The Pirate’s House

I’ve eaten at the Pirate’s House twice. Once when I was sixteen and traveling with friends from Orlando to North Alabama by way of Savannah. It left such an impression on me that I have recommended it to anyone traveling to Savannah.
This past December I had the pleasure of dining at The Pirate’s House again. This time was no different than the last with the exception being that I took the tour of the House following the meal.
Both meal and tour were excellent and I highly recommend. Make sure you get the Skull Crusher drink or The Kraken. Both are delicious, but you get a Pirate Mug with the Skull Crusher.

This was recommended as a go-​to place in Savannah by another tourist, and she was right. The crab dip appetizer was so good! The bread put Paula Deen to shame and the mashed potatoes were so delicious I could have eaten just that. Our waiter was incredibly helpful in giving tips for places to see as well. There’s a lot of history here, which adds to the adventure of trying a new place.

I visited the Pirate House today with my family. We truly enjoyed it… Great Buffett & a wonder warm, friendly waiter/​waitress staff. We definitely will be going back

So I checked the reviews before going. We decided to do the touristy thing. And I took the advice of our fellow Unilocalers. We both got the buffet. It was $ 13.95. That way I wouldn’t be stuck with just one thing. Got the fried chicken, asked for the pecan sauce. I’m sorry but I just don’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s ok. Nothing I would go back for. Tasted the BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, seafood au gratin, fried oakra & ordered fried green tomatoes. I figured I’d get all the tasting done at once. Well it was all ok. Mashed potatoes were way over salted, ECT. Key lime pie was nice.
Nice place as the historical aspect goes. Good sweatshirt & tee shirts upstairs.
I’m sure there are other places to eat in Savannah that are way more worth the time. Get a drink, a tee shirt or desert here but that’s it.

Recomend the catfish sandwich was totality amazing!
They give u a really nice big portion

My husband and I went to this restaurant for a fun Valentine’s Day dinner. We had THE BEST time and it was mostly because of our amazing server. His name was Matthew, and his humor and attitude completely made our experience 1000 times better. He was such a pleasure to share our valentines dinner with. I would recommend that anyone that can have him as a server take that opportunity. The next time we come back to Savannah we will be looking to sit in Matthews section. Thanks Matthew!!!

Another great find thanks to Unilocal!My parents came to visit and of course we had to show them Savannah. This place was a great find and perfect way to end our day exploring Savannah. The atmosphere has you feeling like you’re dining in an old pirates home and is a perfect place for the whole family, especially kids, with a cool kids menu that turns into a pirates hat which is a great distraction for kids.
As soon as you’re seated you get fresh biscuits and cornbread, need I say more?! Then we started off with two appetizers which were both equally great! We had the calamari and the fried green tomatoes, both great choices. The sauce that came with the calamari was like a pesto sauce and was to die for, I’ve eaten a lot of calamari and that was my first time eating it with a pesto sauce. And being in the south I feel like trying out fried green tomatoes is only right, and these too did not disappoint. Now for the dinner I ordered some sort of sweet glazed salmon with asparagus and sweet mashed potatoes. Again being from the pacific north west I’ve had way better and fresher salmon but the sweet mashed potatoes were really good. At least it was a healthy meal and I’d still rate it a 3 even though the fish was so-​so. My husband ordered fried oysters and shrimp which were also just ok. But the fries, however they make them, they’re doing it right. The highlight of the dinners were my parents dishes my mom ordered shrimp and grits, which I feel is another southern staple and this was our first time tasting any shrimp and grits, no wonder this combination is so popular. And my dad ordered the crab au gratin?, or something close to it and this too was just WOW! So good, these last two dishes alone will have us come back over and over. We also got really lucky with our service, we had Dennis there to help us that night, great server, he constantly refilled our glasses and made sure everything was going ok. And before leaving one of the «pirates» stopped by and made my sons night. He answered a million questions for him and even let him play with his toy gun and take a picture :). What a neat find, we will definitely be back.

All I can say is damn good food and fun environment. Family friendly. There is a gift shop that really doesnt have anything special, unless your into corny t-​shirts. Service is always on point and the peach mojitos are great!

A must stop when in Savannah. The bartender was a wealth of knowledge as far as the tunnels & smuggling operations. Served great drinks at reasonable prices. Fun place to have cocktails.

The food was good. I had the fried seafood combo, the price was steep at almost $ 30.00, but the food was good and the quantity was large enough to share even for the largest appetite. I went for the skull crusher in the souvenir mug for my cocktail. The cocktail didn’t disappoint and neither did the mug (which they sell in the gift shop for $ 10 the drink/​mug combo was $ 12.95). The free biscuits and corn muffins are good, but amazing with the whipped butter and orange marmalade!
If you are in for the full tourist experience take the tour after dinner. The tour is free, however tips are accepted and should be given. The tour last about 20 minutes and gives you a little history on the building along with a ghost story or two. Skip the gift shop unless you want to overpay for cheesy pirate related products!

