"Where's a good place to eat in Savannah?"

"Where's a good place to eat in Savannah?"

My wife asked the valet. The cheapest hotel we could find in Savannah, Georgia had valet service, go figure.

Outside, the August heat had relented for the day and we were ready to go out to dinner. We were staying one night in Savannah on a six week road trip to celebrate my recent separation from the Air Force.

With his head titled in contemplation, the young black valet briefly scanned us. He was checking to see if we were mindless tourists who came to eat at Paula Deen's Southern Butter Restaurant. It was 2013, and Paula Deen's scandal was consuming the media. Her food and wanton use of the n-word were not a high point for Savannah at the time. But if we were clueless tourists, he didn't want to offend us.

"Well you could go to Paula Deen's restaurant. Dot. Dot. Dot."

Okay, so he didn't actually say dot, dot, dot but he might as well have.

Our laughter cleared the ambiguity.

"I didn't like her before all this, and all her recipes call for a stick of butter," I said in response. "We were looking for something a little more local."

Our point was conveyed: something a little less racist.

"If you want real good food there's this place called Sisters of the New South. It's about a fifteen minute drive out of town."

I thanked him as my wife looked it up on her phone and we drove that way. It was one block off the main highway to that led to the beaches at Tybee Island, so it was not difficult to find but you had to be looking for it.

The exterior is not much to behold, a simple sign stating the name and a banner advertising 'Real Southern Food'. As we walked in a man was exiting with his take-out food. The giant smile on his face assured me that the food was going to be good, no matter what the building looked like. A friendly staff welcomed us into the restaurant and we placed our order.

The restaurant serves what is called a meat and three. One meat and three side orders heaped on one plate. I got the pork ribs and my wife got the fried chicken, with yams, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. We ate until we were full and then continued eating.

I’ve tried to describe the food to people, but in the end I tell them, “You just have to go there.” The meat from the ribs fell off the bone, the fried chicken was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It really was the best eating experience I’d had in my life up to that point. The meal was just delicious comfort food, from a southern kitchen. We have not shut up about this place since.

Drunk on food, we arrived back at the hotel; the valet asked us what we thought. We said it was delicious and thanked him many times for sending us there. Now, whenever we get a chance we bring up our trip to Sisters of the New South. If you are in Savannah you have to check it out.