Savanna blue restaurant

I stopped in here one Saturday night.
Party of one.
I didn't have reservations.
Here's my experience in a nutshell: There was a security doorman at the door.
The door was locked.
I got the sense that they take security very seriously.
That made me feel both good and awkward at the same time. When I informed the doorman that I did not have a reservation, and I wanted to sit at the bar, I expected he would let me in.
No, he left me downstairs to retreat upstairs to see if there was seating for me at the bar.
In all the countries I've eaten in and all the restaurants and bars I've visited, this was a first.
However, I waited patiently.
He came back partially down the staircase to let me know there was a seat.
I informed him that while he was gone, someone tried to pull at the locked door.
He didn't pay that "no never mind," as the old folk use to say. I get upstairs and its nice.
I can see that the entire bar moved around to accommodate me, which - again - made me feel good and awkward.
As soon as a couple left, I took their seats to give my fellow patrons room to eat and drink.
They were all kind.
None of them seemed to mind.
In fact, they were looking at me when I moved like, "Girl, where you going?" One lady even said it. So, why the 3 stars and not 4 or 5 stars? It's simple.
Service sucks. People move s-l-o-w.
Very slow and they give themselves their own tip - 18% (see photos).
It's included in the bill you received.
Maybe that's why they move at a snails pace and don't care about greeting you.
It's because they're going to get a tip regardless. Why is this super annoying? Because, you can throw a spit ball across this entire restaurant and there had to have been 10 people working that night and you would have thought it was a 3-story restaurant with 200 patrons the time it took to get service.
I learned early on that I would need to help people move faster by informing them that I was there.
My presence was not enough.
I needed to do this to get those two places I moved to, cleared and cleaned (see photos), and to get water and to be introduced to the menu.
I needed to do it again when I wanted to place an order.
One girl had a serious attitude.
Maybe she was tired - it was the end of the night and Sweetest Day.
For those of us not from the Midwest: think Valentine's Day twin sister, but a smidge more important. Odd - I know. Anywho, when I finally did get a drink, it was nice.
Since service was so slow and lacking, I decided to survey folks around me before ordering vice having a conversation with my waitress.
I learned the black eyed peas sucked, so I didn't even bother ordering them.
They looked weird, too.
I also learned the catfish is fried super hard, so if you don't want it fried hard, you have to state that.
I ordered the fried catfish - not fried hard - with grits and yams.
Everything was delicious.
I was glad I did my due diligence prior to ordering.
I couldn't eat everything, so I had to take my food to-go.
That, also, became a wait thing.
It took my waitress/bartender like 20 minutes to retrieve to-go containers from the back.
She must have gotten lost on the way back. This wouldn't have been annoying any other time, but I was trying to get to a place that was closing in an hour, so I had to go. I was so annoyed by experience that I cancelled my reservations I had the next day for brunch.
I wasn't going through that again. Bring your patience, folks, especially out-of-towners who are used to expedient service.
I will say, I did not mind waiting for my food, though, because that means it was made to order.
That's always a good thing, but one should never have to wait to be waited on or have to ask their waitress their name.
These folks need hospitality training - everyone except the doorman.
His game is on point.

Me and my Wife traveled to the Restaurant from Ohio.
Great food and Really good service. We ordered shrimp and grits Catfish, greens, mac and cheese......everything was absolutely Delicious

The restaurant was OK location but for the prices and the menu selection, I expect them more.
We had a bag, our own food and although the weight staff was pleasant and attentive, they didn’t go the extra mile for this type of restaurant.
All in all I say, this is about four stars just because the food is a little over price for the type of food given and it was OK but it wasn’t great