Riverside Café in St. Marys, Georgia

After a morning of exploration at the Submarine Museum, Tom and I ate lunch at the Riverside Café in St. Marys.  The historic downtown of St. Marys is very small, just a couple of blocks, with the usual shops and restaurants.  We were there on a Wednesday and several of the shops that looked interesting were closed.  After checking out the hours for the Cumberland Island Museum (1 until 4), we headed to the restaurant.

We chose the Riverside Café because it had very good reviews and it had a porch overlooking the river.  Although the day was a little cool, we chose the porch and enjoyed the warming sunshine and the view.  The restaurant is Greek-American.  The seafood is more Greek and the sandwiches are more American.  Tom ordered a burger and I ordered a specialty sandwich, “South of the Border.”  “South of the Border” sounded good with grilled chicken, bacon, Swiss cheese and BBQ sauce.  I always like to get a specialty of the house if I can.

Both of the sandwiches were very good, although the buns were larger than they needed to be.  We shared an order of fries which were crispy and hot.  Our drinks were served in cups that were twice the usual size.  I told Tom it cut down on refills.  I had heard that the desserts at Riverside Café are very good but our waitress didn’t offer and we didn’t ask.

Although we enjoyed our meal, the best part of Riverside Café was people watching.  We watched NPS Rangers walking from Cumberland Island Headquarters to the Visitors Center.  Residents of St. Marys rode by in golf carts, usually with at least one dog along.  We watched visitors stroll along the main drag and stop to read the menu at Riverside Café.  Although we were only the second people to sit at a table when we got there, the place was packed by the time we left.  Obviously a very popular place for lunch.

The view from the Riverside Café Porch.  The blue building is the Cumberland Island Visitors Center

We also noticed what other people ordered.  The woman next to us got jumbo shrimp for lunch and ordered a Greek salad takeout for supper.  The Famous Gyro Sandwich was very popular and about twice the size of our sandwiches.

Riverside Café was a good place for lunch and the porch was excellent for people-watching.  The Café is closed on Sundays and Mondays.