atlanta society tagged interest

What’s the difference between soul food and Southern food? The phrase “soul food” was first coined in the 1960s, seemingly meant to describe the honest-to-goodness, comforting foods often prepared at home by African American Southerners, with many dishes rooted in survival and the African diaspora. This food is soothing, good for the spirit, and just one category of fare falling under the broader umbrella of “Southern” food. Atlanta has no shortage of great restaurants that identify cuisine served on the menu as soul food. Here are a few restaurants to try around town.

Don’t see a favorite soul food restaurant listed? Email Eater Atlanta with suggestions to check out for the next update via the tipline.

More maps: Southern restaurants and meat-and-threes

Read More

Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Located behind a Chevron at the corner of Bellemeade Drive and Powder Springs Road, Frank’s serves up everything from catfish po’boys and saucy barbecue smoked ribs to fried tilapia and hearty bowls of red beans and rice with sides of collard greens and mac and cheese all from a takeout window.

Atlanta native Marcus “Big Daddy” Sabir grew up on the Westside. He worked in butchery for a supermarket in his neighborhood before branching out on his own with a food stand in the grocery’s parking lot decades ago. From there, Sabir grew to have multiple locations, including a cafe on Riverdale Road, a deli on Old National, and now two cafeterias — one in Decatur and one on Campbellton Road. The SWATS (Southwest Atlanta, too strong) location, even for its size and deep parking lot, is easy to miss due to the sprawl in the surrounding area. But, pull up and walk inside for a hearty meal featuring meat, two sides, and a muffin. Standouts include the savory beef tips, baked jerk turkey wings, smothered pork chops, and the juicy pot roast. Big Daddy’s is generous with the side portions, too, like pinto beans, yellow rice, steamed cabbage, okra, and yam soufflé.

The Beautiful has been hiding in plain sight in Southwest Atlanta for over 40 years, and somewhat flamboyantly with its multiple street signs, floral surroundings, and fenced-in patio area with Halloween-colored umbrellas. The secret to this restaurant’s success isn’t just from the shout-out it received on Goodie Mob’s debut album Soul Food, the food is beloved because it always looks and tastes like it was prepared for Sunday morning. Waiting warmly behind the cafeteria’s counter, fill that plate with beef ribs, ham hocks, neck bones, and meatloaf or baked or fried fish options, from catfish to croaker. Make sure to load up on sides like turnip greens and cornbread dressing and banana pudding for dessert. Breakfast here includes a platter with two eggs, grits, hash browns, toast or biscuits, and a meat or fish protein of choice.

This soul food spot at Chattahoochee Food Works comes with Oprah’s seal of approval on its mac and cheese. Owned by Philadelphia chef and cookbook author Delilah Winder, her eponymous food stall serves crispy fried chicken as platters, sandwiches topped with bread and butter pickles, po’boys with creole mayo and Merlin’s Magic seasoning, and even a chicken BLT. Plates come served with collards, cornbread, and the aforementioned mac and cheese. Make sure to also order Deliah’s fried green tomatoes and a strawberry lemonade. A second location is now open at Politan Row at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody.

This is where the South’s most beloved dishes meet chef and owner Deborah VanTrece and chef de cuisine Robert Butts. VanTrece and Butts push the boundaries of soul food at the lounge-y Westside restaurant with dishes like Mississippi catfish ravioli, hoisin glazed oxtail, coconut curry mushrooms, and crispy confit jerk duck. The menu here is vast and strikes that difficult balance between casual and fine dining with ease. Michelin listed Twisted Soul as a recommended restaurant to try on its Atlanta dining guide.

Sometimes folks can taste soul food just by looking at it, and that’s the case with the sauce-swimming turkey wings at Q-Time. It’s roasted to a gorgeous golden brown and savory to the bone, with plenty of meat, even if opting for the single order instead of two, which comes with two sides and a cornbread muffin. Opt for vegetables that are historically stewed, such as the collards, turnips, or cabbage. Oxtails, three-bone pork rib plates, honey barbecue wings, and the Salisbury steak are other dishes to consider ordering from Q-Time. Breakfast is also available.

Open at its new location in Ashview Heights, just west of Atlanta University Center, Soulbox is described as a Southern-Afro soul food restaurant. Regulars to its previous location on Oak Street, and now on Fair Street, swear by the smothered fried pork chops served with yellow saffron rice, smoked fried turkey wings, and fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs. Entrees come with cornbread cakes and a choice of two sides, including collards, creamy mac and cheese, and cornbread dressing. Make sure to also order some strawberry lemonade and peach cobbler for dessert.

