Memphis restaurant wins People’s Choice Award at South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Miami got a taste of Memphis’ "Sweet Spicy Love" this past weekend — and it seems they loved every bite.

Lou Martin of Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken was one of the featured chefs at the 2024 Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

He won the People’s Choice Award at Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives LIVE" event on Friday night. It was his second year in a row to win the title.

“In 23 years, they have never had a back-to-back winner,” Martin said. “We will definitely be going for a third win next year.”

For the competition, Martin prepared his Sweet Spicy Love Chicken Tenderloins and his Honey Butter Biscuits.

In its 23rd year, the annual festival is a national, star-studded destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities. This year's event was Feb. 22-25 in Miami.

Fieri invited a handpicked selection of America's finest roadside diners, vintage drive-ins, and hidden gems featured on the hit Food Network show. Uncle Lou's first appearance on a Fieri show was in 2008. The restaurant was featured by Fieri again in 2020 and just this past month. It was his third time to be invited by Fieri to the South Beach festival.

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Lou Martin, the “Uncle Lou” behind Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken, slathers his crispy fried chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce that was invented by his great-grandmother. Martin won’t share all his great-grandmother’s secrets, but he did say that some of the ingredients behind his sweet and spicy sauce are honey, hot sauce, red wine vinegar and their signature “corruption” seasoning. His chicken — available in mild or hot — is crispy, spicy and sweet all at the same time. His restaurant is located in Whitehaven at 3633 Millbranch Road.

Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer. 

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken wins at South Beach Wine & Food Festival