With songs like “Hot Buttered Soul” and “Green Onions,” it should come as no surprise that Stax artists had food on their minds when they lived and worked in Soulsville, USA. But one doesn’t need the playlist from the Stax archives to figure that out. Just make one visit to Memphis and it’ll be apparent to you that food plays a major role in Memphis culture, especially soul food. Peppered with both well-known establishments and hole-in-the-wall joints, Memphis serves up some of the best down-home Southern soul food in the country.

BB King's Blues Club
Inspired by an authentic Delta juke joint, the club includes B.B. King photos and memorabilia. We serve up down-home southern cuisine along with live entertainment seven days a week.  Steaks, fresh seafood, mouth watering bar-b-q, cajun pasta and plenty of appetizers all come together to create the perfect combination of delicious food, energetic music, cold drinks and a great time all packed into one building.

And for a more exclusive dining experience, check out Itta Bena. Accessed by a secret hallway from within BB King's, you will find "A unique delta experience". Itta Bena is the newest addition to B.B. King's. Designed after the speakeasies from the 1920's you are sure to feel like a VIP when you are escorted to Itta Bena's. The experience is further heightened when you step inside and find yourself surrounded by deep wood floors, vaulted ceilings, rich golden hued chandeliers and the faint sound of the enteric street below. Touching all the senses we complete your evening by offering a delta inspired menu full of simple flavors and clean presentations. 

A few blocks away on Front Street, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken looks far from legendary, but this unassuming eatery serves up what many folks claim to be the best chicken since the invention of the modern frying pan. Gus’ one-of-a-kind spicy-seasoned bird has been featured in GQ Magazine, Vogue and USA Today.

At the corner of Main Street and G.E. Patterson, Ernestine and Hazel’s stands as one of the last relics of Old Memphis. For its atmosphere alone, this brothel-turned-juke joint is not to be missed, and thanks to the world-famous Soul Burgers (the flat-top grill is almost constantly filled with the sizzling, spicy patties), you won’t stay hungry while you’re there.

Directly across the street, visitors will find the Arcade Restaurant serving up some of Memphis’ finest home cooking. Stop in for breakfast before perusing the galleries of the historic South Main Arts District. (Be sure to ask for the Rufus Thomas booth.) If the kitschy-but-legendary soda fountain place looks familiar, it’s because scenes from several major films were shot here as well, including Mystery Train, The Firm, The Client, A Family Thing, 21 Grams, Elizabethtown and more.

Take Main Street a few miles north to the Historic Pinch District and you’ll find Alcenia’s, which is famous for two things: the hugs given by the owner, B.J., to every customer who walks in her door, and the smothered cabbage, the world’s tastiest version of the typically ho-hum vegetable.

Venture into the broad residential grid Memphians call “Midtown” and you’ll find Bob’s Barksdale Restaurant and The Cupboard, two neighborhood jewels that on any given Sunday are booth-full with bleary-eyed college kids alongside a much-better-dressed (but equally hungry) after-church crowd.

But the most beloved soul food restaurant in Memphis is the Four-Way Grill. Known to be frequented by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this legendary spot just blocks from the Stax Museum won “Best Soul Food” from readers of Memphis Magazine in 1999, despite being closed for most of that year.