A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in Savannah
Dining in Savannah runs off City docks and tenders rather than restaurant guest docks, and that is worth knowing before you plan the evening.
One place invites you in by boat. The Crab Shack, out on Chimney Creek at Tybee Island, says plainly that whether you are driving or docking your boat you will have easy access to the restaurant. Length, berth count and fee are settled on the phone.
Tubby's Tank House sits beside the yard at Thunderbolt, and The Wyld Dock Bar and Driftaway Café are waterfront fixtures — none of the three sets out arrival-by-boat terms, so call ahead if you want to come on the water rather than by car.
Downtown, the mechanism is the City, not the restaurants. Savannah runs public recreational docks on the river at Rousakis Plaza and Eastern Wharf, and the rules are published in full: Rousakis Dock 2 offers 300 ft of face and Eastern Wharf 800 ft, first come first served, maximum stay one to three nights, your first three hours are complimentary on the day you arrive and then it is $1.50 per linear foot per day, credit card only. No rafting up or tying alongside another boat. You must carry your own gangway and fenders, and you may not use the head unless the boat has an operating holding tank. Register on (912) 651-3634.
That is how you eat on River Street off your own boat: take a City berth for three free hours, walk up the ramp into the historic district, and come back.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| The Crab ShackOut on Chimney Creek at Tybee Island, and the one restaurant in this market that invites you in by boat. Depth, length and whether there is a face to lie against are all settled on the phone, so call before you commit the boat. | 40 Estill Hammock Road, Tybee Island — Chimney Creek | "Whether you are driving or docking your boat you will have easy access to the restaurant" — length, berth count and fee on the call. |
| Tubby's Tank HouseSits alongside the yard at Thunderbolt, which makes it the obvious walk-off meal if you already have a berth there. | Thunderbolt — beside Thunderbolt Marine on the Wilmington River | No guest dock — walk from a berth at Thunderbolt |
| The Wyld Dock BarA dock bar by name, with no arrival terms set out behind it — call ahead if you want to come by water rather than by car. | Savannah — waterfront, on the tidal creeks east of the city | By arrangement — call ahead |
| Driftaway CaféA waterfront fixture reached by car or by tender rather than by a guest dock — call ahead if you want to arrive on the water. | Savannah — waterfront | By arrangement — call ahead |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.