Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Chicago by diners

When you travel below the Mason-Dixon Line, you'll find some of the most mouthwatering, comforting cuisine in the U.S.: Southern food.

Southern dishes are a vital part of American cuisine, from hushpuppies to ham hocks and beignets to barbecue. It's impossible to define a classic Southern meal, but a solid one starts with the sharp savory flavor of pimento cheese dip, followed by the delicious crunchiness of fried chicken or a spicy Louisiana 茅touff茅e, culminating with a sugary slice of chess pie that's best washed down with a tall glass of sweet tea.

What's unique about Southern fare is that multiple ethnic and cultural groups have influenced it. Spanish staples, such as potatoes and cocoa, are in many Southern dishes; the Acadians, who traveled to Louisiana from Nova Scotia and later became Louisiana Creoles, contributed their seafood to many Southern meals; African ingredients鈥攐kra, sorghum (an ancient grain), and black-eyed peas鈥攂ecame a part of the cuisine through the forced labor of enslaved people; French cooking methods, like braising and saut茅ing, are used for many Southern recipes; and Native Americans introduced corn to Southern recipes, yielding dishes like succotash and grits.

The Southern culinary scene is an explosion of cultures. To find out where you can sample some Southern offerings, compiled a list of the highest-rated Southern restaurants in the Chicago area using data from as of May 2, 2025. Businesses were selected using Yelp's ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only restaurants with at least 20 reviews tagged as "southern" on Yelp within a 10-kilometer radius of Chicago were included. As a result, some restaurants featured may serve other food items.

Read on to find the perfect spot to get a taste of the South near you.

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#28. The Licking Chicago

- Rating: 2.7/5 (158 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 5045 West Madison Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Seafood
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#27. Kitchen + Kocktails Chicago

- Rating: 3.2/5 (781 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 444 North Wabash Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Comfort Food, Cocktail Bars
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#26. Chicago's Home Of Chicken & Waffles

- Rating: 3.3/5 (980 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 3947 South King Drive Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Waffles
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#25. Macarthur's Restaurant

- Rating: 3.4/5 (259 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 5412 West Madison St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food
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#24. Lillie's Q

- Rating: 3.5/5 (1084 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 417 North Ashland Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern
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#23. Ina Mae Tavern & Packaged Goods

- Rating: 3.5/5 (530 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1415 North Wood St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Beverage Store, Breakfast & Brunch
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#22. Bourbon On Division

- Rating: 3.5/5 (59 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2050 West Division St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Whiskey Bars
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#21. Big Jones

- Rating: 3.7/5 (1800 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 5347 North Clark St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Bars
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#20. Yardbird

- Rating: 3.7/5 (394 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 530 North Wabash Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: New American, Southern, Cocktail Bars
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#19. Two Fish Crab Shack

- Rating: 3.8/5 (480 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 641 East 47th St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Seafood, Southern
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#18. House of Blues Restaurant & Bar

- Rating: 3.8/5 (159 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 329 North Dearborn St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Bars, Music Venues
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#17. Gold Coast Social

- Rating: 3.8/5 (55 reviews)
- Address: 7 West Divison St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, American, Cocktail Bars
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#16. The Budlong Southern Chicken

- Rating: 3.8/5 (413 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1008 West Armitage Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
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#15. Wishbone

- Rating: 3.9/5 (1079 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 161 North Jefferson St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Bars
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#14. Feed

- Rating: 3.9/5 (649 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 2803 West Chicago Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Diners
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#13. Chef Art Smith's Reunion

- Rating: 3.9/5 (211 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 700 East Grand Ave. Ste 131 Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: American, Southern, Chicken Shop
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#12. The Budlong Southern Chicken - Lincoln Square

- Rating: 4.0/5 (252 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4619 North Western Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
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#11. Roost Chicken & Biscuits

- Rating: 4.0/5 (419 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 494 North Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern
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#10. Southern Twang

- Rating: 4.0/5 (20 reviews)
- Address: 3517 North Spaulding Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Food Delivery Services, Southern, Seafood
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#9. Sweet Maple Cafe

- Rating: 4.0/5 (975 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1339 West Taylor St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: American, Southern, Breakfast & Brunch
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#8. Cleo's Southern Cuisine

- Rating: 4.1/5 (76 reviews)
- Address: 192 North Wells St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern
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#7. Dawn AM Eatery

- Rating: 4.1/5 (161 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1642 East 56th St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Cocktail Bars
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#6. Cleo's Southern Cuisine

- Rating: 4.1/5 (176 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4248 South Cottage Grove Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Personal Chefs, Caterers
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#5. Luella's Southern Kitchen

- Rating: 4.1/5 (1030 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4609 North Lincoln Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Breakfast & Brunch, Chicken Shop
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#4. The Boiler Shrimp & Crawfish

- Rating: 4.2/5 (715 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 3445 Dempster St. Skokie, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Cajun/Creole, Seafood
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#3. Dove's Luncheonette

- Rating: 4.2/5 (802 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1545 North Damen Ave. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, Tex-Mex, Breakfast & Brunch
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#2. Virtue Restaurant

- Rating: 4.5/5 (1062 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 1462 East 53rd St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, American
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#1. Boxcar Betty's

- Rating: 4.5/5 (123 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 500 West Madison St. Chicago, Illinois
- Categories: Southern, fast food, Chicken Shop
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