America’s best soul food restaurants

While all soul food can be considered Southern, not all Southern food can be considered soul. Soul food tends to utilize leftover cuts of meat such as chicken neck bones, wings and oxtails as well as offal. Spices are used liberally, vegetables are often cooked in meat broths or fat to add flavor and there's just something about that gooey macaroni and cheese that's different from the typical kind you'd find somewhere else.

Influenced by the foodways of the Americas, West Africa and Western Europe, other commonly seen soul food dishes include biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, fried catfish, collard greens, ribs, butter beans and so many more mouth watering dishes. Here are the restaurants in America that do it the best.