25 Southern Foods You Have To Eat in the South
I’ve been visiting the American South pretty much all my life. Let’s just call it “for decades.” Even as a youngster growing up in New York, it was obvious to me that the majority of Southern foods were completely different than what I was used to.
Later, as a foodie, and then more so as a chef, I realized Southern food is not a cuisine you can fully understand from a cookbook—it’s really a deeply delicious history lesson that you have to experience on its home territory.
It’s a whole culinary culture, built over centuries by enslaved West African cooks, French and Spanish settlers, Scots-Irish farmers, Cajun trappers, and generations of Southern grandmothers who turned humble ingredients into some of the best food in America.
I’ve spent a lot of time eating my way through the South. This includes chasing down the most scrumptious shrimp and grits in North Carolina, the tastiest fried chicken in Tennessee, the most mouth-watering gumbo in Louisiana, and the best banana pudding wherever I could find it.
And I can tell you this: As amazing as the food is, it also tells an intriguing story about the region that is just as satisfying to dig into.
A Sunday supper full of traditional Southern foods
Every dish on this list has a history, a hometown (or two), and an iconic restaurant or three still serving it the way it’s supposed to be made.
So, whether you’re planning a road trip through the Deep South, hosting a Southern-themed dinner party, or just want to know what to order the next time you’re in Nashville, Charleston, or New Orleans, this is your guide. Let’s get into it.
1. Fried Chicken
Fried chicken, the king of Southern cuisine
Brief History
Fried chicken as we know it in the American South is a blend of West African frying and seasoning traditions brought over by enslaved cooks and Scottish frying techniques introduced by early European settlers.
Enslaved cooks are the ones who perfected the method and turned it into a celebration dish, since chickens were often the only livestock they were permitted to raise themselves.
Where Is It Most Popular?
I think I’ve had fried chicken in every Southern state. However, Kentucky (home to KFC), Tennessee (especially Nashville Hot Chicken), and Louisiana (particularly NOLA) have particularly strong claims to fame.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken: 310 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103. A no-frills Memphis institution serving spicy, shatteringly crisp fried chicken since the 1950s.
Willie Mae’s NOLA: 898 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113. The current home of the James Beard Award–winning fried chicken that’s been called America’s best.
2. Collard Greens
One of the tastiest soul food staples, collard greens
Brief History
Collard greens have roots in West African cooking, where similar leafy greens were slow-simmered with smoked meat. Enslaved cooks in the American South adapted the dish using pork scraps for seasoning, and the pot liquor left behind became a staple in its own right, often sopped up with cornbread.
Where Is It Most Popular?
You’ll find collards on nearly every Southern table, but they hold especially deep roots in Georgia, the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and Louisiana. And if they are on the menu, we are ordering them—they are my husband’s absolute favorite Southern veggie dish!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room: 107 W Jones St, Savannah, GA 31401. This communal, family-style boardinghouse restaurant has been serving Southern classics, collards included, since 1943.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant: 2301 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119. This is the late Leah Chase’s legendary Creole kitchen, a Civil Rights landmark that still serves deeply seasoned greens. Their fried chicken is also top notch.
3. Banana Pudding
The first banana pudding I ever tried in the South
Brief History
Banana pudding became a Southern staple in the early 1900s once bananas were widely and affordably available. It exploded in popularity in the 1940s thanks to a Nabisco recipe printed on the back of the Nilla Wafers box, which called for layering the cookies with custard and sliced bananas.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Nashville was my first introduction to banana pudding, but then I realized it shows up on dessert menus all over the South. Folks in Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas are especially devoted to it.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Dreamland Bar-B-Que: 5535 15th Ave, East Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 (and other locations). Legendary for its BBQ ribs, Dreamland was also crowned by Southern Living magazine as having one the best banana puddings in the South.
The Old Mill Restaurant: 164 Old Mill Ave, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863. A 200-year-old gristmill turned Smoky Mountain dining room serves up family-style Southern comfort food and made-from-scratch banana pudding.
