Circa 1875

Since it's rare that I get to go to Savannah, I try to see all my friends from home whenever I'm there.  That meant dinner and drinks with Danyse was a top priority.  We decided to go to Circa 1875 for some French fare before heading to the bars.  Circa is divided into the bar side and the dining side - both serve food in a bistro setting, but the dining side has white tablecloths and the bar side has a more jovial atmosphere.  Different strokes for different folks.  For us, the bar side seemed more suitable.

We asked for a cocktail list, but they actually don't have one - sorry, Big City folks.  The waiter did, however, tell us he could make anything we wanted and suggested a special cocktail they recently concocted.  It had watermelon juice, gin, and champagne.  Amazing.  The champagne cut the gin nicely and the watermelon juice wasn't overly sweet.  I followed that with a dirty martini because I knew they had blue cheese olives - hand stuffed just an hour earlier - and I didn't want to pass that up. 

Instead of ordering entrees, we ordered a round of salads and three apps for the table.  My salad had poached pear, pecans, and camembert.  Of all the cheeses I've seen on salad, camembert has never made an appearance, but I quite enjoyed it.  We ordered a mixed plate that came with pate, prosciutto, salami, sausage, and three cheeses.  We also ordered the mussels - a local favorite - and the scallops.  Yum yum and yum.  You wouldn't think that starter salads and appetizers would be a ton of food, but we couldn't even finish it all.  The portions are sizable so you really can get away with ordering an appetizer for your dinner.

On top of great food, the service was wonderful.  Some of our food came out a minute early and both the chef and manager came out to offer their [unnecessary] apologies.  With that sort of service backing up the wonderful menu, it's no surprise Circa 1875 has become a local favorite.