Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room

Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room on Jones Street in Savannah's Historic District is one of the most famous communal dining experiences in the American South, operating on a tradition that stretches back to 1943 when Sema Wilkes began serving boarders in her rooming house a fixed midday meal. Today the restaurant opens only for weekday lunch, seating guests at large communal tables where strangers eat shoulder-to-shoulder in the manner of the original boardinghouse tradition. For a single fixed price — currently around $22 per person — diners receive access to an endlessly rotating array of 16 to 20 Southern dishes that cover the table in serving bowls and platters: fried chicken, beef stew, collard greens, candied yams, black-eyed peas, butter beans, cornbread dressing, rice and gravy, sweet potato casserole, and cornbread, among others. The specific selection rotates daily, but the spirit of generous, unhurried communal dining remains constant. A queue forms outside on West Jones Street well before the 11 AM opening — dedicated visitors arrive as early as 9:30 or 10:00 AM to secure a place near the front. The interior of the 19th-century Savannah rowhouse is homey and unpretentious, walls hung with photographs and memorabilia that trace the restaurant's eight decades of history. Mrs. Wilkes is now run by the family, maintaining the standards and traditions established by Sema Wilkes. The experience is widely cited as one of the essential American food experiences, attracting visitors from around the world to a quiet residential street in Savannah.