4. Pimento Cheese
A common Southern appetizer, pimento cheese and saltines
Brief History
Pimento cheese emerged in the early 1900s once canned pimento peppers became widely available. Southern cooks began blending them with cream cheese, and later cheddar, mayonnaise, and spices. It earned the nickname “the caviar of the South” for how beloved—and universal—it became at potlucks and picnics.
Where Is It Most Popular?
South Carolina claims pimento cheese as an unofficial state dish, though this Southern all-star is cherished throughout Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama as well.
I’ve had it most often with saltine crackers, but down South, you can find it on everything from bagels to hamburgers.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
Husk: 76 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401. Their pimento cheese, served with country ham and biscuits, is one of the most talked-about starters in Charleston.
Poogan’s Porch: 72 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401. A historic Charleston house restaurant where pimento cheese fritters are a signature starter.
5. Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried green tomatoes and sweet tea on one of our Southern road trips
Brief History
Fried green tomatoes were a practical dish born from necessity: Unripe tomatoes left on the vine at the end of the season got sliced, breaded in cornmeal, and fried rather than wasted.
The dish gained national fame after the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes (one of my personal faves), based on Fannie Flagg’s novel set in a small Alabama town.
Where Is It Most Popular?
This dish is a staple across Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas, where green tomatoes are harvested early and used before they ripen.
I have a little advice when it comes to this southern specialty—make sure you know there’s a tomato inside. They can look identical to fried pickles, which are also popular in the South. As you can imagine, there’s a big difference in taste!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen: Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen restaurants (currently in Pigeon Forge, Nashville, Myrtle Beach, and Branson) still serve the fried green tomatoes that made Paula’s Savannah restaurant famous.
The Whistle Stop Cafe: 443 McCrackin St, Juliette, GA 31046. If you love the movie as much as I do, this cafe should be at the top of your list.
6. Buttermilk Biscuits
I prefer my buttermilk biscuits hot out of the oven.
Brief History
Biscuits arrived in the South with British settlers, but it was the introduction of soft winter wheat, baking soda, and buttermilk that turned them into the fluffy, tangy biscuit we know today.
They became a breakfast staple (on their own and served biscuit-and-gravy style) because the ingredients—flour, buttermilk, lard—were cheap and always on hand.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Biscuits are a morning ritual across the entire South, but Tennessee and North Carolina are especially known for their biscuit culture. Truth be told, some biscuits are better than others, but I’ve never had a bad one in the South, and I can’t even begin to calculate how many that is!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
The Loveless Cafe: 8400 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37221. This Nashville institution has been serving made-from-scratch biscuits with house preserves since 1951.
Biscuit Head: 733 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806. A beloved Asheville spot piles towering biscuits with inventive Southern toppings.
7. Gumbo
You should not visit NOLA without tasting gumbo!!!
Brief History
Gumbo is Louisiana's signature dish, blending West African okra cooking, French roux technique, Spanish seasoning, and Native American filé powder into one pot. The word gumbo itself likely comes from a West African word for okra, ki ngombo.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Gumbo belongs to Louisiana, especially New Orleans and Cajun Country around Lafayette, where the dish varies from house to house and family to family.
Before I became a chef, I took a cooking class in NOLA and learned to make gumbo. I even made it for my family that Christmas: YUM!
I love my own gumbo, but that doesn’t mean I don’t eat just about as much as I can find when in the Big Easy. You should definitely try some too!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant: 2301 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119. Leah Chase’s gumbo z’herbes and seafood gumbo helped make this restaurant a New Orleans landmark.
Prejean’s Restaurant: 3480 US-167, Lafayette, LA 70507. This Cajun Country favorite serves award-winning gumbo alongside live Cajun music.
8. Peach Cobbler
Brief History
Peach cobbler descends from British steamed puddings, adapted by early settlers who lacked proper baking ovens. As a work-around, they layered fruit with a simple biscuit-like crust in a cast iron pot, or “cobbled” together whatever crust ingredients they had on hand.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Georgia’s claim to peach cobbler runs deep thanks to its status as the Peach State. However, South Carolina and Alabama grow plenty of peaches and bake plenty of cobbler too.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. First opening its doors back in 1945, this Atlanta classic is known for its peach cobbler and Southern table settings.
