Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Little Rock by diners

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

Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Little Rock 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 Little Rock 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 Little Rock 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.

#11. Pig 'N Chik BBQ

- Rating: 3.2/5 (43 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 7824 Ar-107 Sherwood, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue, Sandwiches
- Read more on Yelp

#10. Heritage Grille

- Rating: 3.3/5 (66 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 3 Statehouse Plz Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Seafood, Steakhouses, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#9. The Buttered Biscuit

- Rating: 3.4/5 (82 reviews)
- Address: 17815 Chenal Pkwy F101 Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Acai Bowls
- Read more on Yelp

#8. Homer's East Restaurant

- Rating: 3.5/5 (39 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 2001 East Roosevelt Road Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#7. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken - Little Rock

- Rating: 3.9/5 (568 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 300 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

#6. Big Bad Breakfast - Little Rock

- Rating: 3.9/5 (228 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 101 South Bowman Road Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#5. Flying Fish

- Rating: 4.0/5 (820 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 511 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Seafood, Southern, Cajun/Creole
- Read more on Yelp

#4. Lazy Pete's

- Rating: 4.3/5 (131 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 200 North Bowman Road Ste 9 Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Cajun/Creole, Southern, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp

#3. Bobby's Country Cookin'

- Rating: 4.4/5 (59 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 301 North Shackleford Road Ste E1 Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern, Comfort Food, American
- Read more on Yelp

#2. Maddie's Place

- Rating: 4.4/5 (269 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1615 Rebsamen Park Road Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Cajun/Creole, Southern, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp

#1. Bobbie D's

- Rating: 4.7/5 (32 reviews)
- Address: 3201 West 65th Little Rock, Arkansas
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp

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