Photo by Grace Baines
Written by Grace Baines
There is a new restaurant in town and they have hit the ground running. The Grey is an eclectic mix of Italian, seafood, Southern comfort and style food all mixed with an atmosphere of absolute swankiness.
The Grey opened its doors on Dec. 18, 2014, and has been busy ever since. The old Greyhound Station at 109 Martin Luther King Junior Blvd. was restored and converted into a beautiful restaurant with a 1920s feel. The restaurant has two distinct sections: the actual restaurant area and the Diner Bar.
The Diner Bar has a casual environment with light appetizer-style foods and distinctly unique drinks. The food was good to nibble on. However, you could not have made a meal out of the Diner Bar’s menu. The bar itself seemed like the place to be with interesting drinks accompanied by attentive and funny bartenders and wait staff. The favorite dish from our table was the Savannah Rice Cakes due to the perfect combination of flavors.
“The batter was really nice and salty and the red part of the rice ball was good,” said Taylor Hunt, a first-year photography major from Columbia, South Carolina. “The regular rice was a little bland, but the chipotle sauce was awesome!”
If you are a fan of oysters, this is the place to go.
While the menu is not really directed toward the local student population, the restaurant is absolutely perfect if you enjoy an interesting place for drinks. John Morisano, the owner of The Grey, eventually plans to incorporate breakfast and lunch into the menu. But for now, it opens at 4 p.m. with no reservations needed.
Morisano was more than happy to explain how his restaurant came to fruition. He moved to Savannah four years ago and bought a few buildings, including the old Greyhound Station.
“I decided I was going to do historic preservation, which I was really excited about,” said Morisano. As the preservation progressed, the space of the building was set up perfectly to function as a restaurant.
“I thought that, if I was going to preserve this building and put all of this effort into the building, I’m going to put a restaurant in it,” said Morisano. “I want it to be my restaurant.”
The restoration process was long and expensive, but it turned out to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing places I’ve ever eaten in. Morisano hopes the restaurant will become a part of the community and sees a future with oyster bakes and pig roasts on their little lawn area on the weekends.
The restaurant is not an everyday eating place, but for those special occasions or nights where a swanky bar is needed, The Grey should be on your list.
