Farace's Finest: A Restaurant Week Spotlight

Most of what's good about Farace's Finest is in the details you'd only notice if you asked: the dough is made in-house, the marinara is made in-house, and every pie gets finished with fresh-grated parmesan reggiano rather than the pre-shredded stuff. It opened on Inlet Ave in March 2025, it's dog-friendly, and it's one of eight spots on this year's Tybee Restaurant Week list — which runs through August 17. If you haven't been yet, this is the week to go, and the two-week window is a good excuse to finally make the walk over.

What it is

Farace's Finest is a pizza, sandwich, and salad spot a several-block walk from Silver Avenue, on the south end's other streets rather than right off Tybrisa. It opened in March 2025, which makes it one of the newer additions to the island's food scene, and it was started by someone who spent 20 years at Atlanta's SweetWater Brewery before bringing that experience to a much smaller operation on Tybee. It's a to-go setup — no inside seating — built around a straightforward menu: pizza by the pie, sandwiches, and salads, none of it overcomplicated, all of it made with ingredients the kitchen actually controls rather than what arrives pre-made in a box.

From a brewery to a pizza counter

Twenty years at a brewery the size of SweetWater teaches a specific kind of discipline that doesn't always translate to a beach-town food stand but clearly did here: consistency at volume. Getting a product to taste the same on a slow Tuesday and a slammed Saturday night is a different skill than just knowing how to cook, and it's the kind of background that shows up less in any single flashy dish and more in the overall reliability of the place. That's part of why Farace's earned a spot on this year's Restaurant Week list — it's not a flash-in-the-pan pop-up, it's a small operation run by someone who's already spent two decades thinking about how to keep quality consistent when a lot of people are ordering at once.

Why it's worth the trip

The dough and the marinara are both made in-house, which isn't a given even at places that call themselves a "real" pizza shop. A lot of casual pizza spots on a beach island are working from a distributor's dough ball and a canned sauce, and you can taste the difference when a place actually makes both from scratch — the dough holds its own texture, and the sauce doesn't taste like it came out of a five-gallon tub. Every pie gets finished with fresh-grated parmesan reggiano rather than a pre-shredded blend, which is a small detail that adds up over a whole pie rather than announcing itself in any one bite.

The sandwich and salad menu rounds things out for anyone in your group who isn't in the mood for pizza that day — useful if you're traveling with a mixed group of eaters, since not everyone wants a full pie on a hot afternoon. It's a place built for repeat visits over a multi-night trip rather than a single big night out: order pizza the first time, try a sandwich the second.

There's also something to be said for a menu that stays in its lane. Farace's isn't trying to be a full-service Italian restaurant or a beach-bar catch-all with twelve unrelated categories — it's pizza, sandwiches, and salads, done with ingredients the kitchen controls, and not much else. That kind of focus tends to be a good sign at a small operation: fewer things to make well, and more attention paid to each one.

Ordering during a visit

There's no posted secret menu or insider order here — it's a straightforward pizza-and-sandwich counter, and the honest advice is to start with a pizza if it's your first visit, since the in-house dough and marinara are the clearest expression of what makes this place different from a standard beach-town slice shop. If you're a group with mixed appetites, a pie to share alongside a sandwich or salad each is an easy way to sample more of the menu without over-ordering. Ask about the Restaurant Week special specifically when you order — it's the one detail that changes week to week and isn't published as a fixed menu item.

The patio, and why it matters

Because Farace's is a to-go operation with no inside seating, the patio isn't a nice extra — it's most of the actual dining experience for anyone who doesn't want to carry a pizza box back to a hotel room. It's been expanding since the place opened, and it's already one of the better patios on the island: enough room to sit down, spread out a couple of pizza boxes, and actually eat where you ordered rather than treating the stop as pure takeout. On a warm evening, eating outside a few blocks off the beach is arguably the better version of the experience anyway — you get the breeze without needing to book a restaurant with a view to get it.

Genuinely dog-friendly

Dog-friendly gets used loosely by a lot of restaurants that really mean "we won't stop you if your dog sits quietly under the table." Farace's is dog-friendly in the more useful sense: it's an outdoor, to-go setup by design, which means there's no awkward negotiation about whether your dog can come inside, because nothing is inside to begin with. If your group is traveling with a dog and has been narrowing dinner options all week because of it, this is one of the more relaxed spots on the island to just show up.

Practical details

Farace's Finest is at 1605 Inlet Ave — (912) 428-8311 — open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 11:30 AM to 9 PM. It's closed Tuesdays, worth remembering if you're planning a specific day around it; there's no walk-in option on a Tuesday no matter how close you're staying. There's no dedicated lot, and street parking nearby is metered in season like the rest of the island, so budget a few minutes to pay at a meter or app, or walk if you're staying close enough to skip the parking question entirely.

From Silver Avenue, it's a several-block walk — not the closest Restaurant Week stop to the Inn (that's The Surfing Goat or Windrose, both a very short walk off Tybrisa), but walkable if you don't mind about ten minutes on foot, and an easy add-on if you're already out exploring the south end rather than a special trip on its own.

Tips locals know

Go with a plan to eat on the patio rather than expecting to carry a pizza box back to your room while it's still hot — the patio experience is a real part of why this place is worth the walk, not just a consolation for the lack of indoor seating. Order enough to share if your group is mixed on pizza versus sandwiches versus salad; the menu is built for that kind of flexibility rather than everyone committing to the same dish.

Closed Tuesdays is the detail that trips people up most on a short trip — if a Tuesday is your only free night, this isn't the stop for it, so check the calendar before you build an evening around it.

What's nearby that pairs well

Sugar Shack on 1st St, a Tybee institution for over 50 years, is a short walk from Farace's and a natural dessert stop after a pizza dinner — pet-friendly too, with its ice-cream-cone-shaped outdoor seating, which makes it an easy second stop if you're already out with a dog in tow. Sand Cat Coffee, also a several-block walk, is a good next-morning stop if you want coffee and something sweet before heading to the beach, especially if The Surfing Goat's Thursday-through-Sunday hours don't line up with your schedule that day. Both are on our full rundown of this year's Restaurant Week lineup, if you want to build a fuller evening or the next morning around this part of the island.

Restaurant Week urgency

Tybee Restaurant Week runs through August 17, and Farace's is one of the eight confirmed participants — the specific special on offer during the event is worth asking about when you order, since the format varies business to business and isn't published as a single fixed discount. Either way, house-made dough and marinara are worth trying whether or not you catch it during the event window, but Restaurant Week is as good a reason as any to finally make the walk over if you haven't yet, especially with the event's two-week run closing out soon.

A note on our sibling inns

Atlantis Inn is part of the Tybee Lodging Group family of inns, alongside Admiral's Inn, Sandcastle Inn, Sea and Breeze Hotel and Condo, and Dunes Inn & Suites — each a little closer to a different part of the island's food scene, in case you're weighing where to stay for a Restaurant Week trip.

Planning a Restaurant Week trip? Check availability for a room a short walk from the south end, or see the full Restaurant Week lineup for everywhere else worth a stop before August 17.