Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Enduring History of the Olde Pink House of Savannah

olde pink house savannah

The appropriately-named Olde Pink House is easy to find, with its iconic shade of pink, right across from Reynolds Square. Spoil your mom this Mother’s Day, May 12th, with an unforgettable dining experience in the charming city of Savannah, Georgia. Known for its stunning architecture, historic beauty, and, of course, its exceptional culinary scene, Savannah is the perfect backdrop for celebrating the most important woman in your life. Here is your guide to some of the best Mother’s Day dining options in Savannah, where delectable food and beautiful settings create the perfect thank you to Mom.

Savannah's Olde Pink House to host Kentucky Derby Watch Party - EatitandLikeit.com

Savannah's Olde Pink House to host Kentucky Derby Watch Party.

Posted: Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:17:16 GMT [source]

Abercorn Street, Savannah, Georgia

We specialize in memorable dining experiences ranging from a quaint table for 2 in the Planters Tavern "Wine Vault", to a party of 400 guests reserving the entire mansion. Housed in a former Greyhound bus terminal, this iconic spot serves high-end Southern cuisine. “We make it a point to never let the 250 years of history seem average or pedestrian to us,” Jeffress says. “Every meal, every event is special.” The staff, who shoulder the work seven days a week to keep The Olde Pink House standing, are the ones Jeffress credits with the success of the famed restaurant. Stepping into the Olde Pink House today, patrons can embark on a culinary journey through Savannah's regional fare thanks to the restaurant’s meticulous attention to heritage Southern cuisine. The Olde Pink House transports modern patrons back through centuries of memories made within those walls.

Savannah Riverboat Cruises’ Mother’s Day Cruises

West African spices, an Asian-inspired seafood fry and Madeira wine from the Portuguese islands have all found their way onto The Olde Pink House menu, too. “They don’t build them like they used to,” jokes Craig Jeffress, general manager of The Olde Pink House. “This home has incredible bones.” Throughout the course of its 250-year history, The Olde Pink House has changed hands many times. The kitchen fries the green tomatoes to perfection so diners can experience this Southern staple at its finest.

History

Olde Pink House to hold Kentucky Derby watch party - WSAV-TV

Olde Pink House to hold Kentucky Derby watch party.

Posted: Sat, 27 Apr 2024 13:51:07 GMT [source]

Adjacent to our historic Savannah hotel is The Olde Pink House, one of Savannah’s most popular restaurants. Treat the extraordinary moms in your life to an unforgettable culinary experience at our Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet. Enjoy a lavish spread of dishes and classic brunch favorites that are sure to delight moms everywhere. We have included kid-friendly options to ensure that the whole family can enjoy this celebration together. The Olde Pink House’s pink color isn’t a new development – it’s been part of the restaurant’s signature décor for almost 100 years. But the story behind the color is more elaborate than just a standard paint job, so the story can't be explained without diving into the restaurant's history.

In exploring the history of the Olde Pink House, we peel back the layers of this Southern icon to reveal its origins, illustrious inhabitants, and evolving identity across centuries at the heart of Savannah. If you need your guests to have an unforgettable experience, the Hayden Collective will deliver. Exceptional local flavors thus converge within the historic rooms where Georgia's leaders once dined centuries ago. The seafood choices connect back to Savannah's traditions as a port city that has long drawn bounty from the Atlantic.

Servants smoothly attended to every guest's needs and Mary Clay ensured the food and wine were of the finest quality. News of the Clays' parties often appeared in Savannah's society pages, further elevating the family's social status. Joseph's wife Mary was known as a consummate hostess who masterfully planned lavish dinners, musical evenings, and holiday balls in the mansion's spaces. Guests delighted in dancing the evening away in the grand first floor ballroom or discussing politics and business in the dining room over sumptuous meals. Today, diners can still experience that refined grace as they step inside the Olde Pink House restaurant and enjoy Southern cuisine in spaces that have hosted Savannah society since the city's settlement.

The menu draws deeply from traditions and recipes perfected in local kitchens across generations. During this period, the mansion was less a family home or even hotel—it now bustled daily with patrons conducting business transactions and employees obediently working in their offices. The Habersham-Clay mansion led a utilitarian existence for many decades following Savannah's antebellum era. As the Civil War plunged the nation into chaos, the grand house transitioned into more practical uses aligned with tumultuous times. The stately mansion surely felt livelier during the Clay's residency than in its previous incarnation as a more staid family estate for James Habersham Jr. But the Clays upheld the home's refined atmosphere, using its grand spaces as the backdrop for some of Savannah's most memorable early 19th century social events.

If only the walls could speak of Habersham's grand parties, the Clays' lively gatherings, or the bustle of Victorian bank tellers - all long gone but not forgotten. Through meticulous restoration and devotion to regional cuisine, the restaurant has revived this aristocratic dwelling, allowing modern diners and history aficionados alike to step inside Savannah’s gilded past. Revived, hand-plucked, period pieces curated by the owner herself, Donna Moeckel, fill the walls of The Olde Pink House with the pathos of the South.

olde pink house savannah

A great place for Mother’s Day brunch, the café serves signature favorites and fresh, seasonal offerings. Gryphon is part of the Savannah College of Art and Design, carrying on the tradition of Savannah hospitality and delicious food. Gryphon’s coveted corner position on Savannah’s Madison Square is the perfect spot to dine al fresco. Or, Mom will love the interior, which features white-clothed tables, carved mahogany bookcases and original stained-glass panels. A night at The Olde Pink House isn’t simply a fancy meal, it’s an experience that sends diners swirling through history, from the moment they step through the front entrance to the time they sign the check and box up their desserts.

The food draws from regional tradition, but underneath the surface of fried green tomatoes and shrimp and grits lies a storied landmark that has watched over Savannah from Reynolds Square for nearly 250 years. Just as in 1771, the Olde Pink House remains a destination for those who seek to experience Georgian Savannah's splendor. A.lure offers Lowcountry cuisine like shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and Lowcountry boil,  in a contemporary, urban setting. All of their seafood is caught by Savannah fishermen, as well as brought in from surrounding areas such as Florida and the Carolinas. For Mother’s Day, they will have a fresh local catch of the day, seasonally prepared.

As one tours the storied halls of the Olde Pink House today, it becomes easy to imagine the mansion as it was during Savannah's earlier days. Patrons dine immersed in the architecture and atmosphere of 18th century Savannah brought to life by one of its earliest leading citizens. The legacy of James Habersham is still honored through the surviving Habersham house, now the Olde Pink House restaurant.

Dishes like the creamy shrimp and grits or silky she-crab soup allow diners to savor two of the Lowcountry’s quintessential flavors. The Strongs filled the dining rooms with fine antiques and opened the restored cellar as a tavern. Their passion revealed the mansion's beauty once more, while retaining its 18th and 19th century character. With a vision to revive the mansion to its former elegance, the Strongs commissioned meticulous restorations of the original floorplan, doors, windows, and interior details. By the early 20th century, the aging but still-stately former Habersham mansion had passed through many uses and owners.

The basement Planters Tavern transports guests back to 1855, when it first opened as an underground bar and billiards hall frequented by Savannah's gentlemen. Over 250 years later, the mansion remains one of the premier illustrations of Georgian architecture in Savannah. The ornate brick and pink stucco edifice with its symmetrical layout exemplified the Georgian style then fashionable throughout the colonies. Arched windows flanked by columns, iron-railed balconies, and a signature white ornamental iron fence cast in Savannah all exuded an air of refinement. The room we were seated in was so dark we couldn’t read our menu without our flashlights on our phones.

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