Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Winston-Salem by diners

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

Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Winston-Salem 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 Winston-Salem 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 Winston-Salem 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.

#9. Butcher & Bull

- Rating: 3.1/5 (78 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 425 North Cherry St. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Steakhouses, Seafood, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#8. Earl's

- Rating: 3.4/5 (266 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 121 West 9th St. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: American, Southern, Whiskey Bars
- Read more on Yelp

#7. Prime Tyme Soul Cafe

- Rating: 3.5/5 (78 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2730 University Pkwy Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#6. A Noble Grille

- Rating: 3.6/5 (177 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 380 Knollwood St. Winston Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue
- Read more on Yelp

#5. Spring House Restaurant, Kitchen & Bar

- Rating: 3.9/5 (222 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 450 North Spring St. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: New American, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#4. Taste of the Triad

- Rating: 4.0/5 (49 reviews)
- Address: 4320 Old Walkertown Road Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#3. Mama Zoe Michael's

- Rating: 4.0/5 (255 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2859 Reynolda Road Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, American
- Read more on Yelp

#2. Old Richmond Grill

- Rating: 4.2/5 (22 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 6425 Reynolda Road Pfafftown, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#1. Mozelle's Fresh Southern Bistro

- Rating: 4.3/5 (727 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 878 West 4th St. Winston Salem, North Carolina
- Categories: Southern, New American, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

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