The Colonnade: 1879 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. An Atlanta institution since 1927, The Colonnade’s Georgia peach cobbler is as beloved as the restaurant’s fried chicken.
9. Shrimp And Grits
Shrimp and stone-ground grits, one of my Southern favorites
Brief History
Shrimp and grits began as a humble Lowcountry fisherman’s breakfast, with the morning’s shrimp catch being simmered and then served over stone-ground corn grits. Chefs in the 1980s and ‘90s elevated the recipe with cream, cheese, and andouille sausage, turning this dish into a signature of upscale Southern cooking.
Where Is It Most Popular?
This dish is Lowcountry royalty, most closely tied to Charleston and Savannah, though it’s now a brunch staple across the South.
On my Southern adventures, I’ve had shrimp and grits for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (mind you, not on the same day), and I can promise you, it’s delicious no matter when you order it.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Magnolias: 185 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401. This Charleston restaurant ignited the city’s upscale Lowcountry cooking scene in 1990, and its shrimp and grits remain a benchmark.
82 Queen: 82 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401. This historic Charleston courtyard restaurant serves up a classic, well-loved version of the dish.
10. Royal Red Shrimp
The royal red shrimp I drove to Alabama for
Brief History
Royal red shrimp are a deep-water Gulf shrimp species, harvested from as far down as 1,200 feet off the coast of Alabama. Their naturally sweet, almost lobster-like flavor made them a prized Gulf Coast catch once fishing boats began trawling deep enough waters in the mid-1900s.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Royal reds are most associated with the Alabama Gulf Coast. We once took a detour between NOLA and Savannah to the Gulf Shores just to try these shrimp. Was it worth it? You betcha!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Bahama Bob’s Beachside Café: 601 W Beach Blvd, Gulf Shores, AL 36542. A beachfront Gulf Shores favorite where steamed royal reds are one of the most-ordered items on the menu.
King Neptune’s Seafood Restaurant: 1137 Gulf Shores Pkwy, Gulf Shores, AL 36542. This family-run local institution is widely considered the place to go in Gulf Shores for royal red shrimp.
Gulf Shores Steamer: 27267 Perdido Beach Blvd, Ste 115, Orange Beach, AL 36561. A marina-side steamhouse operating since 1989, known for some of the best royal reds on the coast.
11. Mac 'N Cheese
Mac n’ cheese in Asheville, NC
Brief History
Baked macaroni and cheese has European roots, but it became a Southern comfort-food staple in the 19th century.
In the early days, it was popularized in part after Thomas Jefferson’s cook James Hemings brought recipes back to the United States from France. Hemings adapted the dish, which was often served at Jefferson’s Monticello estate and always earned rave reviews.
Today’s Southern versions lean rich and custardy, baked until the top forms a golden, slightly crisp crust.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Mac 'n cheese is a Southern soul food and Sunday-supper staple everywhere, with especially strong traditions in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas. I’ve had it in a paper cup, a china bowl, on top of a hot dog, within a taco—it’s literally everywhere.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. A steam-table Southern classic where mac ‘n cheese is a top-ordered side.
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken: 310 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103. Their mac ‘n cheese, made in-house daily, is a customer favorite alongside the legendary chicken.
12. Barbecue
My Texas barbecue favorites: brisket, pork, ribs, chili, and mac n’ cheese
Brief History
Southern barbecue grew from Native American and West African slow-smoking traditions and was refined over generations into distinct regional styles: whole hog and pulled pork with vinegar or mustard sauce in the Carolinas, beef brisket in Texas, and dry-rubbed ribs in Memphis, just to name a few variations.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Barbecue is an all-South-all-the-time obsession, with especially famous regional styles in Texas, Memphis, and the Carolinas, each fiercely proud of its own sauce and smoke.
