Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Seattle 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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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.
#14. Ezell's Famous Chicken
- Rating: 3.0/5 (129 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 4436 Rainier Ave. South Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Comfort Food, Chicken Shop
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#13. Ezell's Famous Chicken
- Rating: 3.1/5 (268 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 2300 North 45th St. Ste 6906 Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Comfort Food, Chicken Shop
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#12. Shingletown Saloon
- Rating: 3.3/5 (111 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2016 Northwest Market St. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Pubs, New American, Southern
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#11. Honest Biscuits
- Rating: 3.5/5 (486 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1901 Western Ave. Ste East Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Bakeries, Southern, Breakfast & Brunch
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#10. Ezell's Famous Chicken
- Rating: 3.5/5 (919 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 501 23rd Ave. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
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#9. Ezell's Famous Chicken
- Rating: 3.5/5 (48 reviews)
- Address: 4205 Southwest Morgan St. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Chicken Shop, Comfort Food
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#8. Simply Soulful
- Rating: 4.1/5 (479 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2321 South Jackson St. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Desserts, Soul Food, Southern
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#7. Biscuit Bitch
- Rating: 4.2/5 (5010 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1909 1st Ave. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Coffee & Tea, Southern
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#6. Fat's Fried Chicken & Waffles
- Rating: 4.3/5 (887 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2726 East Cherry St. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Soul Food, Waffles
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#5. Seattle Biscuit Company
- Rating: 4.3/5 (266 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4001 Leary Way Northwest Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Food Trucks, Southern, Soul Food
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#4. Biscuit Bitch
- Rating: 4.3/5 (1815 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2303 3rd Ave. Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern, Coffee & Tea
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#3. Triangle Spirits
- Rating: 4.4/5 (134 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 3507 Fremont Place North Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Whiskey Bars
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#2. Emma's BBQ
- Rating: 4.4/5 (215 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 5303 Rainier Ave. South Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Southern, Barbecue
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#1. Drae's Lake Route
- Rating: 4.5/5 (214 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 9261 57th Ave. South Seattle, Washington
- Categories: Chicken Wings, Breakfast & Brunch, Southern
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