Even the alligators eat well at The Crab Shack (40 Estill Hammock Road, Tybee Island, Georgia; 912-786-9857, thecrabshack.com). The casual eatery seems to have evolved from a casual marina and even more casual beer store on Tybee Island, the laid-back, barefoot suburb of genteel Savannah. A barrier island backed by a stunning salt marsh, Tybee Island is literally a crab shell’s throw away from the South Carolina-Georgia state line that cleaves the main channel of the Savannah River. Subtropical waters lap Tybee’s shores, making it warm enough to go fishing or kayaking in the middle of the winter. Or to feast on the deck of The Crab Shack.

This is Low Country cooking par excellence. The cuisine has strong elements of African dishes, a lot of rice grown on the sea islands, and an abundance of shrimp, fin fish, crabs, and oysters found in the estuary systems. You’ll also find smoked and unsmoked sausage—courtesy of German and Polish immigrants at the end of the 19th century.

Just a quick look at The Crab Shack’s menu brings those culinary traditions into focus. The Low Country Boil features shrimp, corn, potatoes, and sausage. The Captain’s Sampler Plate juices it up with shellfish: snow crab, rock crab, mussels, crawfish, shrimp, corn, potatoes, and sausage. The sign at the entrance indicates that the Shack is where ‶the elite eat in their bare feet.″

Just be careful where you dangle your toes. The owners keep a small lagoon full of baby (and not-so-baby) alligators. No leftovers here.