Memphis is known for its soul food, and it houses more mom-and-pop eateries than about anywhere in the country. Food lovers always highlight this aspect of Memphis’s eating culture. In other words, soul foods occupy a special place in the culture of this city. However, the plethora of options in meat-and-threes or meat-and-twos nowadays may garner lesser appreciation than deserved.
In this article, we have enlisted the top four soul food of Memphis after exploring various restaurants around the city. We will mention the top pick from the best places we visited and mention other attractions at those eateries. It is difficult to define the difference between home cooking and soul food in the South.
Let’s explore!
Note: As foodies, we've been breaking down some of the best restaurants in the United States with a little help from Yelp and some solid references. While we haven't visited them all, our purpose was to spread some love and awareness for these great local (for the most part) restaurants - many of them being small businesses! Plus, it's been fun reading your comments in the discussion about how dead wrong we are (to put it VERY lightly). Please forgive us in advance. :D
1. Fried Chicken - Ms. Girlee’s (629 Chelsea)
Well, all of us love fried chickens. This particular snack is adored by people of all age groups. We had the best-fried chicken in Memphis at Ms. Girlee’s. Along with the fried chickens, you can also try out meatloaves, oxtails, mashed potatoes, and boiled okras at Ms. Girlee’s.
2. Fried Catfish - Peggy’s Heavenly Home Cooking (326 S. Cleveland)
The fried catfishes served at Peggy’s Heavenly Home Cooking are simply the best. Packed with flavors and seasoned to perfection, these will surely appease your palette. Once you have these, you will keep coming back to the restaurant again and again. You can even relish some flavorful greens at this restaurant to complement the taste of fried catfishes.
3. Smothered Chicken - Crock Pot 2 (7911 E. Shelby Drive)
The residents of Memphis drool over smothered chicken. We had the best one in the city at Crock Pot 2. The chickens are perfectly fried and seasoned with a liberal hand to haste. Besides, those are covered with flavor-packed gravy that will surely tickle your taste buds. Further, the authentic taste will surely remind you of home-cooked delicacies. Once you are done eating the unbelievably tasty smothered chicken, you can cherish the greens, pinto beans and corns (fried sweet with sugar and butter) served there.
4. Sweet Potato Cobbler - Alcenia’s (317 N Main)
How can we not name a dessert in our list of soul foods? People in Memphis just love sweet potato cobblers. Every home in Memphis has its own secret recipe of sweet potato cobblers. The basics remain the same. But each grandmother across the city has her own version of this treasured recipe. Coming back to our experience of sweet potato cobblers, we tasted the best at Alcenia’s.
The owner, B.J. Chester Tamayo, has mastery over desserts. She, with her unique touches, transforms these desserts into perfect soul food. The sweet potato cobblers, baked with a brown and bubbling texture, just left us happy and full. If you love sweet potatoes, you can also try other dessert variations made with this root vegetable at Alcenia’s.
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