From Alabama to California, these are the best soul food restaurants in America serving fried chicken, mac and cheese, gumbo, cornbread, and unforgettable comfort food.
When most of the world thinks of “American food,” their minds usually go to hamburgers, hot dogs, ….maybe a slice of pizza or two…then back to hamburgers. It isn’t entirely false, but it isn’t the whole picture either. Especially when it comes to American Soul Food.
Soul food originated in the American South during the Transatlantic Slave Trade era, specifically in the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, by enslaved Africans who needed to create an entirely new culture after slaveowners violently stripped them of their own. Discarded and undesirable animal scraps became dishes that connected an entirely new ethnicity of Americans descended from slavery.
Soul food was resistance in the form of comfort, and is now the backbone of true American cuisine. Fried chicken, catfish, candied yams, mac and cheese, and dressing (or stuffing, depending on where you’re from), cornbread, and even banana pudding got their humble start in the kitchens of African-Americans in the South and are now the most decadent dishes on any menu.
Well, chitlins are still chitlins, but I digress.
Today, the cuisine is gaining global recognition, with discussions spanning cooking television shows, community platforms like Who Made the Potato Salad by KJ Kearney, and books like American Soul by Anela Malik, all exploring the flavorful roots of soul food and its impact on the larger American food system.
Soul food kitchens are constantly evolving, and so are their menus, serving everything from classic favorites to innovative takes on recipes that span centuries. In no particular order, these are the ten best soul food restaurants in the US, so good they’ll make you wanna slap yo mama.
