Hero - Interior Page Hero Module
Listicles
Introduction Text
While Southern comfort cuisine and soul food use similar ingredients, it’s important to dig into the distinctions. Here, you can enjoy the best tastes of both.
Text Block Module
When enslaved people adapted recipes from their home countries to the ingredients available in the developing United States, they were creating fusion cuisine long before the term or culinary niche existed. Southern comfort food also mixed several cooking traditions.
Many diners skip the history lesson when it comes to soul food, but it’s important to note that a lot of the dishes we enjoy today were developed on Southern plantations. Enslaved Africans worked to use undesirable cuts of meat and vegetable scraps, crafting recipes that kept their families fed. Thin meals were made hearty by stewing meats and greens, making gravies and cooking with animal fats to provide enough sustenance to labor in the fields. Preparing meals was communal, with older generations orally sharing recipes to connect their children to the food of their ancestors. Their tenacity and will to survive meant the food was cooked with soul.
Additionally, Appalachian cuisine (bring on the butter) and low-country favorites (seafood all the way) join forces to create a palate-pleasing blend of dining experiences, while international comfort food is a universal language.
While Southern comfort cuisine and soul food use similar ingredients, it’s important to dig into the distinctions. Here, you can enjoy the best tastes of both.
Listicle View
Ilda and Meatballs in Jackson County
The unique marriage of Italian and Southern Appalachian flavors is the foundation of Ilda, where husband-and-wife duo Santiago and Crystal recreate comfort food you used to savor at your grandmother’s house. Be sure to order the meatballs; it's a special recipe passed down from Crystal’s stepmom, Karen, who used to own a beloved pizzeria called Meatballs in the exact same building where Ilda now resides. To make these meals even more heartwarming, Santiago and Crystal re-established Meatballs Pizzeria in downtown Sylva in 2023, ensuring Karen’s legacy lives on.
Circa 1800 Restaurant & Bar
The produce, honey, spirits and bakery items are locally sourced, and all 12 beers on tap are brewed in North Carolina. Brunch items like the seasonal French toast and waffles force afternoon naps.
Mayberry Restaurant
Bean-based soups (Brunswick stew, bean and bacon, and chili) offer a hearty warmup to refreshing ice cream flavors, such as banana pudding and peach.
Bout Thyme Kitchen
Locals rave about this spread of Southern cuisine. Think fried fish, chicken and waffles, and smothered pork chops. Got a sweet tooth? Check the bakery for lemon squares.
Bay Sire Bistro
Savor stick-to-your-ribs appetizers like pimento cheese served with deep fried pork skins. Fresh seafood dishes, salads and sandwiches honor thoroughbred racers.
Georgia Deans Restaurant and Bar
Find comfort staples like pimento cheese alongside seafood tortellini and grilled pork chops. Try the house-made Cajun chips.
The Chef and the Frog
Chef Sokun Nuon-Slama and her husband, Guillaume Slama, pour their hearts — and their respective Cambodian and French heritage — into every dish. Local ingredients get boosts from Thai chilies, rice vinegar and ginger. Try Cambodian beef for dinner, and the tartelette du jour (tart of the day) for dessert.
Jamaica Cuisine Cafe
Enjoy traditional Jamaican dishes like snapper escovitch, spicy curry goat, stewed oxtails and jerk chicken. Chef and owner Viviene Buckley-Ball travels to and from her home island to bring the spices and herbs of her childhood to this inner coastal town.
Feed your imagination with more mouth-watering dining ideas at The Official 2025 North Carolina Travel Guide.