Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room

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Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room
Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room Logo.png
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The restaurant (on the right) in 2021
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Location within Georgia
Restaurant information
Established1943;82 years ago (1943)
Location107 West Jones Street, Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, 31401, United States
Coordinates 32°04′22″N81°05′45″W / 32.072645°N 81.095934°W / 32.072645; -81.095934
Website mrswilkes.com

Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room is a casual restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, US which offers a menu of Southern US home cooking. Situated in a historic house dated to 1870, it is a popular dining spot in the city. The restaurant was owned and managed by Sema Wilkes for 59 years, from 1943 until her death in 2002 at age 95. [1]

Contents

History

Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room was previously the dining hall of the Wilkes House, a downtown boardinghouse. Today the restaurant is housed on the ground floor of the same historic house, built in 1870, at 107 West Jones Street. [2] [3] The restaurant was described by author William Schemmel as "a treasure hidden away in a historic district town-house." [4] Its longtime owner, Sema Wilkes, published several cookbooks. [1] As of 2024 her family continued to run the restaurant, serving lunch on weekdays. [5] [6]

Mrs. Wilkes and her restaurant have been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles. [1] Japanese chef Hoshinao Naguma was once apprenticed to the restaurant. [7]

Customs

Mrs. Wilkes' is noted for its homestyle traditions, in which guests are escorted in shifts of ten into the dining room, where a variety of dishes are freshly laid on one of several long tables. [8] [9] There is no menu; dishes are selected by the restaurant and change daily. [8] Travel Holiday in 1993 recalled that the "tables were set with steaming bowls and platters of tasty Southern food". [10]

The guests sit at the table and pass the dishes around to one another like a family. [8] [11] There are usually long queues waiting to get in. [8]

Notable guests

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rossiter, Erin (November 1, 2002). "'Everyone just loved that lady' Sema Wilkes Restaurateur 1907-2002". Savannah Morning News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2002.
  2. ↑ "Making Yourself At Home" - New York Times , October 16, 1983
  3. ↑ McKee, Gwendolyn (1994). Savannah, where to go and what to do with children. Me and My Friend Publishers. p. 41. ISBN   978-0-9642753-0-0.
  4. ↑ Schemmel, William (January 1, 2003). Off the Beaten Path Georgia: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN   978-0-7627-2375-1.
  5. ↑ Leon, Sarah (April 17, 2015). "Savannah In Style". wmagazine.com. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room". Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room. May 10, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Harman, Jeanne; Harman, Harry E. (October 1992). Georgia at its best. Rutledge Hill Press. p. 69. ISBN   978-1-55853-202-1.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cathy Swift; Van Robbins; John Miltiades (2008), Pigging Out in Savannah, p. 28, ISBN   9780595486328
  9. ↑ Peffer, Randall S.; Miller, Debra (2004). Savannah, Charleston & the Carolina Coast . Lonely Planet. p.  80. ISBN   9781740597906.
  10. ↑ Travel Holiday. Travel Magazine, Incorporated. February 1993. p. 6.
  11. ↑ "Tybee Island: A quiet family getaway". Greenville Online. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Jeanne and Harry Harman (1992), Georgia at its Best, pp. 69–70, ISBN   1558532021
  13. ↑ Lesley Conn (March 2, 2010). "President Obama surprises diners at Mrs. Wilkes". Savannah Morning News. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  14. ↑ "With Stripper Scenes Wrapped, the Magic Mike XXL Cast Feasts on Southern Food in Savannah". Greatideas.people.com. October 31, 2014. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.

32°4′21″N81°5′45″W / 32.07250°N 81.09583°W / 32.07250; -81.09583

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