GA Eatery Named A Best Restaurant Of The Year, New Ranking Says

SAVANNAH, GA - A Georgia restaurant, with its elevated comfort food, has landed on USA Today's Best Restaurants of the Year 2024 list.

Led by owner and Savannah native Zach Shultz, Cotton and Rye was one of 47 eateries USA Today chose to shine light on in its national "search of the next best bite."

The media outlet said it scanned restaurants that not only offered fine dining but were also "tried and true" with "stories to tell."

Cotton and Rye, on Habersham Street, was successful in taking an old bank building and transforming it in 2015, said writer Amy Paige Condon for USA Today-affiliate the Savannah Morning News.

Condon noted Cotton and Rye's curry-infused chicken and dumplings is an acknowledgement of Savannah's past as a global port city. Executive chef Caleb Ayers oversees the menu.

"Ayers’ chicken thighs and mac ‘n’ cheese are worth the caloric splurge," Condon wrote in the review.

Cotton and Rye was opened sometime after 2010, after which Schultz set up roots in the Florida culinary scene before returning to Savannah, according to the company website.

Hours of operation: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and closed Sunday-Monday.