Food & Wine Magazine sends me emails fairly often, but I don’t usually have time for them unless the headline catches my eye. This one did: “The 50 best Southern restaurants in America, according to OpenTable.”
Hmmm. I’m in the South – I wonder if I’ve been to any of these ‘best Southern restaurants’, I wonder what the selection criteria was, I wonder ….”
So of course I read the article, and of course I’m sharing it with you. I’ve only been to two of the 50 spots on the list, Brennan’s of Houston and Mr. B’s in New Orleans, both of which were excellent, in my humble opinion (that extended Brennan’s family just knows how to do restaurants). In fact, I have a Mr. B’s post half-drafted to share with y’all one day soon in my Restaurant Rave series – it’s all about the barbecued shrimp. And the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever had was at Brennan’s in Houston. Stories for another day…
The methodology for selecting this list of top Southern restaurants was based on analysis of OpenTable reviews of restaurants in the Southern Cuisine category over a certain period of time. It’s interesting that the restaurants aren’t all located in the South; they are simply “Southern restaurants”. I guess that’s all right, but I feel a little uneasy about it. It’s cool, though, and not surprising, that New Orleans had the most establishments on the list with 8.
- Abel Brown: Augusta, Georgia
- Acadiana: Washington, D.C.
- Acre: Auburn, Alabama
- Alligator Soul: Savannah, Georgia
- Anson: Charleston, South Carolina
- Antebellum: Flowery Branch, Georgia
- Atchafalaya Restaurant: New Orleans, Louisiana
- The Boil Waverly: New York, New York
- Boucherie: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Brennan’s of Houston: Houston, Texas
- Cafe Dupont: Birmingham, Alabama
- Carrollton Market: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Circa 1886: Charleston, South Carolina
- Cured: San Antonio, Texas
- Cypress Restaurant: Tallahassee, Florida
- Distilled at The Sire Hotel: Lexington, Kentucky
- Dogwood Southern Table & Bar: Charlotte, North Carolina
- Fixe: Austin, Texas
- High Street Caffe & Vudu Lounge: West Chester, Pennsylvania
- Highball & Harvest: Orlando, Florida
- Highlands Bar & Grill: Birmingham, Alabama
- Hot and Hot Fish Club: Birmingham, Alabama
- Ida Claire: Addison, Texas
- Kitchen Notes – Omni Nashville: Nashville, Tennessee
- The King’s Kitchen: Charlotte, North Carolina
- Langdon’s Restaurant: Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
- Madison’s: Highlands, North Carolina
- Mandolin: Raleigh, North Carolina
- Maple Tree Inn: Blue Island, Illinois
- Merrick Inn: Lexington, Kentucky
- Midtown Cafe: Nashville, Tennessee
- Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Mr. B’s Bistro: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Muriel’s Jackson Square: New Orleans, Louisiana
- The Olde Pink House Restaurant: Savannah, Georgia
- Preserved Restaurant: St. Augustine, Florida
- Rapscallion: Dallas, Texas
- Restaurant IRON: Pensacola, Florida
- Restaurant R’evolution: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Restaurant Rebirth: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Root & Bone: New York, New York
- RT’s Restaurant: Alexandria, Virginia
- Rx Restaurant: Wilmington, North Carolina
- South City Kitchen: Multiple locations
- State of Grace: Houston, Texas
- Stella’s Bistro – Simpsonville: Simpsonville, South Carolina
- Toutant: Buffalo, New York
- Urban Grub: Nashville, Tennessee
- Willa Jean: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Yardbird Southern Table & Bar: Multiple locations
I want to check some of these out! Watch this space for more restaurant raves, if they live up to the hype.
Read the article here: These are the 50 best Southern restaurants in America, according to OpenTable.
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