Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Memphis by diners
Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Memphis 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 Memphis 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 Memphis 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.
#29. Brickhouse Buffet
- Rating: 3.4/5 (114 reviews)
- Address: 2861 Bartlett Blvd. Bartlett, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Buffets
- Read more on Yelp
#28. Cupboard Restaurant
- Rating: 3.4/5 (205 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1400 Union Ave. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#27. The Cottage Restaurant
- Rating: 3.4/5 (27 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 4085 Summer Ave. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Thai, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#26. Jack Pirtles Chicken
- Rating: 3.5/5 (36 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 4349 Elvis Presley Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food, fast food
- Read more on Yelp
#25. The Genre
- Rating: 3.6/5 (34 reviews)
- Address: 200 Poplar Ave. Ste 105 MEMPHIS, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Seafood, Vegan
- Read more on Yelp
#24. Sweetpea's
- Rating: 3.6/5 (88 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 5824 Stage Road Bartlett, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#23. Southern Breakfast Kitchen
- Rating: 3.6/5 (34 reviews)
- Address: 2990 Kirby Whitten Road Bartlett, Tennessee
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Salad
- Read more on Yelp
#22. Southern Hands Homestyle Cooking
- Rating: 3.7/5 (164 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 6025 Winchester Road Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#21. Southern Hands Home Style Cooking
- Rating: 3.7/5 (27 reviews)
- Address: 1811 Kirby Pkwy Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#20. King & Union Bar Grocery
- Rating: 3.9/5 (84 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 185 Union Ave. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: American, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#19. Barksdale's
- Rating: 3.9/5 (194 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 237 South Cooper St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Diners
- Read more on Yelp
#18. Flying Fish
- Rating: 3.9/5 (603 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 105 South 2nd St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Seafood, Cajun/Creole, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#17. Central BBQ
- Rating: 3.9/5 (2552 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 147 East Butler Ave. Downtown Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#16. Sage Restaurant
- Rating: 3.9/5 (278 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 94 South Main St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: American, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#15. Blues City Cafe
- Rating: 4.0/5 (1895 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 138 Beale St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue
- Read more on Yelp
#14. The Green Beetle
- Rating: 4.0/5 (224 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 325 South Main St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: American, Southern, Sports Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#13. ACRE
- Rating: 4.0/5 (143 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 690 South Perkins Road Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: New American, Southern, Desserts
- Read more on Yelp
#12. Hog & Hominy
- Rating: 4.1/5 (734 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 707 West Brookhaven Cir Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Italian, Southern, Pizza
- Read more on Yelp
#11. Gracie's Kitchen
- Rating: 4.1/5 (73 reviews)
- Address: 7185 Stage Road Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#10. Dino's Grill
- Rating: 4.1/5 (130 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 645 North Mclean Blvd. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Italian, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#9. Soul Fish Cafe
- Rating: 4.1/5 (298 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4720 Poplar Ave. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Seafood, Soul Food, Southern
- Read more on Yelp
#8. Peggy's Heavenly Home Cooking
- Rating: 4.2/5 (95 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 326 South Cleveland St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#7. Trap Fusion
- Rating: 4.2/5 (58 reviews)
- Address: 4637 Boeingshire Drive Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Caribbean, Seafood
- Read more on Yelp
#6. Soul Fish Cafe
- Rating: 4.3/5 (549 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 862 South Cooper St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Seafood, Soul Food
- Read more on Yelp
#5. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
- Rating: 4.3/5 (863 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 730 South Mendenhall Road Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp
#4. McEwen's Memphis
- Rating: 4.4/5 (619 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 120 Monroe Ave. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, New American
- Read more on Yelp
#3. Itta Bena
- Rating: 4.4/5 (503 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 145 Beale St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Venues & Event Spaces, Bars
- Read more on Yelp
#2. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
- Rating: 4.5/5 (3592 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 310 South Front St. Memphis, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp
#1. Southern Social
- Rating: 4.6/5 (701 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 2285 South Germantown Road Germantown, Tennessee
- Categories: Southern, Cocktail Bars, New American
- Read more on Yelp
