The Pirate's House Is The Georgia Restaurant With History To Match The Name

Savannah, Georgia is a city steeped in history by its centuries-old architecture, Spanish moss-covered trees, and vibrant white-sand beaches. Known for its unique blend of Southern hospitality and edgy history, the city is also home to America's only Prohibition Museum, where you can learn how alcohol prescriptions were obtained during the dry years. Ironically, it's now an open-container town, where you can sip your drink along streets where you once would've been arrested for sipping an innocent Long Island iced tea (that is, if they'd been invented earlier). 

But beneath the quaint charm and beauty of Savannah lies a more shadowy past — one marked by 18th-century piracy. For history nerds and foodies alike, there's no better place to visit than The Pirate's House, a restaurant where you can indulge in a plate of shrimp and grits in a building that was once a notorious rendezvous for pirates and sailors from all over the world. With roots dating back as far as 1733, this iconic restaurant is more than just a place to grab a meal — it's a portal into the city's maritime past, where the line between legend and reality often blurs.

According to its website, the structure that houses The Pirate's House was built in 1734, shortly after the arrival of English General James Edward Oglethorpe. It first began as part of the Trustees' Garden, an experimental garden modeled after London's Chelsea "Physick" Garden where medicinal herbs and crops were grown. By 1753, it had transformed into an inn and tavern catering to the sailors and merchants who docked at the nearby Savannah River — many of whom weren't exactly law-abiding citizens. Countless tales of pirates being "shanghaied" (knocked unconscious, dragged through secret tunnels, and sold) riddled the establishment. It wasn't until 1945, when the structure was purchased and restored by the Savannah Gas Company, that it began to take a turn. In 1953, the structure was officially reopened as a tea room, where it gradually evolved into the restaurant it is today.

Presently, The Pirate's House is seen as one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah. Tales of glasses being knocked off tables and a little boy seen on the front steps of the restaurant are often told by workers and the general manager. These tales are made more believable when you witness the secret chamber found underneath the house, whose purpose remains unknown to this day. A trip to The Pirates House may not be for the faint of heart. But then again, who's thinking of ghosts when you're lost in a bowl of shrimp and Andouille sausage gumbo?