The Most Scrumptious Soul Food in Louisville

Shirley Mae's Café

★★★★☆ 4.3 (194) • $

"Good food, friendly staff, To go only and very slow service. This small family own and run business can earn a solid 4 or plus if the rating was solely based on the food. While it could earn a 1 if the review was based on quickness of service. Does the good food worth the wait? Not if you are on the go but if you are ordering from here for work, family or yourself, give it an hour or so before you plan to eat, including if you call an order a minute after they open. Good wings, Mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, Chicken N Dumpling, okay tilapia Bon appetit"

Soul Secrets

★★★★☆ 4.2 (190) • $$

"Absolutely a great experience. Catfish was excellent. Fried chicken delicious. We tried several sides and enjoyed everything. The server was great and we met the owner. She told us all the food was based off her grandmother's recipes."

Mi Mi's Southern Style Cooking

★★★★☆ 4.4 (163) • $$

"This place was mediocre at best. I wanted to love it, reminds me of the south with the set up hot bar. We stayed to eat. Order at the counter and seat yourself. There was no real menu, a guy behind us told us they had fish if you ask for it. They didn't give us hot sauce or silverware, we went back to the counter no one was there, so we just grabbed it ourselves. No one even came out lol."

Kopper Kettle Inn Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.8 (114) • $$

"I have been going to The Kopper Kettle for 55 years and have not been disappointed. The food has always been excellent! I love the family style service! Our service is always different. Probably because we have a different server each time! We have never had terrible service. We tend to be flexible and optimistic, so we may not notice we are getting bad service? Try it for yourself, then leave your review! I will be watching for it!"

Franco's Restaurant and Catering

★★★★☆ 4.2 (82) • $$

"Fire!!! So good! Black owned and operated. Great hospitality and great food. Soul food with flavor and not salt. Grape kool-aid for that at home feel. Will be back! Side note: kids eat free!!"

Indi's Fast Food Restaurant

★★★★☆ 4.1 (86) • $

"The food here is superb. Keep in mind, everything is fried, so not for health nuts. But once in a while, you deserve a treat. I've been a fan of Indi's wings for years! They NEVER disappoint. They are perfectly cooked and spicy every time. My wife loves the wedges, basically a giant fluffy French fry. Service here is on point. Friendly, fast and a very clean restaurant. Do your self a favor and schedule a trip to Indi's soon!"

Josanne's Homestyle Kitchen

★★★★☆ 4.2 (80)

"This place has legit fried fish and shrimp. The greens were perfect. Mac and cheese satisfying. The cornmeal pancake topped everything off. The staff was friendly and all was super clean. Highly recommended."

Grimes's Fast Food

★★★★☆ 4 (70) • $

"Well, no this is not diet food. But it was NOT greasy!!! I stopped here because I am on the hunt for the best fried chicken in Lexington. I ordered the three chicken strips with one side and a dinner roll. The dinner roll was just a dinner roll, not bad, but not spectacular as far as dinner rolls go. My side was mashed potatoes and gravy. Good. Two plain strips and one spicy. Go ahead and order spicy, it is not too hot. The plain was good, but I felt like it might need a little salt although I don't need more salt in my diet. . Anyway, the entire meal was pretty yum!!!! I will come here again! The chicken was fried perfectly. ( not sure if they soak it in buttermilk, it could have been a touch more tender. ). Still, this chicken is delicious enough to keep you thinking about it and coming back for more!!! So , YES, five stars!!!"

Lucretia's Kitchen

★★★★☆ 4.1 (61) • $$

"No one in restaurant when we arrived but perhaps it was due to being a Sunday. Seemed almost like a soft opening as the waitress didn't seem to know whether certain items were available. That being said, the chicken was great (5/5)! Very juicy and crisp. We also ordered the Mac and cheese (4/5), Cole slaw (4/5), and some greens (4/5). We did wait a bit for the food as it appeared everything was cooked to order. Definitely recommend and expect to wait for your food a bit but worth the wait."

Big Momma's Soul Kitchen

★★★★☆ 3.8 (65) • $

"I have only been here once, but I am hoping to return soon! It's very good & the staff are friendly."

Blue Skillet

★★★★★ 4.8 (29)

"This place is soooooo good! Went to Blue Skillet with my family and tried the Salmon croquettes with macaroni and cheese and green beans. The mac and cheese was delicious!!! The croquettes were full of flavor. I will definitely be coming back to try more or take care of any cravings! The service was friendly and pretty fast for how busy they were. We came in at the lunch rush.Small parking lot but street parking is available."

