The Vault Kitchen & Market — Restaurant in Savannah

Our friends took us here during a visit to Savannah. This was recommended to them as one of the best restaurants in town and they were eager to showcase the best of the town to us. Parking is a challenge as the lot was quite full, but we found a spot. Coming in, we were immediately seated in an area that we requested and were promised was a quiet spot. The restaurant was less than one third full which made us wonder why the parking lot was so full?

After perusing the menu for a while, our waiter showed up and took our drink order. We then waited for what seemed like an inordinately long time (we did not check our watches) before he returned. He put down four drinks, but there was a problem as one of us ordered a glass of wine and he brough four mixed drinks. When we pointed this out to him, he whipped out his little notebook, perused it with a quizzical look and then said that he brought us the wrong drink. Well, yes. He then took it away to another table. This time we did check our watches. Fifteen minutes later, another server brought the glass of wine and in the meantime, we did not see that waiter.

When he finally showed back up, he took our orders and disappeared again. By this time, another party that came after us were already eating their appetizers. In addition, a large-ish party had come in and sat behind us. While they were not loud in and of themselves, the acoustics of the room we were in are such that the noise level was very high. And the room was only half full!

Again, a long wait with no sign of our waiter. The party next to us finished their appetizers, got their entrees, and finished those. They were served by a female waitress who we saw catering to other parties in our room – unfortunately not us. We finally got our appetizers and eventually our entrees. The party next to us left while we were eating our appetizers (remember that they arrived after us) and the large party behind us were already having desserts before we got our entrees. We did not see our waiter again until it was time to pay as all the food was delivered by other people.

As to the food? It’s clear that the kitchen staff knows what they’re about. It was delicious. Everything was well prepared and well-seasoned. Presentations were nice and quantities were ample. We had no qualms or complaints about any of it. The pictures show how nice everything looked and we enjoyed the taste of it. It truly delivered as a high-quality restaurant.

While we truly enjoye4d the food, the waiter was abominable and the atmosphere is too loud. As we do not live in Savannah, that is not a problem for us, but if you are considering going there, you may want to be aware of those...

When a guest frequently has to get up from the table to catch the attention of the waitstaff, it really highlights an important opportunity for improvement! Our party of seven felt a bit neglected by our waiter, making us feel more like an afterthought than the valued guests we truly are.

Now, let’s talk about the sushi! Unfortunately, it was just average this time around. The temperature was not quite right, and the rolls felt a bit too tightly packed, giving off a vibe of being rushed in preparation. It didn’t quite live up to our expectations.

For an amazing sushi experience, I wholeheartedly recommend Hirano’s! While the ambiance may be different from The Vault, the quality of Hirano's sushi is simply unparalleled—there’s no competition there!

On a positive note, the restaurant does boast a spacious and comfortable interior with high-end finishes that genuinely set it apart from others in the area.

That said, the service could really benefit from a touch more attentiveness and engagement. It was a bit surprising when our waiter asked if we needed anything while several empty Coke glasses sat in front of her. One of our group members even had to get up to retrieve his own silverware—perhaps the waiter was momentarily preoccupied? Another guest had a request for romaine lettuce in his salad that went unnoticed, leading yet another patron to rise from the table and scout for assistance. To top it off, our sushi arrived without chopsticks or soy sauce, and the server who delivered it seemed to vanish just when we needed help—like a magic trick gone wrong!

During one lively discussion at the table, the server popped in to ask how we wished to split the checks (she must have finished her smoke break), interrupting our moment. It seems that not picking up on social cues might be a bit of a blind spot; allowing guests to enjoy their meal usually results in happier diners and bigger tips! Plus, we didn’t receive any offers for drink refills.

When we explained how we wanted the check divided, there was a hiccup, and we had to ask for it to be fixed.

At this price point, thoughtful and proactive service is crucial, and there’s a real chance for improvement here!

With over 11 locations, perhaps now is the time for the restaurant to pivot from expansion to truly enhancing the overall customer experience in Savannah. A little attention to detail can transform a good meal into a truly unforgettable experience! Let’s hope they embrace this...

Two Beverly Hills private estate chefs passing through Savannah after working in The Hamptons and about to head out of here.Our neighbors wanted to take us to dinner and chose The Vault. Beautiful place, plenty of parking and near downtown. Started with chicken 🐔🍗 lettuce wraps, incredible, their sauce is spot on for those. Grilled calamari, I don't eat it but everyone else loved it. Got the 🍐 pear blue cheese salad, really good at the bottom needs more of the fantastic dressing it comes with. I don't like asking for extra sides when out with friends, so I didn't ask for more. While speaking about service, server was "around", definitely green, needs experience but very nice and friendly. Having said that I've heard it's hard to find good service help in Savannah. Got the charcoal chicken 🍗 which implies it's crispy, but it's not, kind of "wet", Expo?, very flavorful, nice size portion and comes with a nice salad that needs more of the great spicy glaze it's tossed in. The brussel sprouts were good but not trimmed enough so a little woody on the ends. The surprise hit of the night was beef 🍖 and shrimp 🦐 noodle stir fry, fantastic!!! I tried their craft mocktail grapefruit press or something like that, it was good, pretty sure it's canned grapefruit juice or at the very least not Ruby Red. Had 2 desserts, see photos, both delish, chocolate tiramisu and some other chocolate cream cake 🍰 thing, very very good. 4 people, not cheap but not terrible, good portion/value servings. I would definitely eat here again which is more than I can say for most places in Savannah. Other Savannah suggestions, Holy Pie Pizza 🍕 and Ben's taphouse neighborhood grill, the latter very informal see my review for them. Avoid pretty much every place downtown, BECAUSE PARKING & generally inconsistent food, nothing great and sketchy service AND AVOID THE WYLD AT ALL COSTS,...