History

The meat-and-three plate-lunch format runs across the South but Black-owned Atlanta restaurants codified the soul food version. Paschal's (1947) and Busy Bee Cafe (1947) on the West End ran the format through the civil rights movement. Mary Mac's Tea Room (1945) added the white-tablecloth version. Sides typically include collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams, black-eyed peas and cornbread. Most rooms still serve lunch only and run cash-and-card under $15.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Pork

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 1 hrTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • For collard greens: 2 bunches collards, 250g smoked turkey wing, 1 onion, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • For mac and cheese: 250g elbow pasta, 60g butter, 60g flour, 700ml whole milk, 400g sharp cheddar, 1 large egg
  • For candied yams: 1kg sweet potatoes, 100g butter, 200g brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon
  • For black-eyed peas: 400g dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, 200g smoked ham hock, 1 onion
  • Protein: 4 pieces fried chicken (see fried chicken recipe)
  • Cornbread to serve

Method

  1. Soak black-eyed peas overnight; drain. Simmer with ham hock, onion and 1.5L water for 90 minutes until tender.
  2. Wash and stem collards. Saute onion in 2 tbsp oil, add greens, smoked turkey and 1L water. Simmer 1 hour, finish with vinegar and brown sugar.
  3. Roast sweet potatoes whole at 200C for 50 minutes. Peel, mash, mix with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  4. Boil pasta until al dente. Make a roux: melt butter, whisk in flour, slowly add milk and cook until thick. Off heat, stir in cheese and beaten egg. Combine with pasta; bake at 180C for 20 minutes.
  5. Fry the chicken (see fried chicken recipe).
  6. Plate one piece of chicken with three vegetable sides; serve cornbread alongside.

Tip from the editors. All the sides except mac and cheese improve overnight. Cook them the day before and reheat; the chicken is the only fresh-cooked element.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat soul food meat-and-three plate

Soul food meat-and-three plate in Atlanta

Busy Bee Cafe ★ 4.7

Soul food$$downtown

Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta opened 1947 on MLK Drive and won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2022 for its decades of soul food service near the AUC campuses.

Signature: Fried chicken, Oxtails, Collard greens

Order: Fried chicken with two sides; the oxtails on lunch special when available.

Tip: Cash and card. Lunch and early dinner only Tuesday to Sunday; line forms before noon weekends.

810 Martin Luther King Jr Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30314 Book →

Paschal's ★ 4.7

Soul food$$downtown

Paschal's in Atlanta has served soul food since 1947, when brothers Robert and James Paschal opened on Hunter Street. The civil rights movement met here; SCLC was anchored at the bar.

Signature: Fried chicken, Collard greens, Peach cobbler

Order: Fried chicken plate with collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams.

Tip: The current Castleberry Hill location since 2002 expanded with a banquet space; the original Hunter Street site is preserved at Clark Atlanta.

180 Northside Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30313 Book →

Mary Mac's Tea Room ★ 4.6

Southern$$midtown

Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta opened 1945 and runs Southern Sunday dinner classics in a four-dining-room compound on Ponce de Leon, with the same recipes through three ownership changes.

Signature: Fried chicken, Pot likker and cornbread, Peach cobbler

Order: Pot likker with a side of cornbread, then fried chicken with three sides.

Tip: Order the pot likker as a starter; it comes free with cornbread. No reservations Monday through Thursday lunch; OpenTable for dinner and weekends.

224 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308 Book →

More cities are in research. Want soul food meat-and-three plate covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →