Clary's Cafe

Clary's Cafe on Abercorn Street in Savannah's Historic District has been a neighbourhood breakfast and lunch institution since the 1930s, achieving particular literary fame through its prominent role in John Berendt's 1994 bestselling nonfiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil — the book that introduced Savannah's character to a global readership and became one of the most successful works of Southern literary nonfiction ever published. The novel's narrator frequented Clary's for breakfast during his years in Savannah, and the cafe's interior and regulars feature repeatedly in the narrative. Today Clary's trades on this literary heritage while maintaining its identity as an uncomplicated neighbourhood diner where Savannah residents and visitors alike eat breakfast and lunch at honest prices. The menu is a classic American diner offering: full Southern breakfasts with eggs, grits, and biscuits, peach French toast, avocado toast, shrimp and grits at brunch, and a rotating lunch selection of sandwiches and daily plates. The interior is homey and well-worn — booths, counter seats, diner details — in the manner of a neighbourhood establishment that has no interest in reinvention. Walk-ins are always welcome; the morning rush between 9 and 11 AM on weekends can produce brief waits. Clary's is best visited for a leisurely breakfast or brunch rather than a rushed lunch, and the relaxed pace of service fits well with a morning spent exploring the nearby squares and historic streets of Savannah.