10 soul food rooms in Memphis we have eaten in, sorted by editor score. All cuisines in Memphis | Soul Food across every city.
Soul food is foundational to how Memphis eats, plating fried chicken, greens, cornbread and daily meat-and-three specials. The Four Way in South Memphis is the historic anchor, a long-running room tied to the civil-rights era, while Alcenia's in the Pinch District and Itta Bena downtown carry the tradition in their own registers. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken downtown and Soul Fish Cafe in Cooper-Young extend the category into its fried and Gulf-leaning corners.
The Four Way ★ 4.6
south-memphis · 998 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38126
The Four Way is Memphis's defining Black-owned soul food room on Mississippi Boulevard since 1946. Martin Luther King Jr. ate here; the walls show the guests.
Alcenia's ★ 4.5
pinch-district · 317 N Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Betty Joyce Chester-Tamayo's Pinch District Memphis soul food room has run fried chicken, collards and a hug at the door since 1997. Priced at $$.
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken ★ 4.5
downtown · 310 S Front St, Memphis, TN 38103
The Memphis flagship of Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken on South Front Street downtown runs spicy crisp birds from a tin-roof shack, the chain's 2001.
Soul Fish Cafe ★ 4.3
cooper-young · 862 S Cooper St, Memphis, TN 38104
Soul Fish Cafe's Cooper-Young Memphis original on South Cooper runs fried Mississippi catfish, hush puppies and Gambino-bread po'boys daily.
Itta Bena ★ 4.2
downtown · 145 Beale St, Memphis, TN 38103
Itta Bena is a hidden upstairs Memphis dining room above B.B. King's on Beale Street, named for the Mississippi town King was born in. Southern.
Sage Restaurant ★ 4.3
south-main · 94 S Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Sage Restaurant is a soul fusion room on South Main in Memphis from Chef Eli Townsend, with globally influenced Southern comfort food and a downtown rooftop.
Char Restaurant ★ 4.3
431 S Highland St, Memphis, TN 38111
Char Restaurant in East Memphis on Highland Street runs USDA prime steaks, fresh Gulf seafood and crab cakes in a modern Southern steakhouse with nightly.
Alcenia's ★ 4.5
pinch-district · 317 N Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Alcenia's in the Pinch District north of downtown Memphis runs Betty Joyce Chester-Tamayo's soul food and her famous door-greeting hug since 2002.
The Four Way ★ 4.6
south-memphis · 998 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38126
The Four Way on Mississippi Boulevard in South Memphis is the city's defining Black-owned soul food room since 1946, where MLK ate but most tourists never go.
The Four Way ★ 4.6
south-memphis · 998 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38126
The Four Way on Mississippi Boulevard in South Memphis runs a soul food lunch plate around $15 with two sides, the Black-owned Memphis room that fed MLK.