Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Hot Springs by diners

Written by:
May 13, 2025
Mohamed-Kareem Mohamed // Shutterstock

Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs 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.

#8. The Avenue

- Rating: 3.8/5 (105 reviews)
- Price level: $$$$
- Address: 340 Central Ave. Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Categories: Bars, Southern, New American
- Read more on Yelp

#7. Rise & Dine Cafe

- Rating: 3.9/5 (39 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 1739 Airport Road Ste A Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#6. Phil's Restaurant

- Rating: 4.0/5 (194 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 2900 Central Ave. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Diners
- Read more on Yelp

#5. DONS Southern Social

- Rating: 4.3/5 (70 reviews)
- Address: 901 Central Ave. Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Beer Bar, Cocktail Bars
- Read more on Yelp

#4. Red Oak Fillin' Station

- Rating: 4.3/5 (153 reviews)
- Address: 2169 Carpenter Dam Road Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Burgers, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp

#3. Bubba's Catfish

- Rating: 4.4/5 (83 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 5411 Central Ave. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Sandwiches, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp

#2. Mama Vee's

- Rating: 4.5/5 (43 reviews)
- Address: 420 Malvern Ave. Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Food Trucks
- Read more on Yelp

#1. Higdon Square Cafe

- Rating: 4.7/5 (51 reviews)
- Address: 706 Higdon Ferry Road Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Categories: American, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

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