TV Restaurants

Is The Wilkes House Still Open? Update (Savannah, GA)

Open verified

As of September 2026, The Wilkes House is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed September 7, 2026.

Primary source
mrswilkes.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room's own site and Yelp (updated September 2026, 1,791 reviews) both list the same West Jones Street address, with 2026-dated reviews describing current lunch service.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 2
  • Address 107 West Jones Street, Savannah, GA 31401
  • Current name Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room

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What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate's 'Fried Chicken' episode (Food Network) featured the family-style boardinghouse lunch at The Wilkes House, centered on fried chicken served alongside dressing, black-eyed peas, and okra gumbo at shared tables. The restaurant, known today as Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room, opened in 1943 inside an 1870 boardinghouse building on West Jones Street in downtown Savannah and was run by Sema Wilkes for 59 years until her death in 2002. According to the restaurant's own website, her family has continued to operate the dining room, serving lunch on weekdays. Yelp's listing for the West Jones Street address was updated in September 2026, with 1,791 reviews and 1,618 photos posted, and current hours were listed as Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed weekends.

Featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 2
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Fried Chicken
What was featured
family-style boardinghouse fried chicken lunch
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
The Wilkes House

Frequently asked questions

Is The Wilkes House still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, The Wilkes House is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed September 7, 2026.

What happened to The Wilkes House after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate's 'Fried Chicken' episode (Food Network) featured the family-style boardinghouse lunch at The Wilkes House, centered on fried chicken served alongside dressing, black-eyed peas, and okra gumbo at shared tables. As of September 2026, The Wilkes House is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed September 7, 2026.

What is The Wilkes House called now?

Now: Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room (formerly The Wilkes House). As of September 2026, The Wilkes House is open — confirmed via the restaurant's current website/social account, accessed September 7, 2026.

Where is The Wilkes House located?

107 West Jones Street, Savannah, GA 31401. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate featured The Wilkes House?

Season 5, Episode 2 of Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode is titled “Fried Chicken”.

What do reviews say since Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Yelp's listing for the West Jones Street address was updated in September 2026, with 1,791 reviews and 1,618 photos posted, and current hours were listed as Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed weekends. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
107 West Jones Street, Savannah, GA 31401
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
mrswilkes.com

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Record btiea-0413 · last verified .