8 soul food rooms in Atlanta we have eaten in, sorted by editor score. All cuisines in Atlanta | Soul Food across every city.
Soul food and Southern cooking sit at the center of Atlanta's identity, with institutions scattered across the west side and beyond. Busy Bee Cafe and Paschal's downtown carry the deepest history, both rooted in the city's civil rights era, while Mary Mac's Tea Room in Midtown keeps the family-style Southern meal alive. Miller Union in West Midtown represents the more refined, farm-driven end of the same tradition.
Miller Union ★ 4.6
west-midtown · 999 Brady Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
Chef Steven Satterfield's modern Southern room in Atlanta's West Midtown opened 2009 and won a James Beard Best Chef Southeast in 2017 for produce-driven.
Paschal's ★ 4.7
downtown · 180 Northside Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30313
Paschal's in Atlanta has served soul food since 1947, when brothers Robert and James Paschal opened on Hunter Street. Located in Downtown. Priced at $$.
Mary Mac's Tea Room ★ 4.6
midtown · 224 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
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.
Busy Bee Cafe ★ 4.7
downtown · 810 Martin Luther King Jr Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30314
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.
South City Kitchen Buckhead ★ 4.4
buckhead · 3350 Peachtree Rd NE Suite 175, Atlanta, GA 30326
South City Kitchen's Buckhead room in Atlanta runs refined Southern cooking from the Fifth Group with shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken and a she.
Ria's Bluebird ★ 4.5
old-fourth-ward · 421 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
Ria Pell's Memorial Drive diner in Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta opened 2000 across from Oakland Cemetery with the city's cult buttermilk pancakes and Southern.
Miller Union ★ 4.4
west-midtown · 999 Brady Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
Chef Steven Satterfield's modern Southern room in West Midtown, Atlanta opened 2009 and won James Beard Best Chef Southeast in 2017 for produce-driven.
Maepole ★ 4.0
summerhill · 72 Georgia Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
Maepole in Atlanta's Summerhill is the under-$15 Southern grain bowl: seared chicken or shredded pork, collards, mac, vegan and keto options on the same line.