The Jekyll Island Club Hotel has three restaurants in it. One is the Grand Dining Room. This is in the original, historic building. It is the fanciest, most formal (complete with dress code), most expensive way to eat. But it is also the most authentic if you are pretending you are a very rich Victorian era Robber Baron - which is, of course, the main reason that I wanted to stay at the hotel! So, of course, we ate there for at least one dinner :). You can buy a meal ticket from the hotel’s front desk (over the phone or counter) and this meal ticket will include appetizer, soup or salad, main course, and dessert. You cannot skip a course if you buy the ticket - you paid for all of them so you better use all of them. Your dinner will take about two hours. They do not rush. I think the meal ticket will include a glass of wine too, you will have to check. You will be all dressed up, because there is a dress code. Come ready to relax and enjoy your meal. The food is delicious - it is worth the money. It is not overpriced for the sake of the experience, no - the experience is spot-on AND the food matches it. It is very good.

The value of getting a meal ticket is that you pay a FLAT RATE for the meal and you can order ANYTHING on the menu, so you can order the four most expensive courses, no matter what you paid for your ticket. Also, the TIP is included on the meal ticket. But, if you do not want to pay for four courses in this manner, that is totally fine. You can go to the Grand Dining Room just like a regular restaurant, and order off the menu what you like, only paying what it says there. Also, you will have to remember to pay the tip yourself right there after the meal. You could eat cheaper this way, but, at the same time you would not want to eat in the Grand Dining Room because you want to save money.

You will also want to get a reservation for dinner because, especially on weekends in the summer, they might be full. So you will want to reserve your table as soon as you have solid plans for your stay. If you want a cocktail before dinner starts, there is a fancy bar in the “parlor” area as you are waiting for the dining room to open, and you will see groups of people sharing a drink before dinner. One more tiny thing about reservations. You buy your meal ticket from the hotel front desk, and you make your reservation with the restaurant (the Grand Dining Room) itself - two separate entities.

There is not as much value with the meal ticket when eating at the Grand Dining Room for breakfast or lunch, although they are still good meals. The best value for the meal ticket in the Grand Dining Room is dinner and Sunday Brunch. Sunday Brunch is amazing and totally worth the money.