Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Boston by diners
Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Boston by diners
When you travel below the Mason-Dixon Line, you'll find some of the most mouthwatering, comforting cuisine in the U.S.: Southern food.
Southern dishes are a vital part of American cuisine, from hushpuppies to ham hocks and beignets to barbecue. It's impossible to define a classic Southern meal, but a solid one starts with the sharp savory flavor of pimento cheese dip, followed by the delicious crunchiness of fried chicken or a spicy Louisiana étouffée, culminating with a sugary slice of chess pie that's best washed down with a tall glass of sweet tea.
What's unique about Southern fare is that multiple ethnic and cultural groups have influenced it. Spanish staples, such as potatoes and cocoa, are in many Southern dishes; the Acadians, who traveled to Louisiana from Nova Scotia and later became Louisiana Creoles, contributed their seafood to many Southern meals; African ingredients—okra, sorghum (an ancient grain), and black-eyed peas—became a part of the cuisine through the forced labor of enslaved people; French cooking methods, like braising and sautéing, are used for many Southern recipes; and Native Americans introduced corn to Southern recipes, yielding dishes like succotash and grits.
The Southern culinary scene is an explosion of cultures. To find out where you can sample some Southern offerings, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Southern restaurants in the Boston area using data from Yelp as of May 2, 2025. Businesses were selected using Yelp's ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only restaurants with at least 20 reviews tagged as "southern" on Yelp within a 10-kilometer radius of Boston were included. As a result, some restaurants featured may serve other food items.
Read on to find the perfect spot to get a taste of the South near you.
#15. Nash Bar And Stage
- Rating: 3.1/5 (121 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 253 Tremont St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, New American, Venues & Event Spaces
- Read more on Yelp
#14. Savvor Restaurant & Lounge
- Rating: 3.2/5 (105 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 180 Lincoln St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Lounges, Southern, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#13. Down Home Delivery & Catering
- Rating: 3.3/5 (180 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2 Bowdoin St. Dorchester, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#12. Tasty BBQ
- Rating: 3.3/5 (39 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 417 Washington St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue
- Read more on Yelp
#11. The MIX
- Rating: 3.5/5 (36 reviews)
- Address: 555 Talbot Ave. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp
#10. Loretta's Last Call
- Rating: 3.5/5 (391 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1 Lansdowne St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Music Venues, Beer Bar
- Read more on Yelp
#9. Sweet Cheeks Q
- Rating: 3.6/5 (1802 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1381 Boylston St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Bars, Barbecue
- Read more on Yelp
#8. Park 54 Restaurant & Lounge
- Rating: 3.6/5 (182 reviews)
- Address: 81 Fairmount Ave. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Lounges, Southern, New American
- Read more on Yelp
#7. Grace By Nia
- Rating: 3.6/5 (219 reviews)
- Address: 60 Seaport Blvd. Floor 3 Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Jazz & Blues, Southern, Cocktail Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#6. Bacco
- Rating: 3.8/5 (438 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 107 Salem St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Italian, Wine Bars, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#5. Hunter's Kitchen & Bar
- Rating: 3.8/5 (124 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 110 Dorchester St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Bars, Southern, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp
#4. Southern Kin Cookhouse
- Rating: 3.9/5 (1417 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 500 Assembly Row Somerville, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Cocktail Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#3. The Smoke Shop BBQ - Seaport
- Rating: 3.9/5 (480 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 343 Congress St. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue, Whiskey Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#2. Buttermilk & Bourbon
- Rating: 4.0/5 (1208 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 160 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, Massachusetts
- Categories: Southern, Bars, Tapas Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#1. The Smoke Shop- Harvard Square
- Rating: 4.1/5 (88 reviews)
- Address: 8 Holyoke St. Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
