Two-Weeks Notice

It is Friday, July 22 and I have submitted my two-weeks notice. Reflecting on my internship with Savannah Area Geographic Information Systems (SAGIS), I have decided that my greatest achievements this summer occurred during lunch hour. Having eaten at many fine downtown establishments, I feel I have earned enough credibility to produce a ranking of downtown lunches.

The 5 Best:

1. Jupiter Cafe. I had never even heard of this place before today. The lunch buffet is the best I've had this summer. Mac & cheese, cabbage, barbecue, squash casserole, green beans, chicken wings, and fried fish. They also had a dessert buffet with banana pudding and strawberry shortcake. The wings were not as good as Maury's but they did not disappoint. Definitely worth the $8 that I did not pay.

2. Sakura. A fusion of Chinese and Japanese flavors, Sakura offers the most bang for your buck in the non-buffet category. This was my most frequented restaurant and I ordered the sesame chicken every time. Huge portions and a side salad for $6 is hard to beat on Broughton St.

3. Ray's. Your traditional "meat-and-three" home cookin' restaurant. A typical meal at Ray's included fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards, mashed potatoes & gravy, cornbread, with a side order of Mr. Wolf for about $7.

4. Chao. A Chinese buffet right next door to Ray's. Though not a super buffet, it contained all the Chinese essentials, like pepper steak, sweet & sour chicken, lo mein, egg rolls, and hot wings. For $5 it is the cheapest lunch buffet in the historic district.

5. Locos. This chain restaurant, primarily known for its underage nightlife, makes the list based soley on one item: the Blackened Salmon BLT. It also doesn't hurt to have a Josh Mallard jersey hanging on the wall.

The 5 Worst:

1. Larry's Giant Subs. By far the worst lunch experience I've ever had. First off, the wait is ridiculous for a fast-food establishment. Granted the downtown location get slammed at lunch time, but every Larry's I've been to had been slow. Upon ordering a BLT, the cashier told me they were out of tomatoes. Not wanting to search for something else on the menu, I said that was fine. However, the person ordering after me got tomatoes on his sandwich. Inexcusable!

2. Exchange Tavern. This story requires a little background. SAGIS is sort of a task force of county and city employees. There are only four of us: a city employee, a county employee and two interns, both employed by the county. We went to the Exchange for a retirement lunch for another city employee. Myself, and the county employee were the only non-city employees there. At the end of our meal, a lady took up a $1 collection to pay for the retiree's lunch. I only had a $20 bill on hand so I apologized for not being able to contribute. She made some snide remark about it only being a dollar and I again apologized. What a bitch! I don't even know this person and I'm expected to help contribute to her retirement lunch. And it's not like I'm not paying for my own lunch, which was terrible on its own merit. I got the barbecue lunch special with a side of cole slaw. It was terrible. It tasted like Kraft barbecue sauce. Plus, it was about $10.

3. State St. Cafe. The sign out side read, "Mix and Match: Half Turkey Melt, Chicken Caesar Melt, Ham & Cheese, $5.95" Call me slow, but I took this to mean you could choose half of one sandwich and half of another. I came to find out that the "mix and match" referred to the side items. So I got half of a sandwich and my choice of fries or onion rings for $6.

4. Churchill's. Bad service, bland food, and high prices get you a 4-spot on this list.

5. B & D Burgers. More like B & D Buns. And, unlike Coop's, you have to order from the table and leave a tip.