Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room
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.<ref name="SMN">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref name=nyt83>"Making Yourself At Home" - New York Times, October 16, 1983</ref><ref name="McKee1994">Template:Cite book</ref> The restaurant was described by author William Schemmel as "a treasure hidden away in a historic district town-house."<ref name="Schemmel2003">Template:Cite book</ref> Its longtime owner, Sema Wilkes, published several cookbooks.<ref name="SMN"/> Template:As of her family continued to run the restaurant, serving lunch on weekdays.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mrs. Wilkes and her restaurant have been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles.<ref name="SMN"/> Japanese chef Hoshinao Naguma was once apprenticed to the restaurant.<ref name="HarmanHarman1992">Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="Swift"/><ref name="PefferMiller2004">Template:Cite book</ref> There is no menu; dishes are selected by the restaurant and change daily.<ref name="Swift"/> Travel Holiday in 1993 recalled that the "tables were set with steaming bowls and platters of tasty Southern food".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The guests sit at the table and pass the dishes around to one another like a family.<ref name="Swift"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are usually long queues waiting to get in.<ref name="Swift">Template:Citation</ref>
Notable guests
- David Brinkley once broadcast directly from the restaurant<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
- President Obama ate at the restaurant with Mayor Otis Johnson and other guests in 2010, having baked beans, fried chicken, and sweet corn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Robert Duvall, Kate Smith, and Gregory Peck ate at the restaurant<ref name="SMN"/>
- The cast of Magic Mike XXL ate at the restaurant in October 2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
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Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room is located in a former boardinghouse known as the Wilkes House
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Entrance to Mrs. Wilke's Dining Room