We ate so much barbecue on our cross country road trips, we had to write an article to document the different styles. Take a look: American Barbecue Guide.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Franklin Barbecue: 900 E 11th St, Austin, TX 78702. Widely considered one of the best barbecue joints in the country, this Texas institution is famous for its hours-long brisket line.
Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q: 1715 6th Ave SE, Decatur, AL 35601. This is the birthplace of Alabama's iconic white barbecue sauce, served over smoked chicken.
13. Ambrosia Salad
Brief History
Ambrosia salad is a mix of citrus, coconut, marshmallows, and whipped cream or sour cream. It became a holiday-table staple in the late 1800s and early 1900s once canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, and shredded coconut became affordable pantry items across the South.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Ambrosia continues as a Southern potluck and holiday-table classic from Georgia and the Carolinas to Mississippi. It’s especially popular around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
My mom is a New York native with Italian heritage and for some reason, she often made this dish in the 1970s. I absolutely loved it. Finding out about ambrosia salad’s Southern roots was a delicious surprise!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It IN
Supperland: 1212 The Plaza, Charlotte, NC. This “Southern Steakhouse Meets Church Potluck” restaurant features an eclectic Southern menu and boasts North Carolina bragging rights for its exceptional ambrosia salad.
Bully’s Restaurant: 3118 Livingston Rd, Jackson, MS 39213. A James Beard “America's Classic” soul-food kitchen where old-fashioned potluck sides like ambrosia are right at home.
14. Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs with bacon: keep-’em-comin’ genius!
Brief History
Deviled eggs date back to ancient Rome, but the Southern version—seasoned with mustard, mayonnaise, and paprika—became a potluck and church-supper fixture in the 20th century, prized as a make-ahead dish that traveled well to any gathering.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Deviled eggs show up at nearly every Southern potluck, picnic, and holiday table, with no single state claiming ownership, though Southern cooks everywhere boast their own signature twist.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
The Optimist: 914 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA 30318. This Atlanta seafood house serves deviled eggs as a signature starter alongside its wood-fired seafood.
Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.): 192 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401. An acclaimed Lowcountry bistro puts its refined Charleston spin on this classic appetizer.
15. Fried Catfish
Fried catfish, one of the most classic dinners in the South
Brief History
Fried catfish became a Southern staple thanks to the fish’s abundance in the muddy rivers and man-made ponds of the Mississippi Delta. Cornmeal-breaded and fried whole or as fillets, it became closely tied to fish fries and church gatherings throughout the Deep South.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Mississippi is the undisputed capital of farm-raised catfish, though Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana all have deep catfish-frying traditions too.
This Southern specialty has a funny name, and the fish itself a funny look if you catch one, but fried up, it looks and tastes like a mild white fish.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
The Catfish Institute-Endorsed Taylor Grocery: 4 County Road 338, Taylor, MS 38673. A rustic, wildly popular Mississippi juke joint devoted almost entirely to fried catfish.
Willie Mae’s NOLA: 898 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113. Willie Mae’s is best known for its fried chicken, but the fried catfish is a bona fide menu highlight in its own right.
16. Blue Crab
In our family, special occasions in MD mean a crab feast—and every crab feast is a special occasion.
Brief History
Blue crab has been harvested and eaten along the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf Coast for centuries, first by Native American communities and later by colonial settlers.
The crustacean’s sweet, delicate meat became the backbone of crab cakes, crab boils, soft-shell crab dishes, and she-crab soup that is still thoroughly enjoyed throughout the coastal South.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Blue crab is beloved along the entire Southern coastline, but it’s especially central to the seafood repertoire of Maryland, Virginia, the Carolina Lowcountry, and Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.
Personally, I’ve done the majority of my crab consumption in Maryland where my husband’s family lives. Oh how I love family visits!
Iconic Restaurants To Try It IN
82 Queen: 82 Queen St, Charleston, SC 29401. This refined eatery is known for its she-crab soup and blue crab cakes served in a historic Charleston courtyard setting.
Casamento's Restaurant: 4330 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115. A century-old New Orleans seafood house offers up fresh-caught blue crab claws and stuffed crab.
