definitely would not go back. We are huge Paula Deen fans and were disappointed by this. We really wanted to like it.

 

[Robinrs]

I went a year ago and LOVED it. I asked if my Mom was in the kitchen because it was the food I grew up on!

My service was INCREDIBLE. We actually had a waitress who was a singer and she sang a set for us. It was AMAZING, like a cabaret act! I felt like I was at a family reunion, everyone was so homey and nice!

 

[Rora]

I love the Lady and Sons! It's pricey but the food is GREAT. You do have to line up hours in advance of the opening time, REGARDLESS OF THE TIME YOU WANT TO EAT. I sugggest being in line before it opens so you can get whatever time you like.

Also, if you make a reservation for like 2pm, you probably won't need to eat dinner so that gives you a little time back!

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[Nancy]

We were there a year ago. We went and got in line when they first opened and put our names in for dinner. Maybe waited for 6 or 7 other people in front of us. When we got there at dinner time there was a bit of a wait for our table. Yes, it is expensive but the food was yummy. I had the buffet and it was very very good. The others ordered off the menu and had huge portions of food. No fried green tomatoes offered. Dessert? Don't remember what was offered but I know we had it. I want to say it was some kind of peach dessert thing

 

[NCRedding]

I enjoyed the Lady and Sons. We were with a large group so they did accept reservations for us.

If you go as a single, or maybe even as a couple, ask if you can sit at the bar and eat.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Take a look at their website to get an explaination of the process: http://ladyandsons.com/index.php/restaurant/reservations/ The line starts forming EARLY. If you can't be there to get in line by about 8am in the morning then I wouldn't bother. You can't just show up and be seated at any time. They fill all the available time from that morning line. And I know this because they messed up our Saturday afternoon reservation, the hostess admitted that she had messed it up, but still couldn't/wouldn't seat us because they were completely booked. They went ahead and wrote us on the book for Sunday to make up for it.

We ate there last year (the Sunday Buffet) and honestly I was just NOT impressed. Was the food good? Well, yes. But not good enough for the premium price we paid for it. You could go to any good Southern restaurant in Savannah and get the same thing for much less. It was really a 5.99 buffet for 15.99. There was just nothing special about it at all. And you only get one small dessert serving. I tried the gooey butter cake and it was awful. Dry and tasteless. The banana pudding DD got was very good but they wouldn't switch mine and hers was only about 4 bites.

I am a huge Paula Deen fan and really was excited to eat there but ended up nearly $50 poorer and completely disappointed. The salad bar was the same prepackaged fixings and tub of dressings as you would get at any Golden Corral. The best part of the meal was the garlic cheddar biscuits but you can get the recipe for them off the internet! And they didn't want to give us seconds on them when we asked.

I think I have pics of the buffet if you want to see them.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Take a look at their website to get an explaination of the process: http://ladyandsons.com/index.php/restaurant/reservations/ The line starts forming EARLY. If you can't be there to get in line by about 8am in the morning then I wouldn't bother. You can't just show up and be seated at any time. They fill all the available time from that morning line. And I know this because they messed up our Saturday afternoon reservation, the hostess admitted that she had messed it up, but still couldn't/wouldn't seat us because they were completely booked. They went ahead and wrote us on the book for Sunday to make up for it.

We ate there last year (the Sunday Buffet) and honestly I was just NOT impressed. Was the food good? Well, yes. But not good enough for the premium price we paid for it. You could go to any good Southern restaurant in Savannah and get the same thing for much less. It was really a 5.99 buffet for 15.99. There was just nothing special about it at all. And you only get one small dessert serving. I tried the gooey butter cake and it was awful. Dry and tasteless. The banana pudding DD got was very good but they wouldn't switch mine and hers was only about 4 bites.

I am a huge Paula Deen fan and really was excited to eat there but ended up nearly $50 poorer and completely disappointed. The salad bar was the same prepackaged fixings and tub of dressings as you would get at any Golden Corral. The best part of the meal was the garlic cheddar biscuits but you can get the recipe for them off the internet! And they didn't want to give us seconds on them when we asked.

