By Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
July 28, 2025 – Last year, a very busy Liz Massey sat down with me for 20 minutes to interview for an article in The Savannahian.
The Laundry Diner, located at 1401 Paulsen St., is part of the Two Tides Brewery group and has been awaited since November of 2022.
When I sat with her for the first time, in the early morning at an empty table next to Float Coffee Bar, she had an excited glow when she said: “The opening goal is mid to late September, there’s still a ton of work to do on this space but I need to visualize it.” At the time, Liz shared a wish list of menu items she wanted for her very hip new diner. Even almost a year ago, she would use the term “Elevated Waffle House” to visualize the vibe and offerings.
I thought to myself back then… Opening THIS September? 2024? Quietly admiring her drive and ambition with some incredulity. She doubled down: “Yes! If we need to move the date we will move it, but I need to see it in the calendar.”
The article shares how The Laundry was a monster of a project. That it had nothing ready for a restaurant. It was truly starting from scratch. Even on August 21st, Liz posted how much work was still left to be done on the space, and referred to The Laundry as “The most challenging project I’ve ever worked on.”
Then shortly after that August interview, Hurricane Helene hit, Paulsen had road closures right in front of them, they had a fire which led to a pipe bursting, flooding, and tons of damage. And I’m sure that when all was well and done and fixed, the city of Savannah took them for a walk around permit city with the speed of someone who just had a double serving of shrimp and grits. As they do.
It was impossible not to root for The Laundry all the way until the opening date. I feel like the appeal of following their story for over two years on their Instagram page showed scattered glamour shots, but also the nitty gritty reality of how it all went down.
Unlike many restaurants, they didn’t just open and show their prettiest photos. It was the good, the bad, and the ugly, in a colorful and creative aesthetic that they share in all their projects.
Their first soft opening happened mid-June, and it was like that corner of Paulsen St. and Anderson exploded. Waving the white flag after just two days of soft opening with a “We are out of food” post and even showing a line out the door in their consequent stories.
I have visited The Laundry Diner three times since it opened. Happily busy every time, with great energy all around. Before my first visit, I messaged Liz to see if she might like another article, this time with the descriptions of all the flavors and color on display. She was very interested, but we couldn’t coordinate a time.
Then, on my first visit, I see Liz, dressed as one of the servers, running food and cleaning tables. Working non-stop.
I visited with a friend and discreetly pointed in her direction. “That petite blonde over there? That’s the owner.” My friend, who didn’t know her, said confused, “No, that’s a server.” I smiled, because I didn’t recognize her at first either. Grinding and working the shift like any and all of us, there she was. The first time I interviewed her, she mentioned having worked every restaurant role before opening Two Tides Brewery, including being a dishwasher. That alone told me this woman has no fear of hustling, and her drive powers all her projects.
I approach her and her eyes widened. She flashes me a beautiful, panicked smile, “Hi!!! I’m sorry for not getting back to you, I am currently working 20 hour days!”
I can only imagine.
She and her husband James own multiple businesses, their flagship being Two Tides Brewery in the same building as Crispi, Smol Bar, and Float Coffee. She is also a mom.
Whenever I think I’m too busy for anything in life, I think of Liz juggling her colorful empire of all things food and drinks and life in general, and everything seems more doable.
Liz shared their idea from the beginning was to offer all of that in a diner: their beers, their coffee, their food. All in a cohesive experience and offering late-night comfort bites, aiming eventually for a 2 a.m. closing time.
That part is super exciting. Savannah’s late-night food scene doesn’t have a lot of variety. Mostly “Please sober me up” food options. Some better than others: bites at Social Club, tacos at Orale on Congress Street, Kay’s pizza, Fancy Parker’s, Bandana burgers, chicken tenders at McDonough’s with a background of drunk karaoke. And of course, any of the iconic 24-hour Waffle Houses, even though a drive down President Street from downtown after 1 a.m. always feels a bit risqué.
This is their first sit-down restaurant, and with the following of all the ones who love Two Tides, the expectations were sky-high from the beginning. They have built a reputation for having very creative, high-quality items in all their menus.
The Laundry Instagram page had nearly 10k followers before the restaurant opened.
Liz shares: “That has been interesting for me. We have done a bunch of smaller projects over the years as part of Two Tides, but I’ve never opened a business that had almost 10 thousand followers before it even opened. That was exciting and terrifying and all those things in one.”
On my second visit to The Laundry, amidst the madness and chaos, I managed to pull Liz aside for a 5-minute interview.