Hooper’s Crab House: 12913 Ocean Gateway, Ocean City, MD 21842. Serving delicious steamed crabs since 1981, this is one of our family’s favorite Crab Houses in Ocean City. Mike’s parents even insisted on having their 50th-anniversary bash here.
17. Gulf Coast Oysters
Native Americans were the first to eat Gulf Coast oysters.
Brief History
Oysters have been harvested along the Gulf Coast since long before European settlement. Archeological finds of Native American shell middens along the coastline make clear just how central oysters were to the long-ago local diet.
By the 1800s, Gulf oysters were being shipped and shucked across the South, raw, chargrilled, and fried.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Gulf oysters are a coastal obsession from New Orleans to Mobile Bay to Apalachicola, with each region proud of its own briny, mineral-forward flavor.
Chef’s Tip: When you see oysters on the menu, don’t assume they are regional oysters. Ask where they’re from if it doesn’t say.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Acme Oyster House: 724 Iberville St, New Orleans, LA 70130. Acme has been a French Quarter icon for raw, chargrilled, and fried Gulf oysters since 1910.
Wintzell’s Oyster House: 605 Dauphin St, Mobile, AL 36602. Mobile’s most famous oyster house, slogan and all: “Oysters, so good we serve ‘em raw.”
18. Po’ Boy
Brief History
The po’ boy sandwich was created in New Orleans in 1929 by brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin, who served free sandwiches on French bread to striking streetcar workers—the “poor boys.”
The name stuck, and the sandwich, usually stuffed with fried shrimp, oysters, or roast beef, became a New Orleans institution.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Po’ boys belong to New Orleans and greater Louisiana, where local Leidenheimer French bread is considered essential to a proper sandwich.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar: 5240 Annunciation St, New Orleans, LA 70115. A family-run, century-old Uptown institution famous for its fried shrimp po’ boy.
Acme Oyster House: 724 Iberville St, New Orleans, LA 70130. A French Quarter staple known for its fried oyster po’ boys and raw bar.
19. Sweet Potato Pie
Brief History
Sweet potato pie descends from West African yam dishes. The pies were later adapted by enslaved cooks who used sweet potatoes—more available in the American South than yams—to create a custard-style pie sweetened with sugar, spice, and butter.
These heavenly treats became especially significant as soul-food desserts and holiday centerpieces.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Sweet potato pie is popular across the entire South, with especially strong traditions in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Louisiana’s African-American culinary communities.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
Paschal’s Restaurant: 180 Northside Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30313. This Civil Rights–era soul-food landmark has served sweet potato pie alongside its famous fried chicken since 1947.
Bully’s Restaurant: 3118 Livingston Rd, Jackson, MS 39213. A beloved Jackson soul-food kitchen with homemade sweet potato pie among its classic desserts.
20. Pecan Pie
A sweet treat in Texas often means pecan pie.
Brief History
Pecan pie became a Southern dessert staple in the late 1800s once corn syrup production made the pie’s signature gooey filling easy and affordable to produce. The pecans themselves were harvested from the pecan trees native to the South’s river bottoms and backyards.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Pecan pie is especially associated with Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana, all major pecan-growing states.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
The Old Mill Restaurant: 164 Old Mill Ave, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863. This Smoky Mountain gristmill restaurant serves over 700 slices of homemade pecan pie a day.
Southern Baked Pie Company: 302 Broad St SE, Gainesville, GA 30501. Southern Baked is a Georgia pie company built around scratch-made pecan pie, with pecans sourced from Georgia growers.
21. Chicken And Waffles
Chicken and waffles, good til the last bite
Brief History
Chicken and waffles has roots in both Pennsylvania Dutch cooking and Harlem soul-food restaurants of the early 1900s (Read more here: NYC Famous Foods).
The South embraced the pairing of crisp fried chicken with a fluffy, syrup-soaked waffle and ran with it. Now it’s such an embedded Southern brunch classic, no one south of the Mason-Dixon even remembers its roots.
Where Is It Most Popular?
