Weekend in Savannah

We arrived in Savannah just before dinner last night, and we were raring to get out on the streets and begin exploring the culinary offerings of the city.  Our hotel (a Priceline score at $80 per night) is very close to the City Market area, so that’s where we headed.  The market area was full of people—diners, chatters, music players everywhere.

Our first stop was the Avia Lounge, which we picked simply because we were starving and it was the nearest restaurant to us.  Avia is in the Avia Hyatt hotel, and I was immediately impressed with the fancy-chic décor and beautiful chandelier.

We took a seat in the lounge area as we perused the menu of small plates.

For a brief moment, we though we’d step outside the box and order the Beef Carpaccio.  Jarrod is not a fan of red meat and has been trying (slowly but surely) to like it.

Jarrod pondering red meat:

I’ve never had Beef Carpaccio, but something about it was ringing a do-not-order bell in my head.  A quick google on the iPhone and a few flashes of platefuls of red raw beef nixed this idea pretty darn fast, and we decided to go with the Cilantro Sweet Chili Chicken Lollipops instead.

These were absolutely amazing.  I’m not usually into meat that’s still clinging to the bone, but the bone was at the back of my mind with these meaty drumsticks.  The sauce was finger licking good, and we did just that right in the middle of the swanky hotel.  I’m hoping to try to recreate this dish once we are home.

After we finished our cocktails we headed over to Jazz’d for some more small plate nibbling and live music.

The best part about Jazz’d was the décor and overall atmosphere.  The food was just ok, emphasis on the “just,” though the presentations were pretty impressive.

We got the Tomato Bruschetta

And the Chorizo stuffed mushrooms.

The music wasn’t very impressive either (we aren’t snobs, I promise), so with three small plates in our big bellies we headed back to the hotel.  On the way we stopped at Vinnie Van Go-Go’s for a couple to-go slices of pizza.

I was glad of two things.

#1 —  That I did not have to follow the red line to the restroom.

#2 — That I had cash.  Cash.  CASH!

When our order was ready, we were handed an absurdly large box.  It didn’t make sense until we got back to the hotel room and opened her up.

O. M. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

This pizza was INSANE!  Jarrod informed me that it took a spot in the top two pizzas he’d ever had, and that we must go back for a slice each day that we are here.