Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2021

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2021. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Deals
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Festivals and Events
    • Bus and Trains
    • Flight Deals
    • Budget Travel
    • Hotels and Resorts
    • Disney Vacations
    • Airlines and Airports
    • Ground Transportation
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Food and Drink
  3. Restaurants
  4. Best Southern Food in the U.S

Best Southern Food in the U.S

By Food & Wine
October 13, 2016
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Nick Ledford
This story originally appeared on Foodandwine.com. 

Related: Best Places to Drink Cider 

Best Bordeaux Wineries to Visit 

The Hudson Valley’s Best Wine Spots

Defined by an abundance of fresh seafood and produce, grain-producing marshlands and a melting pot of Spanish/French/West African culture, Southern cuisine is soul-warming comfort food at its best. Charleston and New Orleans are at the top of my short list for food-forward destinations, cities whose mere mention conjures up the smell of crab and shrimp sautéing in a pan. But don't stop your culinary tour there: Nashville; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Savannah, Georgia, are all on my radar, as local chefs revisit (and revive) classic Southern recipes passed through the generations. —Andrew Zimmern.
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Martha Lou's Kitchen, Charleston

Credit: Courtesy of Rob Matheny

For home-style soul food, head to Martha Lou's, located in an unmistakable pink building north of downtown Charleston. You can't go wrong with her Southern classics, such as fried chicken, pork chops, butter beans, stewed okra and sweet tea. This is the throwback restaurant of your dreams, a comfort food Valhalla.facebook.com

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cypress, Charleston

Credit: Courtesy of Cypress

Chef Craig Deihl (two-time James Beard best-chef award-nominee) melds Southern-style cooking with flavors from his childhood growing up on a Pennsylvania farm. Start with the traditional Caesar salad prepared tableside, move on to the flawless house-cured charcuterie and the pan-roasted Charleston swordfish, and end the meal with sweet peach biscuits: refined Southern classics. magnolias-blossom-cypress.com

2 of 10

3 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Husk, Charleston

Credit: Adam Goldberg

Served in a Victorian house in downtown Charleston, chef Sean Brock's ingredient-driven cuisine is composed entirely of products harvested or raised in the South—some from a farm he established right outside the city. The open kitchen produces incredible dishes such as crispy pig's ear lettuce wraps and sassafras pork ribs with pickled peaches. Every ingredient has a story, in what may deservedly be the most talked-about restaurant in all the South.huskrestaurant.com

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

McCrady's, Charleston

Credit: Courtesy of the Neighborhood Dining Group

Southern ingredients also take center stage at Sean Brock’s low-country fine-dining establishment, located in an 18th-century historic building that once was one of the city’s more famous bordellos. Order à la carte or from a multicourse tasting menu—both celebrate regional farms, local purveyors and heirloom produce, while the bar specializes in pre-Prohibition cocktails. mccradysrestaurant.com

4 of 10

5 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Burbage's Grocery, Charleston

Credit: John Diskes

The place to go in Charleston for pimiento cheese sandwiches, sausage muffins and a pretty decent barbecue sandwich. It’s a classic.facebook.com

5 of 10

6 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

FIG, Charleston

Credit: Courtesy of FIG

Chef Mike Lata was on the forefront of the city's booming farm-to-table food scene, connecting diners with local farms for nearly a decade. His restaurant FIG (an acronym for Food is Good) is a modern space with a convivial atmosphere, and more often than not, packed with eager customers. The James Beard award-winner adds French flare to his low-country cuisine with dishes like John's Island tomato tarte Tatin, Prosecco-steamed inlet clams and aballotine of chicken and sausage with roasted cherries. I cooked with Mike Lata once at a food fest in Florida and the guy is an amazing chef, immensely talented and a great guy to boot.eatatfig.com

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Scott's Bar-B-Que, Hemingway, SC

Credit: Denny Culbert for the Southern Foodways Alliance

Hand-pulled pork from whole hogs, topped with crispy skins and the family's secret sauce has locals and BBQ pilgrims alike flocking to this authentic roadside barbecue joint in Hemingway. Pit master Rodney Scott slow-smokes whole hogs overnight with hardwood coals made from wood he hand selects each day. He bastes the meat vigorously with a vinegary-peppery mop till it's ready to pull apart for the hungry crowds come morning. My favorite BBQ place in America. thescottsbbq.com

7 of 10

8 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

5 & 10, Athens, GA

Credit: Rinne Allen

Hugh Acheson's flagship restaurant melds traditional Southern flavors with French and Italian influences, garnering top awards fromFood & Wine and the James Beard Foundation. The menu changes daily, but there are a few mainstays, including the fantastic low-country Frogmore stew with shrimp, andouille and leeks in a tomato broth. fiveandten.com

8 of 10

9 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Elizabeth on 37th, Savannah, GA

Credit: Courtesy of Elizabeth on 37th

Housed in a 1900s Southern mansion, this restaurant mirrors the city's timeless elegance. When it opened in 1981, Elizabeth helped place Savannah on the culinary map, and it remains one of the best restaurants in the city for fine dining and fresh coastal seafood. The menu changes seasonally, and includes dishes such as Parmesan-dusted red snapper with spiced quail hash, a double-cut Berkshire pork chop and spicy Savannah red rice with Georgia shrimp.elizabethon37th.net

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Clary's Café, Savannah, GA

Credit: Nick Ledford

The famous Clary’s Café has been around for more than a century, serving Southern comfort diner classics with a heaping pile of nostalgia. I highly recommend the Georgia pecan hot griddle cakes, crab n’ grits and the original Hoppel Poppel (scrambled eggs with chunks of salami, potatoes, onion and green peppers).claryscafe.com

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Food & Wine

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 10 Martha Lou's Kitchen, Charleston
2 of 10 Cypress, Charleston
3 of 10 Husk, Charleston
4 of 10 McCrady's, Charleston
5 of 10 Burbage's Grocery, Charleston
6 of 10 FIG, Charleston
7 of 10 Scott's Bar-B-Que, Hemingway, SC
8 of 10 5 & 10, Athens, GA
9 of 10 Elizabeth on 37th, Savannah, GA
10 of 10 Clary's Café, Savannah, GA

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Travel + Leisure Sites
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

Best Southern Food in the U.S
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.