Brain food is well and good and all, but how about food that feeds the soul? If you’re craving a plate of oxtails, catfish, and red beans & rice, heed our list of the best soul food spots in Houston: including greasy spoons, food trucks, and classic kitchens.
1. Aunt Bill’s Soul Food Cafe
The local Katy cafe is a favorite in the area, serving authentic homemade-feeling soul food. Popularized by TikTok, the cafe features a delicious soul favorites like fish fillets, cornbread dressing, succotash, and red beans and rice alongside a great selection of hotdogs and waffles. The venue is also known to stage live music and DJs.
📍22603 Morton Ranch Rd Ste 220
2. Cassy’s Kitchen
The black-owned, woman-owned kitchen is a go-to for soul food in Houston. Here, patrons can enjoy hearty plates of oxtails, baked chicken, beef tips, with all your favorite sides including scrumptious yams, mac & cheese, green beans, and cornbread dressing. If visiting for breakfast, fans gush over the buttery pancakes, french toast, and wings and waffles. Cassy’s desserts are also beloved, including the pecan cake.
📍8601 Martin Luther King Blvd B
3. Bo-bobs
Bo-bobs is another, casual no-frills soul food Houston spot. Housed inside a gas station, the highly-rated, Cajun and southern spot is hailed for its depth of flavor, enriching the likes of its gumbo, Cajun-style spaghetti, and fried catfish. If it’s your first time visiting, we recommend The Overload, featuring sausage, shrimp, and chicken loaded with Cajun cream sauce.
📍5203 Almeda Rd.
4. Micheaux’s Southern Cuisine
The Missouri City-based restaurant is worth the drive for those of us in the city. The soul food gem is known for its warm and welcome hospitality as well as delicious authentic dishes. Classics like the fall-off-the-bone oxtails are a favorite, along with the baked chicken – paired with the cream corn and peach cobbler for dessert – you can’t go wrong.
📍6850 Highway 6
5. Mikki’s Soulfood Cafe
Now with two locations in Houston – one tucked away in a strip mall in south Houston – Mikki’s Soulfood Cafe is a popular cafeteria-style soul food spot in Houston. Favorites here include the broccoli rice casserole and pepper steak in addition to well-seasoned sides. While there, you shouldn’t not order a daiquiri.
📍10500 W Bellfort Ave # 100
📍9603 Broadway St. STE
6. Heavenly Choices
Feel the love at Heavenly Choices in Northeast Houston. Here, guests can enjoy good old fashioned southern hospitality with a super friendly staff, generous portions of incredible – yet affordable food – and an atmosphere that feels like home. Recommended dishes at Heavenly Choices include the Oxtail on Mac & Cheese, Fried Chicken & Smothered Pork Chops, Meatloaf, and for dessert, either the Peach Cobbler or German Butter Cake.
📍3810 Cavalcade St.
7. Annie B’s Southern Cuisine
Also known as Soul Y Mex Kitchen, Annie B’s Southern Cuisine is a beloved restaurant in Northeast Houston. Enjoy authentic, scratch-made meatloaf, beef-tips, spaghetti, with sides of red beans and rice, mac and cheese, and large slices of sweet cornbread.
📍9603 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W
8. O’ Taste & See Eatery
The Cajun-spun soul food spot on Northwest Freeway is known for its flavorful and generous portions at affordable prices. Smothered pork chops, fried okra, cajun pasta, fried catfish, turkey wings, pig feet, mustard greens, and fried okra, are all solid options. Maybe don’t skip on the candied yams either – we wouldn’t.
📍10971 Northwest Fwy
9. Esther’s Cajun Cafe & Soul Food
Find classic cajun cuisine with a healthy dose of soul at Esther’s Cajun Cafe & Soul Food. The family-owned, dine-in cafe near Oak Forest is cafeteria-style, where visitors can load up their plates with hearty portions of oxtail, fried catfish, and garlic roasted baked chicken. The cajun chitterlings are also favorite.
📍5007 N Shepherd Dr., Houston
10. Brown Sugar
Make your way to Katy and treat yourself to a hearty, soul-warming meal at the Brown Sugar food truck. Indulge in a delicious selection of oxtails, catfish, and brisket sandwiches. Pair your meal with Cajun fries, rich and creamy mac and cheese, and an order of glazed wings.
📍1718 Fry Rd STE 335
See also: 11 Marvelous Mexican Restaurants In Houston