I think I have pics of the buffet if you want to see them.

Maybe we went the same day. This was exactly our experience.

 

[Nancy]

Isn't it funny how people can go to the same place and have such different experiences? I wonder if it depends on time of year. We were there right around his time last year and it was busy but not super busy. I know we didn't line up at 8am...it was closer to the actual start time and there weren't all that many people in front of us. There was a line but not long at all.

 

[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I don't recall waiting for a long while for dinner ... must come down to time of year/day in ways. Also, generally big downturn in all restaurant business these days has to be having some impact there as well. I say give it a go!

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Has anyone ever been to Lady & Sons? I'm doing a quick 1 1/2 day (2 nights) stopover in Savannah with a friend on our way to WDW in October. We'd like to eat here - lunch or dinner. I've heard that you need to line up hours in advance, which takes a big bite of time out of our stop in Savannah. Do we need to line up to eat at less popular times? Say 2pm for lunch? Or a later dinner?

My sister ate there and was not impressed at all. She and her family ate at the buffet. She said everything was oversalted and dryed out. She felt it wasn't worth the money and was highly over-rated.

Try Mrs. Wilkes instead. Good food and very reasonable for what you get. The food is served family style.

 

[emma'smom]

We've eaten here twice, both times for the Sunday Buffet. I didn't think the prices were bad--about 16.00 a person for a Sunday meal at a touristy place. There were plenty of items to try and we loved the gooey butter cake!

We did get in line about 7:45 (although we could have arrived a bit later and still gotten a reservation)...Maybe 8:00ish would be ok. We waited until 9:30 and they opened up the podium to take reservations for the day. We picked from the available times (we chose 11:00--first call for lunch) and then walked around a bit until it was time to come back. If you choose a time later in the day, you can go tour and then come back. We were headed up to Hilton Head after lunch, so we wanted an early time.

Some tips--you do have to stand or sit on ground while you wait and many parts of the line are in direct sunlight. At about 8:45 they put out a large pump jug of water for folks to get drinks from. The second time we went, we were actually first in line...which was great because we were able to sit on the step to the entryway (shade and a place to sit down) while we waited. I sent dh around the corner to Starbucks for coffee and we chatted with others standing in line. It wasn't an unpleasant experience!

The food is heavy.....but yummy! One tip--don't drink a ton of water before you arrive (which you may be tempted to do walking around Savannah in the heat) because you won't be able to enjoy your meal---you'll be full!

 

[Tina]

Wow. As much as I'd love to eat here, I'm not interested in spending the better part of the day to do it. Is any time of year more popular with tourists than others? Any chance that our October 22/23 stop in Savannah will be "off season?" With the 22nd being a Thursday, maybe we could snag a seating after the dinner crowd?

I think we'll just play it by ear. I don't intend to line up at the crack of dawn for a seating, so we'll just wander by once each day. If we get lucky and get a seating, fine. If not, fine. I'm sure there are plenty of great places in Savannah with open tables.

I did find it odd that some people found this buffet to be expensive, considering its only $15 per person - unless the food is of Golden Corral quality. I usually pay that for an entree at most restaurants (more at dinner) in northern Virginia.

 

[mmkk]

I too vote for Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House for lunch. Its excellent food and a neat experience to sit at a large table with people you've never met before and get to know them. You do need to be there about an hour before they open if you want to guarantee that you get to eat there that day. It is also a very popular spot.

If you just want to try Lady and Son's food, I suggest getting a take out of the buffett. You can go in and get styrofoam box that you can fill with the food off the buffett and they also give you a container for your bread and if I remember correctly, you also get either soup or salad with it. Then you don't have to stand in line just for reservations and then stand in line waiting for your reservation to be called. But I liked Mrs. Wilkes food better. IMO