This dish is especially popular in Georgia, Tennessee, and among the Deep South’s soul-food restaurants (and, yes, still in Harlem!).
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken: 310 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103. The name gives it away: Here you’ll find fried chicken done right, whether ordered on its own or alongside a waffle.
Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308. Southern-style chicken and waffles are prized here, along with so many other Southern favorites.
22. Hush Puppies
Hush puppies, one of the many traditional Southern foods with an interesting history
Brief History
Hush puppies—deep-fried balls of cornmeal batter—originated alongside Southern fish fries, where legend says cooks tossed fried cornmeal scraps to barking dogs to “hush the puppies” while families ate.
Whether or not that story is entirely true (I absolutely hope it is), hush puppies became inseparable from fried seafood throughout the South.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Hush puppies are a fixture at seafood restaurants across the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Gulf Coast.
I’ve also seen them as a side dish at Maryland crab feasts in Ocean City.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
Bowens Island Restaurant: 1870 Bowens Island Rd, Charleston, SC 29412. A James Beard “American Classic” fish shack on the marsh, famous for some of the best hush puppies in the South.
The Optimist: 914 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA 30318. Its corn-milk hush puppies are a signature side at this Atlanta seafood house.
23. Boiled Peanuts
Stopping for gas—and boiled peanuts
Brief History
Boiled peanuts likely have West African roots, with the dish having been brought over via the transatlantic slave trade and adapted to the American South’s peanut crops.
Green, unshelled peanuts are simmered for hours in heavily salted water, producing a soft, almost bean-like texture that’s utterly unlike roasted peanuts.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Boiled peanuts are especially beloved in Georgia and South Carolina, both major peanut-growing states, and are often sold roadside from big steaming pots.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It
Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room: 107 W Jones St, Savannah, GA 31401. A Southern spread here often includes a small dish of boiled peanuts.
Roadside stands throughout rural Georgia and South Carolina remain the most authentic (and most fun) way to try boiled peanuts, often sold by the bag or cup steaming hot, straight out of the pot.
24. Fried Okra
Fried okra with an array of other popular Southern foods
Brief History
Okra came to the American South by way of West Africa, and Southern cooks quickly discovered that slicing and cornmeal-breading the pods before frying eliminated the vegetable’s famous sliminess while adding a satisfying crunch.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Fried okra is a summertime Southern side dish everywhere, with especially deep roots in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It In
Paschal’s Restaurant: 180 Northside Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30313. Fried okra is a staple side at this historic Atlanta soul-food restaurant.
The Colonnade: 1879 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. Fried okra is one of several classic Southern sides that round out the meat-and-three menu here.
25. Corn Bread
Brief History
Cornbread predates the American South as we know it, having been adapted from Native American corn-based breads by early colonial settlers who had limited access to wheat flour.
Enslaved cooks further shaped the dish, and it split into regional camps: sweet, cake-like Northern-influenced versions and savory, skillet-fried Southern versions with no sugar at all.
Where Is It Most Popular?
Cornbread is a Southern dinner-table staple everywhere, though the debate over sweet versus unsweetened cornbread is most fiercely carried out in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Iconic Restaurants To Try It in
The Loveless Cafe: 8400 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37221. Here, skillet cornbread gets served alongside the restaurant’s famous biscuits and country ham.
Prejean’s Restaurant: 3480 US-167, Lafayette, LA 70507. At Prejean’s, you can find Cajun-style cornbread served with gumbo and other Louisiana classics.
Final Thoughts
Twenty-five dishes in, and I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what the South has to offer.
But that’s the thing about Southern food: It’s not one cuisine, it’s dozens of overlapping traditions, shaped by the people who built this region and kept its kitchens running for generations.
Whether you’re chasing barbecue smoke through Texas and the Carolinas, working your way down the coast for a plate of shrimp and grits in Charleston, or standing in line for fried chicken in Memphis, you’re not just looking for a quick bite—you’re taking the time to savor the flavors of the South and the history behind them.
So, pack your stretchy pants, plan your route, and start working your way down this list. The South is waiting—and it’s hungry to feed you!
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