Long before the vegan wave hit Atlanta, Soul Vegetarian established itself as the reigning champion of meat-free Southern comfort food — particularly within Atlanta’s historically African-American communities. It also helped expand awareness of just how flavorful a strictly meat-free diet can be, and has particularly dispelled the notion that a plate of soul food must be cooked into grayscale and can’t be full of vibrant, colorful bites. The deep-green romaine and electric red julienned beets used in the eggless salad are solid proof. Try the crisp-fried or saucy barbecue tofu here or the exclusive “kalebone” meat substitute, which is a gluten-heavy protein used in lieu of country fried steak. There’s also a location on North Highland.

Any Bankhead restaurant that’s been around prior to Bankhead Highway’s renaming to Donald Lee Hollowell has earned the right to call itself a landmark. Aside from the fact that K andamp; K has existed for more than 40 years, the restaurant can probably also thank its remarkable variety of menu items for the community’s continued patronage. Just look at the biscuits, which can be filled with red sausage links, pork chops, chicken or beef sausage, country-fried steak, or straight-up fatback. The restaurant has vegetable plates, too. However, this is where to come for meats like beef liver or chicken gizzards as well as stewed beef or fried whiting. The humble deep-Westside restaurant, with its brick-tiled floors and 3-D mural, includes a few booths.

There’s a reason Busy Bee Cafe continues to dominate the Southern food conversation in Atlanta after seven decades — it’s that good. The dining room fills immediately after the doors open for lunch, and folks pour into “Atlanta’s soul food kitchen” for some of the best fried chicken likely within a 100-mile radius. People also love the tender collards, which the restaurant now prepares with smoked turkey rather than pork. Make sure to also indulge in the cornbread, baked mac and cheese, yams, cobblers, or sweet potato pie, while gazing upon bronze-framed photos of Civil Rights icons, celebrities, and world leaders — all who have eaten at Busy Bee over the years. The restaurant earned a James Beard award in 2022 and was named a bib gourmand by Michelin in 2023.

The location has changed more than once from when brothers James and Robert Paschal founded the iconic restaurant. Its history is inseparable from the Civil Rights era in Atlanta due to the restaurant and its owners’ willingness to post bond for and provide free meals to jailed protestors. Now located at the corner of Northside Drive, Paschal’s continues to welcome new generations of diners for Southern fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, pulled pork platters, and Paschal’s original recipe fried chicken. Try the peach cobbler for dessert here. Paschal’s includes a location at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport.

The large, illuminated blue and yellow letters above the door help locate Walter’s from the street when exiting I-75 in south Atlanta. The hand-painted sign version on the window welcomes people inside for a hot plate. Grab a red tray and slide it down the rails for Salisbury steak swimming in a pan of gravy, crispy whole wings, smoked ribs, brisket, oxtails, and baked barbecue chicken. Grab peach cobbler for dessert.

Regulars to this Sweet Auburn Curb Market soul food stall know what’s up, and have for years. Metro Deli continues to be one of the market’s staple food stalls, serving up breakfast and meat-and-two plates, starting early in the morning. Load up cafeteria style with baked spaghetti and ribs and fried chicken with sides of collards, mac and cheese, and dirty rice. Grab some banana pudding or peach cobbler for dessert. Lunch specials at Metro Deli include one meat, two sides, and cornbread for just under $10. The stall also serves wraps and sandwiches perfect for lunch on the go.

This soul food stall inside Krog Street Market is backed by chef Todd Richards. And the dishes served on this menu are inspired by Richards’ award-winning cookbook “Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes”, including a hot fried chicken sandwich and fried green tomatoes. Make sure to grab a side of smoked chicken collards, too. Order salmon croquettes for brunch on the weekend.

Roc South became an instant success when it opened on Buford Highway in 2019. The honey lemon pepper wings here are great, but it’s the jasmine rice seafood gumbo, which also includes chicken and beef sausage, that steals the appetizer show. Diners at Roc South justifiably rave about the whole fried snapper and the lamb chop. The “southern fried”, hot-honey-glazed chicken stands out as a prime example of how to treat plated institutions of soul food with modern reverence through its beautifully stacked presentation.

Sim Walker didn’t come to Atlanta from New York City to play games with cuisine from the African diaspora. He’s been on a successful run with Negril Village in Midtown on North Avenue, and APT 4B on Peachtree. But it’s the food prepared at Ms. Icey’s (the Decatur restaurant named for his grandmother) that soothes the creative soul. There’s a recognizable twist of Caribbean flavor in many of the dishes here, from the jerk salmon to the hefty seafood creole with shrimp, crawfish, chicken sausage, and salmon. Expect a little modern-day shenanigans on the menu, too, including the Thai chili “strip club wings”.

