Georgia Coast Seafood Dives

A Quick Note on the Sauce
I do a pinkie-dip taste of the house sauce and nearly shoo it away. Nothing cocktail-y about it. I compare it to a mustard-based barbecue sauce. (It reminds me of the stuff I’ve slathered on chopped pork in the Carolinas.) But it complements the first shrimp and then the second. Soon I’m ordering an extra cup of the stuff.

Of course, David’s lips tighten at my ingredients’ inquiry. “That’s Carlo Desposito’s secret recipe,” says David. “It has been around for 40-plus years. And I’m not telling what’s in it.”

Desposito’s: 187 Old Tybee Road, Thunderbolt, GA 31410; (912) 897-9963. Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Directions from Savannah: Take U.S. 80 towards Tybee Island. Cross the first bridge and turn left onto Old Tybee Road.

When I Need a Fried Shrimp Fix
I only eat fried shrimp occasionally, but when I’m near Savannah and craving the critters, I find myself at Holton’s. The Georgia white shrimp are lightly battered and quickly fried, and you can’t beat the location―just off I-95 at Exit 76.

Editor’s tip: Skip the buffet (there’s no seafood on it) but not the fries. They’re hand-cut and crunchy, because they’ve been dipped in the seafood batter. 13711 Oglethorpe Highway, Midway, GA 31320; (912) 884-9151. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. Directions from Savannah: Get on I-95 South. Get off at Exit 76. Look for the parking lot full of cars.