papa's bbq & seafood

this place has some if the worst ribs to be called a bar b que place. there is no variety for barbecue sauce, ribs taste oven baked. the waitress was horrible, she seemed drunk. she took no time to wait on our table, and i never got a chance to get the glass of iced tea i ordered.

yummmmmm!!!!. the hubs and i ate her last sunday nite and it was fantastic!! i had fried shrimp and he had the wings, and we shared a plate of fried pickles. he loved his wings and the shrimp was fantastic!! our server was ok....not wow good but he was just ok. but the food was amazing!! ya'll seriously gotta try this place.

came highly recommended, but was very disappointed. i was part of a group of nine dining there for dinner on may 17th. we all ordered different bbq platters. however, the meat was very dry and over-cooked. i had the brisket and it was sliced so thin, it was pushing the "hand cut" claim on the menu. two others had the sliced pork--same comments. the pulled pork should have been succulent--nope, it was dry too. the only plus was that the service was attentive. we were all from out of town and we're hoping for a knock-out bbq experience. we would have been better off at sonny's.

great place to have lunch!! i shared the shrimp and pulled pork with my mom. she liked her food and i like mine. the waitress was very nice and welcoming.

mmmm. i've been coming here for years and my favorite is the brunswick stew ( i usually order it by the pint). the pulled pork is on point when accompanied by the mustard based sauce.

excellent bbq and a new favorite restaurant!. having heard so many kudos about papa's from friends and local islanders, yet never finding the chance to dine here, i actually scheduled advance plans for a sunday lunch. so, with a dining companion in tow, we set out to sample some serious bbq. our dining experience here was absolutely wonderful, with prompt and friendly service, as well as extremely excellent bbq. i now have another favorite restaurant to share!

papa's is tucked in the back of the towne centre shopping complex and not easily seen from highway 80, though once you turn off the main road into the parking lot maze, you will see it adjacent to anytime fitness. there is plenty of parking available, so no issues. there are even parking spaces right up front specifically designated for papa's.

there are a couple of tables and chairs outside for dining on pleasant days. this gives papa's a nice sidewalk cafe feel, and with such good weather, looks to be a popular option. seating in the main dining area is spacious and comfortable, with booths and tables available. the decor is modern/casual, and with a nod to the beach, has sea shell lights over the booths. even though the dining area has high ceilings, there is not much noise reverberating, so dining conversations can be held at a normal volume.

being the first diners in the restaurant on that sunday morning (6-15-14), we were able to enjoy a nice long chat with our waitress (serelle) about menu items. she was very helpful explaining everything going on as we were newbies to papa's. other wait staff were over at the host stand area awaiting patrons, so they were on-point and ready.

the fried pickles appetizer was very good. i was going to share a picture, but my dining companion attacked them before i was able to snap anything. the appetizer in real life on the table looks better than the pictures on the menu, honestly. the pickles were not limp or greasy as some can be elsewhere. plus, they were not overly salty, which i appreciate. if you are a fried pickles fan, as i am, give these a try.

i normally am a seafood guy, but on my first visit here, i was determined to sample the bbq. i chose the bar-b-que pork dinner, which is freshly smoked and chopped. in my opinion, it is shredded/pulled for the most part with some chopped pieces sprinkled in. this was a welcomed surprise since i prefer shredded/pulled over chopped. the meat was absolutely and perfectly cooked, and there was a large amount of it on the plate. another surprise was sauce already drizzled over the meat. it is a mustard-based sauce, which is my favorite. this sauce was a perfect compliment to the meat. i even added some more. i forgot to buy a bottle of their sauce, but i shall do that on my next visit. yes, the sauce really is that good, and there will be another visit.

there are plenty of sides from which to choose. very important note: their macaroni and cheese is only available on sunday. this is probably the best macaroni and cheese i have ever eaten in a restaurant. it is as close to what grandma always served on sundays as you are going to get anywhere. i also wanted to sample their fried okra. it was very, very good, with literally no grease and absolutely nothing scorched. this was fried okra done right.

