Salt Island Fish & Beer, Tybee Island

Most of Tybee's restaurant talk happens around the pier and the blocks behind it. That is where the crowds are, so it is where the conversation is. Lovell Avenue, up at the top of the island, gets less of it, and that is a large part of why 101 Lovell is worth a post.

Salt Island Fish & Beer is a seafood and beer place on the north end, near the lighthouse, in the Fort Screven part of Tybee. It has a porch patio, a menu built around seafood, and craft beer. It is not a destination you stumble on while walking to the beach from Butler Avenue. You drive to it on purpose, and the reward is a quieter version of Tybee than the one most visitors see.

What it is

Salt Island Fish & Beer is at 101 Lovell Avenue, Tybee Island, GA 31328. The phone number is 912-499-4279. Visit Tybee lists it in the North Beach area, and the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce directory and South Magazine give the same address.

The menu, as described by Visit Tybee and South Magazine, covers seafood plates, oysters and tacos, burgers, craft beer and cocktails. That is a sensible spread for a beer-forward seafood spot. Someone who wants a plate of fish, someone who wants a burger and someone who mostly wants a cold beer can all sit at the same table and be satisfied.

There is also a front-porch patio with outdoor seating. On Tybee, that matters more than it sounds. A porch table in the shade with a breeze, a cold drink and nothing to do for an hour is more or less the island's whole sales pitch compressed into one seat.

Menus at small coastal restaurants move with the catch and the season. The restaurant's own website and social pages are the place for the current menu.

Where it sits, and why that is the point

The north end is a different place from the south end. We covered it at length in our guide to North Beach, the quiet end by the lighthouse, but the short version is this. The south end has the pier, the umbrella rows and the busiest streets. The north end faces the shipping channel instead of the open Atlantic, backs onto the old Fort Screven grounds, and has far fewer people on it at any given time.

Salt Island is in that part of the island. It is not on Tybrisa Street and it is not part of the pier-side restaurant cluster. If your idea of a Tybee meal is a walk from the sand to a table within a few minutes, this is a different proposition. You are choosing to go somewhere.

That choice has an honest price tag. The Sandcastle Inn is at 1402 Butler Avenue, and Salt Island is roughly a mile north, by the lighthouse. It is a short drive, not a stroll between courses. If you would rather leave the car parked all day, the closer restaurants on our dining page are the better fit for that dinner. If you do not mind a short drive for a quieter table, this one earns it.

Why it is worth the drive

The porch. A patio is the main reason to choose a place like this over a booth indoors. Eating on a porch near the lighthouse is a different experience from eating in a loud room.

The menu is the right size for a mixed group. Seafood, burgers, tacos and a beer list is a menu that works for people who disagree about dinner. One person gets oysters, another gets a burger, and nobody has to negotiate. For a group that has spent the day arguing about whether to go to the beach or the pool, this is useful.

It pairs with the north end's other attractions. More on that in a moment, but you can build a whole afternoon out of the lighthouse, the north beach and a late lunch or early dinner here without moving the car more than once or twice.

It is not where everyone else is. That sounds like a slogan, but in practice it means the thing locals care about: you can usually talk to the person across the table without raising your voice. As a rule, the north end draws fewer people than the pier area.

Practical notes

Hours. Hours at Tybee restaurants shift with the season, so check the Visit Tybee listing for current times before you drive up. The restaurant's number is 912-499-4279.

Parking. Island parking is metered nearly everywhere, paid at a kiosk or through the Park TYB app, enforced 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year. Check the signs when you arrive and budget for the meters.

Getting there from the inn. The restaurant is near the lighthouse, so aim for the Light Station and the Fort Screven neighborhood. Free parking at the Sandcastle Inn is one car per room, so if you drive up for dinner you can leave the car at the inn the rest of the stay and pay for meters only on the trips you actually take.

Dogs. We are a dog-friendly inn. One island rule to know before any north-end outing: dogs are not allowed on any Tybee beach. Service animals are excepted. The City of Tybee beach rules have the details, and our dog-friendly Tybee guide covers where dogs can go.

Making a north-end evening of it

Go with the light. Tybee's sunsets belong to the Back River side, not to North Beach, which faces the shipping channel. If your plan involves a golden-hour photograph, think about the west and southwest side of the island. If your plan involves a porch, a beer and an easy evening, the north end is perfectly good. Do not mix up the two goals.

Make it a north-end day. Because the drive up is a commitment, it makes sense to bundle it. Spend the morning at North Beach at low tide, look for shells and watch the container ships line up for the channel, then eat a late lunch or early dinner at Salt Island. You will drive up once and not move the car much after that.

Check the tide before you plan. The north end rewards a low-tide walk. The NOAA tide predictions for the Fort Pulaski station are the closest gauge to the island. If low tide is mid-morning, plan the walk first and the meal after.

What pairs well nearby

The reason to build a day around the north end is that several things sit close together there.

Tybee Island Light Station. Georgia's oldest lighthouse is the obvious anchor, with 178 steps up for anyone who wants the view. Our lighthouse guide covers the visit. If you are climbing, do it before the meal, not after.

North Beach. The beach below the lighthouse is the strand we wrote about in the North Beach post. The public access lot is at 37 Meddin Drive, with restrooms at North Beach Plaza. Lifeguard Tower 1 covers North Beach daily from May 1 through October 31, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., so an October visit falls inside the season.

The Tybee Island Marine Science Center. It sits on North Beach and fits an hour in either direction of a meal.

The Fort Screven neighborhood. It is the old military ground behind the beach, and it is worth a slow walk or drive-through if you have not seen it. Our things to do page lists more of what is nearby.

How it fits a laid-back trip

The Sandcastle Inn is a simple, easygoing, good-value place to stay, a five-minute walk from the sand, with a saltwater pool that is unheated and a lot of Tybee within a few blocks. We are not on the ocean. Our guests tend to want an unfussy base, a beach, a pool and a few good meals.

A meal at Salt Island suits that pattern if you want one dinner to feel a little different from the others. Most nights on Tybee, dinner is within walking distance of Butler Avenue. One night, you drive north, sit on a porch and eat seafood somewhere quieter. That variety is what makes a long weekend feel longer.

If you are planning more than one dinner out, our dining page lists restaurants closer to the inn. Pairing one of those with one north-end evening is a reasonable shape for a three-night stay, and our amenities page has the details on the pool and the rest of what the inn offers.

Planning your trip? Check availability at the Sandcastle Inn.