A neighborhood favorite, this local bakery declares as its mission to “slow down and taste the sweet life.” For breakfast, there are biscones (biscuit/scones) in flavors like cinnamon and apple-smoked bacon cheddar. At lunch, you can order delicious sandwiches on ciabatta bread such as madras-curry chicken, rosemary chicken salad and tomato and basil. However, the real musts are the cupcakes and sweets. It’s hard to choose among such treats as lemon-coconut, red-velvet and chocolate-heaven cupcakes, lemon bars and pie bars. Everything is made from scratch and based on beloved tried-and-true recipes. It may be too much of a hike from the Historic District for a quick break, but if you are in the area, be sure to stop by.

SCAD students and traditional Savannah converge on this tea salon on Bull Street. The Gryphon Tea Room occupies one of the city’s former drugstores, and many of the pharmacy’s original Victorian details, such as Tiffany lamps and antique mirrors and cupboards have been retained. It’s a great spot to refuel and admire Savannah’s old and new charm on display. Its local, seasonal and sustainable fare may include such salads as a fresh crab, avocado mousse and tomato salad and entrées like filet mignon with arugula, goat cheese and sweet potato cakes.

Leopold’s Ice Cream was founded in 1919 by three Greek brothers and resurrected by one of their sons, a local-turned-Hollywood success story. (Stratton Leopold left Savannah to become a major movie producer. His blockbusters have included Mission Impossible 3, The Sum of All Fears and The Big Chill.) But in 2004 he and his wife returned to reopen Leopold’s with the original black-marble soda fountain and banana-split holders as well as all the original family recipes. An Academy Award-winning designer helped pull together period details from the ’50s and movie memorabilia to create a fantasy soda fountain. Burgers, sandwiches and salads are served, but the real draw is the homemade ice cream, in such flavors as rose-petal cream, strawberry shortcake, tutti-frutti (apparently Johnny Mercer’s favorite) and Girl Scouts thin mints ’n’ cream.

The minute you walk through the door of the United House of Prayer for All People, you know you’re going to be well fed. Then you meet the pastor’s wife, who runs the restaurant, and she makes you feel like a regular. Meals are served cafeteria-style and the menu changes daily. Typical choices include: the crispiest fried chicken, beef and pork ribs (only available on Saturday and cooked in an enormous smoker out front), oxtail, country-fried steak, Savannah red rice, the best macaroni and cheese, creamed corn, green beans, black-eyed peas, corn bread and dressing (stuffing). Though you'll be stuffed, when the staff offers sweet potato pie, you must oblige.

In a former boarding house that was run in the 1940s by Selma Wilkes, Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is still owned and run by the Wilkes family, who dish up their family recipes in period rooms (but no longer take boarders in the upstairs rooms). When Jim Williams, of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, was in jail awaiting trial, he had his meals sent to him from here every day. Lunch is served family style Mondays through Fridays only, and there is always a line outside before noon, as it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city and noted in every guidebook. President Obama ate here when he visited Savannah. Visitors are seated together at tables of ten where they help themselves from passed platters of such Southern favorites as okra gumbo, fried chicken, cornbread biscuits, collard greens and beef stew. Even locals confess to loving the food, if not the crowds, so consider doing what they do and get takeout. You’ll miss the family-style experience, but will avoid the wait and can head instead to Forsyth Park or one of the nearby squares to eat on a bench. Closed weekends; cash only.

Owner Ali Parsaei, whose earlier restaurant was already a hit among local foodies, opted to open a slightly more refined menu at Persepolis. You’ll still find Middle Eastern classics like kabobs and babaghanoush, but the freshness and quality are notable – and a nice change from heavy Southern fare.

A former garage just off Bull Street has been transformed into a lively café so popular you will likely wait for a table for lunch unless you show up before noon. Lunch features soups, salads and such sandwiches as the portobello burger, the Waldorf tuna pita and Mom’s meatloaf. There is a kids’ menu as well. Sunday brunch draws long lines for favorites like pecan waffles and shrimp ’n’ grits.

This café in the Historic District serves breakfast, lunch and coffee all day but is known for its gourmet chocolates, including truffles. Salads, sandwiches and wrap are also available.

Reportedly one of the best sandwich shops in the South, Zunzi’s brings together the owners’ diverse cultural backgrounds, with such options as the South Africa-inspired Jo Burg burger and the vegetarian curry sandwich. Even before being profiled on the Travel Channel, Zunzi’s lunch line went out the door.