Savannah, GACocktails

Connect Savannah's Jared A. Jackson sat down with partners Scott Marshall and Pila Sunderland before this bar opened in West Broughton Lane, between Barnard and Jefferson. They told him the idea had been three years in the making and that they wanted to leave the space with its essence, designing around what was already there rather than gutting it. Go for the cocktails, and give yourself a minute to find the entrance, which sits down a lane.

Connect Savannah's Frank Ricci profiled bartender Kellye West of this Bull Street bar, which he describes as emphatically upscale with a gorgeous interior. West told him spring drinking calls for cocktails that are light and effervescent, with a floral profile and a nice balance of sweet and citrus. Order whatever is seasonal off the cocktail list, and note that the room sits at the dressy end of the Savannah bar range rather than the casual one.

Connect Savannah's Neil Gabbey covered the refresh at the Thompson Savannah's top floor bar after it turned three, calling it an intentional redesign of an already well made drink and dine destination on Eastern Wharf. More than half the menu stayed, including the fattoush salad, the mezze platter and the house bread with pepperoni butter. Ride the elevator up, order a cocktail with the Mediterranean small plates, and take the river view while you drink.

Connect Savannah's Chantel Britton names this bar for its whiskey collection, which she says covers pretty much everything anyone could want, from bourbon and scotch to Irish and rye. Eat It and Like It, writing about the room under its former name Prohibition, describes a beautiful space a few doors from The Grey on the edge of downtown. Order a whiskey sour or work through the bourbon shelf, and come at brunch if you want the kitchen too.