The Perch

Savannah's rooftop bars mostly sell a view of the river or the historic grid. The Perch sells a view of the trees: it sits on top of Local 11ten Food & Wine on Bull Street, a few blocks south of Forsyth Park, and its terrace is level with the live-oak canopy rather than above it. The restaurant below is one of the city's long-standing fine-dining rooms, and the roof runs the same kitchen with a shorter bar list.

The alcohol-free drinks follow the kitchen's approach — house-made components, seasonal produce, nothing poured from a bottle of cordial. The versions documented by Savannah's tourism board give a clear picture of the style: a Strawberry Habanero built on a house strawberry-habanero shrub with basil, lime and soda; a Cue Ginger of cucumber and lime shrub with cilantro and a ginger simple syrup; and a Grapefruit Honeysuckle with white pepper, mint, honeysuckle syrup and lemon. All three are shrub-and-herb drinks, sharp rather than sweet, and they are constructed the same way the bar's alcoholic cocktails are.

This entry is graded conservatively at three rather than four, for two honest reasons. The alcohol-free drinks appear on a small rotating seasonal list rather than under a permanent printed heading of their own, and the specific builds above could not be confirmed against a current menu — the venue publishes its list as a PDF that was not readable at the time of writing. Elsewhere in this city guide, guide-sourced drink names have repeatedly turned out to have rotated off.

The roof is also the least reliably open venue in this guide: Thursday to Sunday evenings only, from 5pm, and weather permitting. Call ahead in summer, when Savannah's afternoon storms close it at short notice.