A visit to Gryphon–a beautiful café with afternoon tea in Savannah, Georgia–brought brunch, tea and a surprise discovery about our family’s ancestry!
On a recent trip to Savannah, Georgia, I was determined to finally visit Gryphon–a café that also serves tea and scones. On previous trips to the city we weren’t able to visit.
The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) runs Gryphon, which is situated in an historic building. It’s on Bull Street right along Madison Square, one of the lovely historic squares in the Savannah.
We were hoping for a nice brunch, tea, and scones. We received those things AND a big surprise at Gryphon!
Welcome with a Side of History
The interior of Gryphon is wonderful: tall ceilings, mahogany book cases, and a beautiful chandelier. Griffins (or gryphons) also adorn the antique clock and ornament the main dining area. Old-fashioned apothecary drawers decorate one side, too. We were immediately taken with the serene and lovely interior.
Besides being greeted warmly and given the menus and the specials, the server shared the history of the building. She told us that Gryphon is located on the site of the former Scottish Rite building. Additionally, A.A. Solomons & Co. drugstore, which started in the 1840s, was located in the part of the building where the café is now situated. She pointed out that when you enter through the front door, the floor tiles spell “Solomons.”
You can see a 360 view of the entire interior of beautiful Gryphon in my video, below. (The tiles that spell “Solomons” are visible in the video at the very beginning.)
Brunch
After our sever seated us at the table, the brunch and tea menu have my attention. I’m planning to order a meal, then tea and scones. Everyone orders. So, we relax and really take in the interior again. It’s really a very special space! There’s something about the quality of the light–there are some stained glass windows and tiffany-style lamps–that really elevates the experience.
We thoroughly enjoyed our brunch. We leaned into the savory options for our main dishes. The quiche of the day was probably our favorite. (So sorry I didn’t take notes on all the food we ordered. You can tell I had tea on my mind.) Everything we has was fresh and tasty. By the way, I am increasingly appreciating cafés like Gryphon that also serve tea and scones. They allow me to avoid the problem I tend to have with afternoon tea.
Tea and Scones
Eventually, I chose a tea. I ordered a classic English Breakfast though the Darjeeling and the chai also tempted me. (My tea choices are very mood dependent.)
Our server brough the tea in a generously-sized white teapot. An elegant silver strainer arrived along with it.
There was no way to remove the loose leaves from the teapot to stop the tea from steeping, unfortunately.
I avoided over brewing the tea by asking for an extra cup, which our server graciously supplied. When the tea was steeped to my preference, I poured myself a cup, shared some with family, and then filled the extra cup. If Gryphon could include a removable infuser basket, that would be wonderful. Personally, I would even prefer removable sachets with high-quality tea to loose leaf tea that I can’t stop from over-steeping.
The scones, cream, and jam were all tasty. Scones in the US tend to alternate between more biscuit-like (in the American sense of biscuit) to more cake-like. Gryphon’s chocolate chip scones were triangular and more toward the cake-side in consistency and sweetness. They were lovely. We expected tea and scones: we didn’t anticipate the surprise we were about to uncover at Gryphon!
Ancestry Surprise at Gryphon
While we are enjoying our meal, my husband mused that he had Solomons ancestors in Savannah and wonders if there could be a connection. Between bites of brunch and over scones and tea, we did some Googling and checked on family names and dates. My husband realizes that he is, in fact, related to A.A. Solomons who ran the pharmacy where Gryphon is now located! And, his grandfather (with multiple greats thrown in) worked in the business, too. Until our host seated us and the server shared the building’s history, we had no idea.
In fact, my husband has (and was able to pull up on his phone) a photo of family members that includes A.A. Solomons! In the photo posted here, we believe A.A. is the dapper gentleman on the far right.
It was a surreal experience, quite a surprise! I was grateful that our daughter was also there to experience the real time discovery of her familial connection to the building that Gryphon is in.
10/10: Highly recommend visiting a unique and beautiful cafe with good service, food, tea and scones, and finding out you have a familial connection to that space! It turns out that tea and surprise at Gryphon were a wonderful pairing!
6 replies on “Tea and Surprise at Gryphon”
My husband and I had tea at Gryphon on our honeymoon a few years ago. It’s such a pretty space. The family connection to it is so neat!
That’s wonderful, Nicole! Thanks so much for sharing that memory of your honeymoon.
That’s amazing! What a wonderful surprise for your husband and your family. I am putting Gryphon on my “must visit” list.
Thanks! I think you will love the space and really enjoy the food and tea.
My goodness! So happy to hear about your lovely ancesTEA experience!!! I can’t imagine a better way to round out such a pleasant afternoon tea.
Thank you, Nicole! Very punny. 🙂