Pirates house was our first stop when we arrived to riverside before checking into our hotel. Being a party of 10 on New Years day, we didn’t have many options and they were very busy and seated us within 20 minutes. I found that very fast for not having any reservations. Staff was friendly and food was good. I didn’t give it a full 5 stars only because of the food selections (being allergic to shell fish) i had very few choices but i loved Fried Chicken dish was great and the pecan pie was small but tasted very good. Great for kids.

It is touristy… but having said that the food was amazing. If you can past the pirate gear and just focus on the history and cuisine than you’re all set!
Their biscuits with honey butter and orange marinade were amazing. My husband had the chicken jambalaya, which we would assume was rice but it was actually pasta; it was flavorful! I had the fried chicken with the sauce on the side and it was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. We also had a slice of key lime pie and it was phenomenal.
My pirates mojito was terrible. But my husband had a bunch of rum cocktails that he loved, the last being the one the waiter picked, which was the house punch… amazing!!!
So all in all I would go back and recommend it to anyone in the area!!!

Yes, the pirate’s house is a bit of a tourist trap. However, the food is good and the atmosphere really makes it special. The service was really great and the «pirate» who gave us a tour of the place really had great information about the history. As far as the meal, we started out with the she-​crab soup and the Savannah crab dip. Both were good. I enjoyed the she-​crab soup here better than other places in Savannah. For dinner I had the Savannah seafood au gratin. This was really good, but I can’t say great. The atmosphere of the place is fantastic. Overall, I think you’ll get a good meal but with great historic atmosphere.

We headed to the Pirate’s House as our first stop to grab a drink and maybe an app. It is the oldest bar in Savannah which was reason enough to make a stop in.
The bartender was very friendly and informative. The vibe of the placed is super relaxed and friendly. They have a really cool booth at the end of the bar which was something I have never seen before.
We ordered (by recommendation of the bartender) the fried green tomatoes over pomento cheese and the okra gumbo. Let me tell you — the fried green tomatoes are a MUST. These may be in the top five things I have ever tasted. Plus you get homemade biscuits and corn bread muffins for free, and they come with a homemade butter and orange marmalade. HOLY GOODNESS. The biscuit was by far the best of the best. I could not say better things about the food at this place. It was such an awesome unexpected surprise. I would travel back to Savannah just to eat a full meal here.

I usually do not expect good food of touristy restaurants. The reason I chose to eat lunch there was that I thought my sons would love their concept.
Against my expectation, their southern style buffet was very nice. While eating, you can think of the history of the house and Savannah. It was pleasant experience!

I’d give 3.5 stars. I’d looked over the menu prior to coming in. It looked pretty typical and not too out of the box creative. I honestly wasn’t expecting a top notch meal (I’m a pretty critical foodie) and I probably wouldn’t have chosen this place on my own but I was with my family and dad really wanted to go. Overall, the food was decent– better than I expected.
It has a neat history to it and is the oldest building in Georgia. The outside looks like a worn house. The inside is quite original, and it’s actually much bigger than it looks! They have neat placemats that talk about their history, a pirate gift shop upstairs, and the food is somewhat pirate themed. It seems great for kids!
We started with scallops and bbq pulled pork spring rolls. The scallops were good but not overly seasoned to give them a strong taste of anything. Also, only three. I wanted many more. The spring rolls weren’t very appetizing to me. The she crab soup was just average.
I ordered the spinach salad with trout on top. The red trout was fresh and seasoned pretty well– same trout from the special list. I originally wanted salmon but unfortunately they said their salmon was frozen, not fresh. Didn’t want that. I only want fresh food when I’m out to eat. The spinach salad was good but super small. I added fish to it, but even on its own, it’s an $ 8.00 salad that is equivalent to a side salad size.
The service was relatively slow. I don’t blame our waiter, he was busy. It seems that the place may have been understaffed as a whole. I probably wouldn’t come back here to eat again, but a cool place to see once.

I ate here for lunch the day after my face-​plant fall on River Street. I screwed up my jaw in this incident and at the point of our visit, I literally could not talk without pain. But I was determined to make it here before we left Savannah soooo.
It took us a bit of time to figure out where the entrance was despite the big sign that said «Entrance.» Once inside, we were greeted by a very historic, nautical, comfortable restaurant. I didn’t get to see the tunnels, but the backstory of this place is so cool. Don’t ever drink too much here! You might wake up in another country!
Our server was so sweet. I apologized for struggling to talk and she was SO accommodating. She told me to point at the menu for my selected lunch. I pointed at the combo: chicken salad on a croissant, house salad and cup of soup. She guessed the she-​crab soup option for me, and she was right!
The soup was surprisingly good. I usually hate all seafood/​shelled things from the sea, but I seem to be ever-​so-​slowly warming to crab. The croissant was easy to eat and enjoyable, and the house salad was a nice touch.
This was also a very affordable option. I think I paid $ 11 for it.
Many others went for the $ 13 buffet, which I probably would have done too if I didn’t feel so poorly that day.
After lunch, we wandered around the premises a little bit. A pirate in character also offers complimentary tours for patrons, which is pretty awesome.
As a first-​timer to Savannah, I’m really glad we stopped in! What a cute experience.

