By Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
Sept. 15, 2024 – If you’ve been around the food and beverage scene long enough, there’s a phrase I’m sure you’ve heard before: the bartender’s handshake. But what is the bartender’s handshake, exactly? Well, there is no universal answer. At its core, it’s a shot. However, it varies depending on the location and the hospitality culture there. Source: Greeting industry: The bartender’s handshake explained (framehazelpark.com)
The bartender’s handshake materializes in many local bars in Savannah in the form of a beer and a shot. I mean, you could just do a shot, and then another, and then… well, make some new friends, and another. It depends on how savage you’re feeling that night, really.
Handshakes are well-known and popular among the service industry, but they can happily be enjoyed by anyone when the bar decides to generously put them on the menu.
When these options are printed on menus, you know that the owners have either worked in the service industry or are making a quiet invitation to service industry workers to come and make this one of their watering holes.
So come join us!
Expect to be around a lot of service industry people getting off work and even a few “And that lady had the audacity to…” stories, followed by laughter. Hey, bartenders and servers have to vent too—usually to other bartenders.
Here are the best places in Savannah to enjoy a Bartender’s Handshake:
Treylor Park Pizza Party
The crowd here is mostly local since Pizza Party is located in a quiet neighborhood. This is also an excellent option for late-night food! They close at midnight throughout the week.
That Hawaiian BBQ Chicken pizza is ridiculous, especially if you just got off work and have nothing but stale Doritos at home, or if you’ve been day-drinking and by that time can’t even remember your name anymore. And for all you pineapple-on-pizza haters out there, you better go ahead and condemn me in advance because I LOVE it. #pineapplepizzafreaks
As for the handshake, this bar offers $5 shots like a Pickle Back or a Fernet Branca. I have no idea what a Flying Wasp shot might be, but it sounds a bit unsavory.
Be a hero and try one.
Their handshake: a shot of Fernet Branca and a pony-sized High Life. For $5, that’s unbeatable.
Alternatively (or in addition to/for your next round), you can add $2 to any draft to get a beer and a shot. They sell $6 Peronis, which is great, so that’s an $8 handshake.
Colleagues and Lovers
Replacing the former Bar. Food location, this spot became the hottest thing on a Sunday night after expressing their love for the service industry in their little menu.
This menu is not only amazing but hilarious. I mean… let’s examine:
The $8 Handshake is solid and my go-to: Peroni and a tequila shot. Upon further examination, you can make this a shift meal… by adding a pickled egg? Why not.
Then they offer the option of ordering a LITER bottle of red or white wine for $28. No names, vintages, prudence, or anything like that.
This gives me flashbacks to a dinner party in Montreal in my early 20s when I decided to bring a liter bottle of French red table wine and then made grilled cheese and tomato bisque. That was a nuclear hangover, but if you’re having a night where you need to forget all sensible things about everything, why not order a liter of wine and do it?
Which brings me to the next thing: You can order martinis by the pitcher for $21.
I can’t help but imagine a man sitting at this bar, looking defeated as hell, eating pickled eggs with a pitcher of martinis next to him, pouring himself martini after martini. Filthy, blue cheese, pitcher of martinis.
WTF kind of life is this? I thought I knew… apparently, I don’t.
I wonder if you can order tequila by the pitcher?
Don’t give me any ideas.
This menu is so raw and excessive, yet it has a ‘we get it’ kind of feeling—you can’t help but love it for the one-of-a-kind thing it is.
This menu is only available on Sundays until midnight.
Lone Wolf Lounge
Lone Wolf is the oldest and most established among locals of all these mentioned bars. I have known the owners (Andrew and Tom) for over 10 years. I met them both when they were bartenders with a rich following of patrons. So rich, that their first venture together was a mandatory success. Tom and Andrew definitely know the industry inside and out.
My favorite: Jane’s Addiction. Something about sipping sparkling wine in a coupe glass after having a shot of Fernet feels like skipping school and going skinny dipping instead.
Like many spots around town, they call their Drink+Shot combo a “Boilermaker.” It’s like a bomb drink. For example, a Sake bomb—where you drop a shot of sake into a beer—is a classic type of boilermaker.
Of course, these are presented separately, so you can properly drink your shot and then sip your beer, pretending to be a dignified human being.
And if you ever see me pouring my Fernet into my Cava or champagne, gosh—ban me from all the bars in Savannah immediately. The horror.
Also, I’m yet to see someone order a Jäger flight. I didn’t know ordering 4 shots could be called a “flight”—sounds so posh.
Das Box
Keeping with that neighborhood bar vibe but with vibrant electric colors and Asian flavors, Das Box dressed itself up to become THE hip local spot on Broad Street.
This is also a great late-night food option, closing throughout the week at midnight (1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday) and having most of their menu available until 11 p.m.
Now for the drinks…
This is a great place to take advantage of their amazing $5 handshake and try aguardiente if you’ve never had it—it’s a distilled spirit with hints of anise.
My favorite, TNT, falls in line with the $8 price tag for a handshake around town. I’ve never had the guts to order Spike’s Prairie Oyster. I mean, I have to be in a really specific mood to walk into a bar and think, ‘You know what sounds amazing right now? A whole raw egg.’ That’s a whole other level of cool kid status.
The Hawthorne Bar and Mini Lounge
Red velvety light and rich details envelop you upon entering The Hawthorne mini bar. The bartenders here display craft and finesse in their creations, but at the same time, focus on being very welcoming and love their service industry peers.
The rich luxury of the décor contrasts with the approachable menu, as if saying: We can be this, and that, and everything else in between.
Keeping in line with other handshakes around town, these are $8 and consist of a Coors Banquet paired with diverse spirits. If I can’t have a TNT, I’m definitely getting a Midnight Cowboy.
This is a great spot to try Shanky Whip! It tastes like Irish whiskey, if Irish whiskey was dessert: Notes of milk chocolate, toffee, creamy vanilla, and baking spices.
Cocktails here are amazing and highly recommended! So this is a great place to start with a handshake and graduate into a cocktail.
Final Thoughts:
Handshakes, Boilermakers, or just shots—the usual deal goes around town for about $8. It’s a great value if you want to hit that sweet spot without breaking the bank, while mingling with the local service culture in the city.
Cheers!
Love always,
Vanessa.
If you find value in this website, please consider contributing via Paypal to help cover the costs. You can also send contributions via Venmo @Savannah_Agenda. Your support, no matter how much you give, is appreciated and will help ensure the future viability of this community resource. You can also show your support by sharing Savannah Agenda with others via email or social media. Increasing readership is critical to the long-term success of this site.
More columns by Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