Auntie Vee’s is where soul food classics and Caribbean flavors merge in savory dishes like jerk chicken mac and cheese, a variety of rice bowls, and an oxtail dinner that comes with a choice of sides like peas and rice, grits, fried cabbage, or cornbread. Moore’s delicious takes on baked mac and cheese are worth seeking out. This includes the Kamal’ee tossed with tri-colored peppers and chopped jerk chicken topped with tortilla chips and house jerk sauce and the hot lemon pepper chicken mac and cheese bowl. The bread pudding is a must for dessert. Halal.

Located behind a Chevron at the corner of Bellemeade Drive and Powder Springs Road, Frank’s serves up everything from catfish po’boys and saucy barbecue smoked ribs to fried tilapia and hearty bowls of red beans and rice with sides of collard greens and mac and cheese all from a takeout window.

Atlanta native Marcus “Big Daddy” Sabir grew up on the Westside. He worked in butchery for a supermarket in his neighborhood before branching out on his own with a food stand in the grocery’s parking lot decades ago. From there, Sabir grew to have multiple locations, including a cafe on Riverdale Road, a deli on Old National, and now two cafeterias — one in Decatur and one on Campbellton Road. The SWATS (Southwest Atlanta, too strong) location, even for its size and deep parking lot, is easy to miss due to the sprawl in the surrounding area. But, pull up and walk inside for a hearty meal featuring meat, two sides, and a muffin. Standouts include the savory beef tips, baked jerk turkey wings, smothered pork chops, and the juicy pot roast. Big Daddy’s is generous with the side portions, too, like pinto beans, yellow rice, steamed cabbage, okra, and yam soufflé.

The Beautiful has been hiding in plain sight in Southwest Atlanta for over 40 years, and somewhat flamboyantly with its multiple street signs, floral surroundings, and fenced-in patio area with Halloween-colored umbrellas. The secret to this restaurant’s success isn’t just from the shout-out it received on Goodie Mob’s debut album Soul Food, the food is beloved because it always looks and tastes like it was prepared for Sunday morning. Waiting warmly behind the cafeteria’s counter, fill that plate with beef ribs, ham hocks, neck bones, and meatloaf or baked or fried fish options, from catfish to croaker. Make sure to load up on sides like turnip greens and cornbread dressing and banana pudding for dessert. Breakfast here includes a platter with two eggs, grits, hash browns, toast or biscuits, and a meat or fish protein of choice.

This soul food spot at Chattahoochee Food Works comes with Oprah’s seal of approval on its mac and cheese. Owned by Philadelphia chef and cookbook author Delilah Winder, her eponymous food stall serves crispy fried chicken as platters, sandwiches topped with bread and butter pickles, po’boys with creole mayo and Merlin’s Magic seasoning, and even a chicken BLT. Plates come served with collards, cornbread, and the aforementioned mac and cheese. Make sure to also order Deliah’s fried green tomatoes and a strawberry lemonade. A second location is now open at Politan Row at Ashford Lane in Dunwoody.

This is where the South’s most beloved dishes meet chef and owner Deborah VanTrece and chef de cuisine Robert Butts. VanTrece and Butts push the boundaries of soul food at the lounge-y Westside restaurant with dishes like Mississippi catfish ravioli, hoisin glazed oxtail, coconut curry mushrooms, and crispy confit jerk duck. The menu here is vast and strikes that difficult balance between casual and fine dining with ease. Michelin listed Twisted Soul as a recommended restaurant to try on its Atlanta dining guide.

Sometimes folks can taste soul food just by looking at it, and that’s the case with the sauce-swimming turkey wings at Q-Time. It’s roasted to a gorgeous golden brown and savory to the bone, with plenty of meat, even if opting for the single order instead of two, which comes with two sides and a cornbread muffin. Opt for vegetables that are historically stewed, such as the collards, turnips, or cabbage. Oxtails, three-bone pork rib plates, honey barbecue wings, and the Salisbury steak are other dishes to consider ordering from Q-Time. Breakfast is also available.

Open at its new location in Ashview Heights, just west of Atlanta University Center, Soulbox is described as a Southern-Afro soul food restaurant. Regulars to its previous location on Oak Street, and now on Fair Street, swear by the smothered fried pork chops served with yellow saffron rice, smoked fried turkey wings, and fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs. Entrees come with cornbread cakes and a choice of two sides, including collards, creamy mac and cheese, and cornbread dressing. Make sure to also order some strawberry lemonade and peach cobbler for dessert.