after such a fantastic meal, there was no room left for dessert, sadly. oh yeah, the sweet tea was a hit with my dining companion. he is really, really picky about sweet tea, so this is great praise. every aspect about dining at papa's was top-notch, which is extremely rare anywhere. the folks back in the kitchen certainly know how to cook, i can say that much. i swear some grandmas are back there rattling the pots and pans and hopefully teaching the younger generation a thing or two.

really, if you have not eaten with papa's before, make plans now to do so. you will enjoy it.

another review shall soon be forthcoming on papa's seafood offerings. ;-)

mediocre at best. other reviews were quite misleading. i ordered the pull pork sandwich, and honestly it tasted like every other generic pulled pork i've ever eaten. no spice, no smoke, it just tasted like shredded pork. i had cajun fries as a side (which was $2 extra) and they were frozen fries with seasoning, they didn't even have a cajun taste to them. my boyfriend got the brisket sandwich, and it was served on a bun with iceberg and some sort of greenish sauce that we assume was mustard but there wasn't enough of it to tell. his brisket wasn't very tender, no smoked flavor or seasoning. he had coleslaw as his $2 side, and it tasted like a cafeteria coleslaw mix - one again no flavor or seasonings. we tried the mustard based "papa's bbq sauce" and it was okay, it was like any other generic brand mustard bbq sauce. the staff seemed bored, our waitress was sitting within view and watched us eat. she did her job, but wasn't very friendly. the place was clean. as a tourist, i'm super disappointed that we wasted a lunch in savannah on this place. i made an account just to write this, next time i'll do more homework and find a place in savannah that knows how to cook bbq correctly.

good food. ate he 1-1-14, had fried shrimp with crab stew ....stew was some of the best iv'e had in sav. shrimp were a little over=cooked but good...service was excellent.

had combo plate: ribs, pulled pork, coleslaw and beans (came with toast). reasonable monetary value ($17 with a pepsi).
ribs aren't smoked (apparently baked) and drizzled with a mustard-based bbq sauce. ditto pulled pork. neither meat anything to write home about: ribs were a little tough (needed more time in oven); pork little bit too dry. decent portions though.
sides: never had coleslaw so bland! no discernible spices whatsoever. beans were basic campbell's store-bought type with a piece of pork thrown in.
don't want to flame the place. everybody was very nice and it has a local following (maybe i ordered the wrong things from the menu?) but i probably won't eat here again.
disclaimer: i'm not the biggest fan of mustard-based bbq sauce but i've had much, much better than this place.

yummy. i usually eat here every time i come home. i've had many items off the menu, but i always eat the bbq on two buns (with extra pickles). the pulled pork is smoked and tender. i usually get the bruinswick stew as a side which is ok, i'm not going to rave like it's the best but it is good. what makes this place so awesome is their sauce. if you love mustard based bbq sauce then come here. i literally drench my buns bottom and top with it. it is sooooooo good. the crab stew is pretty good too. has lots of meat in it.

best shrimp salad ever!. my husband and i had shrimp salad sandwiches with sweet potato fries. this was the best shrimp salad that i have had in years and the sweet potato fries were abundant and were fried to perfection.
our friends had the fried shrimp dinners, sampling one , you could taste the freshness . the owner checked on us and when we remarked how fresh the shrimp were, she replied that tthey have a contract with a local shrimper. our first time there, really out of the way for us--about 25 miles, but we will be back

very good. i've been there a few times and i've had a pleasant experience each times. the last time i got bbq on 2 buns. got plenty of food and it was very tasty. service was good even though they were very busy.

the best shrimp salad ever. its seriously perfect as is the black bean soup that is spiced perfectly with cuban flavors. consistent and reasonably priced. thank you frank and judy!


-----28 mar, 2010-----

yum!. black bean soup is the yummiest! their shrimp salad is the best ever--just you try to get it in a pint to go and not the entire thing within 24 hours!!!

savannah morning news restaurant reviewer, pete lamb, must have had his knickers in a bunch when he recently reviewed papa's barbecue & seafood restaurant out on whitemarsh island. he remarked: "i'm a big supporter of mom-and-pop joints, but this one need