Southern Express Soul Food

★★★★☆ 4 (40) • $

"This is an interesting place. Service was fast and as others have mentioned it is very affordable. It isn't the best I've had, but for a few dollars I'm happy. I got the fish fry and the mac n cheese. The fried fish was a bit bland but the fish was crispy outside and tender inside. The mac n cheese was gooey and I was pleasantly surprised by how much flavor it had.I tried the yams my friend ordered and they were fantastic. Definitely something I'd order next time. The fried chicken skin was good. Unfortunately, they don't do thicken breasts and I'm not personally a huge fan of dark meat.My friends and I decided to eat in the restaurant (we had been walking St. James for a few hours and it was nice to sit in the AC), but in the future I'd do carry out. This isn't my new go to place, but it's good. If you are looking for something cheap and tasty I'd check it out!"

Hook Fish & Chicken

★★★★☆ 3.8 (44) • $

"Great food, what ambiance? It is a carry out building. The catfish and wings were great. Like the slaw and the onion rings were good. Service was quick and friendly."

Daddy Vic's Soul Food

★★★★★ 4.8 (25)

"The bomb--you know it's good when they have that big fork, spoon, and knife on the wall!This place is a hidden gem! I came in for the KY derby as a visitor and left as family. The peach cobbler is AMAZING! The people are friendly and just good folks. Definitely a place to stop by when you are in town. Daddy Vic would be proud of his legacy."

Millie's Place

★★★★☆ 4.1 (30) • $$

"Decided to support a local black owned business today and Millies has the BEST fried chicken. It was juicy but not greasy. The portion was perfect and the sides were good as well. Especially the greens. Just like (grand) mom use to make! I had the yams and macaroni and fish too. It was one of those days where everything looked and sounded good. The order was called in for pick up and the service was good. I advise going during the week. I heard it is a zoo on Sundays with the church crowd.Not so humbly submitted,Michael C."

Richies

★★★★☆ 3.9 (23)

"Between Ritchie's, Indy's, and Grimes, this place is part of a family of fast food restaurants. Or, should I say chicken wing specialty restaurants? That's exactly what they're all known for.This is the newest of the family of restaurants. It's located on New Circle Rd., across the street from the old bowling alley. The building itself was recently a short lived Wing Hut, and before that, it was Brooks BBQ 2. I will say that I prefer chicken tenders over wings, so I might be disqualified from being taken seriously here. I'll say, I've had much better chicken tenders at other places. Specifically, the ones from Lee's are much better. As my side, I got mashed potatoes and gravy. The brown gravy was gelatin like and the potatoes had obviously been sitting awhile and needed a good stir. There were lumps in the potatoes, but not like the lumps in real potatoes, but like flaky or flour like lumps, that made the texture odd. The taste was odd too.I'm not sure if I'd be back. Maybe I'll eventually try the wings and update my review. Until then, these three stars are generous."

Big Fellaz

★★★★☆ 4.4 (8)

"This place is legit. We stopped in as we were driving through town. Just up the street is a historic gas station that has been converted to free EV charging. We at lunch while I topped off.I had the polish sausage, my son got catfish and my daughter got mac and cheese. My son's meal was the star of the show. They were willing to cut the catfish into nugget sized pieces before they breaded it.There's not much seating inside. We got lucky because another family was leaving the one table right as we arrived. Their TV is about the size of the total table space for the restaurant.I will definitely stop in again when I come through town."

Tinos Taste of Heaven

★★★★★ 5 (2)

"Sunday Dinner ~ Superb Smothered Pork Chops in gravy and onions. I bit a piece of my finger off and had to put it back on my finger. Homemade Mashed Potatoes topped with gravy and Cabbages with a slice of tomato on top.A piece of cornbread that tasted like cake. For Dessert strawberry cake & peach cobbler. Service is always top notch. They greet you and ensure everything is just fine. Southern Hospitality.Ambiance like sitting in grandma kitchen. Carry out or sit down is available. Great Sunday Dinner."

Sassy Bleu

★★★★☆ 3.5 (4)

"Hard to say anything good. The service was terrible, took an hour and we were the only table in the place. We had to ask were our food was only to be told the ticket didn't make it to the kitchen. The food was awful. The Mac n cheese had separated and was not edible. The cornbread was burnt. The fried chicken was over cooked and dry. We did get to hear several conversations the bar patrons were having on their phones because they were on their speakers. I think the location is cursed. We will never go back and not recommend to anyone."