At the table · September 2026
Rosemary barbecue, a pleasant surprise
Rich coarse-ground grits, plenty of shrimp, and a distinctive rosemary barbecue sauce made the $20 lunch an excellent plate and an exceptional value.
- Visited
- September 2026
- Price
- $20.00
- Exceptional: More plate than the price asks.Value is the sixth taste: our own judgment of what arrived for what it cost. It stands apart from the grade.How we review
- Exceptional
- An outstanding dish. Highly recommended. We only have minor observations.Our overall call on the plate, from A+ to F.How we review
- A
- Lowcountry Score
- 90/100
Vic’s on the River is a mainstay in conversations about Savannah’s best shrimp and grits. Lunch provided a chance to see what the praise was about: roughly eleven or twelve small-to-medium shrimp, a generous bed of coarse-ground grits, bacon, and a rosemary barbecue sauce. With biscuits and butter alongside, the $20 lunch was an exceptional value.
“Rosemary barbecue sauce” gave me pause. Both flavors can take over a dish. Here, delicate hints of rosemary and barbecue really worked well together, giving the sauce a distinctive character without overpowering the plate. Certainly a pleasant surprise.
The grits were creamy, rich, and very flavorful, with the body expected from a coarse grind. They weren’t as fluffy or as texturally refined as the best I’ve had, but their texture suited the sauce. The shrimp were modest in size and plentiful. Their preparation was very good, though not flawless.
The proportions were particularly good. There was enough sauce without drowning the grits, and the shrimp-to-grits ratio made sense. A balanced bite came naturally. The bacon belonged there, and every ingredient earned its place.
The unusual sauce left the dish’s identity intact. This remained a recognizable plate of shrimp and grits, earning a Lowcountry Score of 90; the shrimp’s provenance wasn’t established during the visit.
Vic’s earned an A and an easy recommendation for lunch. That doesn’t automatically make it our favorite in Savannah or settle the question of who serves the best. To me, the rosemary barbecue departs just a tad too much from the most traditional recipes. It does mean that, on this visit, the high praise is well-deserved. For $20, this is one of the best lunch plates in the Historic District.