Long before the vegan wave hit Atlanta, Soul Vegetarian established itself as the reigning champion of meat-free Southern comfort food — particularly within Atlanta’s historically African-American communities. It also helped expand awareness of just how flavorful a strictly meat-free diet can be, and has particularly dispelled the notion that a plate of soul food must be cooked into grayscale and can’t be full of vibrant, colorful bites. The deep-green romaine and electric red julienned beets used in the eggless salad are solid proof. Try the crisp-fried or saucy barbecue tofu here or the exclusive “kalebone” meat substitute, which is a gluten-heavy protein used in lieu of country fried steak. There’s also a location on North Highland.

Any Bankhead restaurant that’s been around prior to Bankhead Highway’s renaming to Donald Lee Hollowell has earned the right to call itself a landmark. Aside from the fact that K andamp; K has existed for more than 40 years, the restaurant can probably also thank its remarkable variety of menu items for the community’s continued patronage. Just look at the biscuits, which can be filled with red sausage links, pork chops, chicken or beef sausage, country-fried steak, or straight-up fatback. The restaurant has vegetable plates, too. However, this is where to come for meats like beef liver or chicken gizzards as well as stewed beef or fried whiting. The humble deep-Westside restaurant, with its brick-tiled floors and 3-D mural, includes a few booths.

There’s a reason Busy Bee Cafe continues to dominate the Southern food conversation in Atlanta after seven decades — it’s that good. The dining room fills immediately after the doors open for lunch, and folks pour into “Atlanta’s soul food kitchen” for some of the best fried chicken likely within a 100-mile radius. People also love the tender collards, which the restaurant now prepares with smoked turkey rather than pork. Make sure to also indulge in the cornbread, baked mac and cheese, yams, cobblers, or sweet potato pie, while gazing upon bronze-framed photos of Civil Rights icons, celebrities, and world leaders — all who have eaten at Busy Bee over the years. The restaurant earned a James Beard award in 2022 and was named a bib gourmand by Michelin in 2023.

Regulars to this Sweet Auburn Curb Market soul food stall know what’s up, and have for years. Metro Deli continues to be one of the market’s staple food stalls, serving up breakfast and meat-and-two plates, starting early in the morning. Load up cafeteria style with baked spaghetti and ribs and fried chicken with sides of collards, mac and cheese, and dirty rice. Grab some banana pudding or peach cobbler for dessert. Lunch specials at Metro Deli include one meat, two sides, and cornbread for just under $10. The stall also serves wraps and sandwiches perfect for lunch on the go.

This soul food stall inside Krog Street Market is backed by chef Todd Richards. And the dishes served on this menu are inspired by Richards’ award-winning cookbook “Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes”, including a hot fried chicken sandwich and fried green tomatoes. Make sure to grab a side of smoked chicken collards, too. Order salmon croquettes for brunch on the weekend.

Roc South became an instant success when it opened on Buford Highway in 2019. The honey lemon pepper wings here are great, but it’s the jasmine rice seafood gumbo, which also includes chicken and beef sausage, that steals the appetizer show. Diners at Roc South justifiably rave about the whole fried snapper and the lamb chop. The “southern fried”, hot-honey-glazed chicken stands out as a prime example of how to treat plated institutions of soul food with modern reverence through its beautifully stacked presentation.

Sim Walker didn’t come to Atlanta from New York City to play games with cuisine from the African diaspora. He’s been on a successful run with Negril Village in Midtown on North Avenue, and APT 4B on Peachtree. But it’s the food prepared at Ms. Icey’s (the Decatur restaurant named for his grandmother) that soothes the creative soul. There’s a recognizable twist of Caribbean flavor in many of the dishes here, from the jerk salmon to the hefty seafood creole with shrimp, crawfish, chicken sausage, and salmon. Expect a little modern-day shenanigans on the menu, too, including the Thai chili “strip club wings”.

Auntie Vee’s is where soul food classics and Caribbean flavors merge in savory dishes like jerk chicken mac and cheese, a variety of rice bowls, and an oxtail dinner that comes with a choice of sides like peas and rice, grits, fried cabbage, or cornbread. Moore’s delicious takes on baked mac and cheese are worth seeking out. This includes the Kamal’ee tossed with tri-colored peppers and chopped jerk chicken topped with tortilla chips and house jerk sauce and the hot lemon pepper chicken mac and cheese bowl. The bread pudding is a must for dessert. Halal.