This place is just fun. For $ 14 you get a great buffet in an 18^th century house with a dark past. How can you beat that?
Ok, this is not 5 star’s like the pink house, the mansion on forsythe, or other fine dining in savannah; I give it 5 stars for being the most reasonably priced ($ 13.95) non-​chain buffets I have ever found in Savannah. The fact that is built around the city’s oldest standing building adds to the charm.
Food — $ 13.95 buffet includes fried chicken, light and crunchy fried catfish, Baked chicken, shrimp casserole, Mac and cheese, AWESOME mashed sweet potatoes, and a bunch of other stuff. The waitress brings biscuits, corn bread, and choice of key lime pie and banana pudding (I embarrassed my party and asked for both). All of the food was better than the more expensive and longer wait at Paula dean’s lady and sons. Some dishes such as the sweet potatoes were even better than Mrs. Wilkes. Which is saying a lot. They also have an extensive menu, which looked good, but the non-​burger entrees were $ 15 and up. The staff was friendly and efficient.
Ambience — ok the name and entrance gives a 1^st impression of a tourist trap for families, mostly those with pirate-​minded boys. It has a decent looking bar to the left and dining to the right. I have never waited more than 15 – 20 minutes for a table, but I typically come in the off seasons.
Each dining area has a slightly different look. The smallest rooms, including one tiny room with just one table for 8, are in the 280-​year old (that’s not a typo) gardeners house and former stable. The stairs to the 2^nd floor are blocked off for safety reasons. The floor, walls and décor are allegedly mostly original. Another set of rooms are in what was a 1740’s era tavern, complete with wooden pegs as nails for the overhead beams.
2 people dressed as pirates give tours for tips. They walk you trough all the rooms and give you their history. The two most pirate-​y stories are (1) Robert Louis Stevenson based his Treasure Island opening tavern scenes on this tavern where a Capt Flynt-​type scalawag allegedly died in his sleep in the upstairs rooms, and (2) an underground tunnel that was once used to Shanghai (kidnap) drunken sailors for ships that were short handed and needed extra deck hands. There is also a room dedicated to Anne Bonnie, one of the few female pirates.
Even if you are not a tourist and don’t care about drunken pirates, this is a great place for casual great tasting food.

We had a very pleasant and yummy experience at the Pirates house. I have been to savannah several times and have avoided this place due to the crowds and worrying it wouldn’t live up to the hype. Plus I definitely am not a buffet person. Today we came for a late lunch, called an hour ahead to get a reservation. Our table was ready right when we walked in. Super friendly wait staff.
And I got the buffet! Gasp! All of of it was fantastic. Most notable was the squash casserole, sweet potato soufflé, mashed potatoes, Mac n cheese, and fried chicken. My daughter had the fried shrimp basket, was very good. The biscuits they bring to the table are also very yummy.
The building is very neat. The stories on the place mats fun to read. We will definitely be back!

2 stars is generous… really can’t believe what a high overall rating the Pirate’s House has given how acclaimed Savannah’s food scene is.
3 of us showed up around 7pm on a Sunday without reservations, but granted it wasnt that full. We were escorted though many twists and turns to a dining room that seemed to be in the back of the restaurant that was truly FILTHY. But for the fact that all the table were set, the floor looked as if a party full of 5 yr olds had just torn the place up. Crumbs, filth, crap all over the floors and on one of the seats at our table. It was like a scene out of the bible as we ate. think pestilence, locusts and flying bugs competing with us for our food.
I am truly appalled they sat paying customers inside this room without vaccuming it first. Our waiter, Jovon was awesome and I’m sure embarrassed that he had to be our server under these circumstances that he could not control. He gave great recommendations, was pleasant, attentive and brought us anything we needed in a timely manner.
Food was decent, but not worth the hype. Our biscuits were warm but not fresh and the cornbread was so stale it crumbled if you even THOUGHT about putting butter on it. One of us ordered the chicken fried pork chop. dry, tough leather. The shrimp scampi was unimpressive. After eating out in Savannah we were fried chickened out so I guess we missed out on the one dish they make well here?
Didn’t see any pirates, and we were so disgusted we left after dinner despite being offered a tour of the house.
Can’t recommend this place, you can do better.