She shares: “We have been busier than expected, which is awesome. In terms of bestsellers, we have the Shorty Beef Hash Bowl, which is selling like crazy. Also, our shrimp and grits and the meatloaf, it is all the classics.”
There is also the appeal of breakfast items: “The breakfast sandwich is very popular. People are responding happily to really approachable diner classics that feel nostalgic to them.”
She also shares the excitement of their pastries: “We have a pastry team in house. So at any given time we have 3 rotating pies and cheesecakes, cookies, cinnamon buns, all that good stuff. We bake all our pastries in house and we get most of our breads at the moment from Sixby. Making our bread in house is a future goal.”
Everything I have tried so far has been amazing, including a decadent and silky… perfect strawberry milkshake.
The Laundry’s general manager, Alex Chamberlain, shares: “People simply can’t get enough of these milkshakes! They’re all hand-spun. We didn’t anticipate for there to be so much demand for these milkshakes. We’ve had to create a position we’ve dubbed the Milkshake Master — all they do is make and deliver milkshakes during peak hours. We’re starting with specials too. This weekend we’re doing a matcha milkshake, as well as a dirty chai.”
Alex has been working for Two Tides Brewery since 2020 and worked at The Atlantic prior to that.
He shares a bit more: “We’d like to begin having a wider menu of milkshake options once we can expand our hours later in the summer.” Speaking my love language.
I blink, “Hmmm? Sorry, all I heard was late night and milkshake.” The diner scene from the movie Grease comes to mind.
Liz shares a little about the chef: “Our chef is Brian Fiasconaro, he came over from The Grey and primarily from Husk. What comes from that experience is consistency and really really good food. He has definitely enjoyed working in a more casual environment, creating a more casual menu.”
Liz shares more: “We will be expanding to do more early morning and late-night hours, and that includes dinner. So that you can come any time during the day or night to get a great meal.”
Speaking of Husk, Josh Miller was recently hired as their sous chef. I had the pleasure of working with him the past few weeks at Husk and experienced his talent firsthand. Then he shared he was leaving to go to The Laundry Diner.
Josh shares: “I decided to go a month ago while inquiring. I worked with Chef Fiasco, which is what we call him endearingly, when he was the executive chef at Husk a couple of years ago. I’ve always found him to be a very organized and communicative chef. He has always made really good food and has excellent standards. He is a leader that I can mirror proudly. I want to work and grow with that.”
Josh shares further: “With the Two Tides group, I know there is more to come for them as well. I want to be a part of all that.”
When asking him how he feels about leaving fine dining to elevated diner cuisine, Josh shares: “To me, food is food is food. The richest sauce and the most inventive powder and pickling cannot hold a candle to a good olde biscuit and waffle. Perfect grits and scrambled eggs. That’s the start of your day. I’m all about comfort food, and Southern food really speaks to me.”
Josh finally tells me: “I want people to enjoy something when they come to eat that is going to tell a story and be memorable. You can get that with comfort food, and if you add some creative twists, that makes all the difference. I’m inspired by both my grandmas, who were phenomenal cooks with Caribbean and Southern food influences.”
The Laundry has some top talent shining through and through, and you can see the Husk influence in the focus on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. I experienced that firsthand with a basil and ricotta cheesecake topped with a sweet tomato and gooseberry chutney: Interesting, unexpected, and so good. They had it on the menu recently, right around the same time Husk was also spotlighting perfectly ripe, seasonal tomatoes across their own menu.
What this says is they are evoking those standards and that inspiration of farm-to-table practices — all for a reasonable price point, which I love.
I swear, James and Liz’s mini empire equals life goals. I can almost hear Liz tell James while sipping a beer, “We are opening a diner in an old-school historic laundry building, and we are going to sell our own coffee, and our own beer. And, you know what? People used to do laundry here, so I’m going to go ahead and sell some fancy specialized laundry detergent too because… why not? Let’s go.”
And that’s the whole thing. This is not your basic diner: This diner is an extension of the Two Tides experience with tons of talent and creativity making it shine in their food and drink offerings.
Now, I was promised food and milkshakes until 2 a.m., and I’m all for sipping that perfectly silky matcha milkshake and a piece of pie at 1:17 a.m. while writing all about some new local food: Fully adulting like a child, ok?
Stay tuned for more amazing offerings and future hours by following The Laundry Diner page. I can’t wait to see what new food or drink they post next week.
Love always,
Vanessa
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