I'm from Texas and am always on the lookout for good southern food. This place is the real deal! The sweet tea is veeeery sweet, the service is friendly and fast considering how busy they are. The portions are generous (of course) and I love that you get three sides with every entree. We had the fried green tomatoes, which came out thick cut, piping hot and delicately breaded with cornmeal. There was enough to feed 4-6 people in the appetizer portion. For the main course I had chicken fried steak with corn, collard greens and okra. The okra was clearly commercially breaded and not very fresh but was enough to satisfy my craving. The corn was nicely buttery, and the collards were rich without being overwhelming or too salty. The chicken fried steak blew me away. Tender, perfectly breaded, perfectly cooked, and smothered in perfect, rich, smooth, and not too salty gravy. My companion had the fried chicken with okra, cornbread dressing (especially delightful with that lovely gravy), and Mac-n-cheese, and we were not disappointed with that either. So, bottom line, not perfect but damn good. You won't find better southern food short of Miss Delta's in Portland, or the South of course. And the price is certainly right. Will go back many more times in the future, I am sure! read more

Great food. Not really anything that healthy on the menu though but really enjoyed

Never disappointed with the service or food! I always leave satisfied. The sweet tea is great everytime :-)

Finally got a chance to try them and it left something to be desired. Especially for the price. Maybe it's unfair to use "Sweet Georgia Brown's" as the litmus test for all southern comfort food restaurants, but that ship has sailed. The people there are pretty friendly, let me just start with that. And its got a comforting, southern atmosphere. But the food is just ok. The brisket was decent. And that's where I'll stop. Doubt I'll ever go back. read more

UPDATE FOR 2012: My previous review stands. Consistency is everything to me in a restaurant-they still have good chow, still have better waitstaff than the olden days. Only sad the chicken fried steak had white instead of brown gravy today, but oh well. read more

This is the place to be crispy chicken and a plate licking good macaroni. Not your kraft this it the real stuff with real cheese.

Let me start out by saying that I just moved up to Tacoma, WA from GA. That being said I know an authentic southern meal when I see/taste one. My bf and I were missing the taste of a good Sunday dinner and sweet tea, this place was the answer. The sweet tea was just right and the fried catfish and greens were phenomenal! But...the sausage gravy and biscuits left much to be desired (the gravy was bland and the biscuits chewy). I will say this though, they peach cobbler did make me feel better. lol. So, I'm just going to have to make another trip (and I will as everything else was stellar) in hopes of upgrading Southern Kitchen to 5 stars. read more

This place has the best Breakfast Special in town*Something different for everyday of the week $5.95

Mmmm. The fried chicken is very tasty. Wide menu. I highly recommend the strawberry lemonade. It is so flavorful and made with real strawberries. read more

I popped in here last week, and really all I can say is not really impressed, food was ok, prices were high 17 bucks for fried chicken plate for lunch with mac and cheese, corn bread pancakes. Not remotely worth it, won't be back. read more

Truly a southern kitchen! The grits were great and the whole breakfast was just perfect! Find a seat at the counter and step back in time!

This place is amazing! Good food and service! Creamed beef on biscuits... A+

Everything was so good. Good customer service, good food. I ordered the butter fish, which I had never had before. It was well seasoned and cooked just right. I ordered the greens and yams with it. All really good. My husband had the chicken wings dinner, which was also tasty and not greasy. I ordered a strawberry lemonade and was shocked when it came. It was huge. For dessert, we were served a generous portion of peach cobbler. While the cobbler filling was really good, I didn't really care for the crust. This is the only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5. My actual rating would be closer to 41/2 stars. Go here if you're ever in Tacoma. read more

One of the two best places to get southern cooking outside of Georgia! Unbelievable fried chicken and the biscuits... Oh the biscuits. Great place that lives up to Guy's hype! read more

Awesome food! I had fried chicken and fried okra. It's nice to be able to get some southern home cooking up here. Endless glasses of sweet tea! Parking is a pain. We parked about a block away. The restaurant is small so it's definitely not for large groups. If you aren't comfortable in a crowded space I would suggest going at an odd ball time. Very popular and gets busy. Will definitely be back for the awesome food ! read more

Absolutely delicious...i had the catfish dinner with baked macaroni and yams. Food comes out fast. Food is reasonably priced...i didn't care for the yams or corn cake though. read more

Southern Kitchen - Catfish Dinner, comes with a corn cake - Southern Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Great place for breakfast! Go early, the dining room fills up fast! We enjoyed the Monday breakfast special that included corn cakes, sausage and eggs, and I also had the grits and coffee. The only downer is that 5 of us were served, and the other 2 received their breakfast 10 minutes later. read more

Being a southern girl I was shocked that this place actually had tasty southern food. It was so good I came back the next day (I'm a little deprived of southern comforts at the moment as a current resident of SoCal). I hade the Cajun catfish strips with macaroni and collard greens. The fish had a great taste although I would say the first day my batter was a little over cooked, but the flavor was still good. The macaroni was good. Only real complaint was the collard greens seemed to be can greens. Also the restaurant is small so do not go there on a Sunday bc you will have to wait. read more

We have been waiting for a while to get fried chicken here and finally did. We were NOT disappointed. The chicken was too hot so we had to let it cool. I had black eyed peas-really good. The strawberry lemonade is fantastic so don't forget that. Comes with whipped cream!! Back to the chicken-after it cooled I not in and went straight into a cloud of heavenly goodness. Fantastic chicken. From the outside I would not have guessed I was in for the best fried chicken ever! If you're in the area, go! You won't be disappointed read more

I been there a few time, everytime the food has been ok. The mac and cheese has no seasoning. The yams were good, the chicken was very greasy and to hot to even eat. While eating another aoul food restaurant a customer was telling me and husband about the southern kitchen. He said that the owner that was on guys tv show sold the business to someone else. That's why the food taste different, he said the food was better when the original owner was there. I think they need to take down the pic of the original owner and Gut because she no longer owns the restaurant. We found a new restaurant which is way better. read more

I heard raves about the Southern Kitchen and really wanted to try it! I was so excited. I had breakfast. Not warm enough food served on a cold, cheap plastic plate. The food was good, but not that exciting. Our waiter totally ignored us once we got our food. No coffee refills, no picking up of dirty plates.......we had to go to the cash register to pay. Disappointing! read more

Strawberry lemonade was good, BUT, i found cardboard in my greens blew the ENTIRE meal

Oh, man...this place is killer! Spot on, authentic and super tasty southern soul food. The fried chicken was absolutely some of the best I've had in a while. Mac & cheese had real stringy, gooey cheese all up in it. Corn cake & cornbread dressing were delicious. And definitely follow many of the recommendations here and order a strawberry lemonade. SO GOOD! You won't go wrong going here. read more

All I can say is, "Bravo!" Tea and lemonade spot on. Fried chicken & chicken fried steak out of this world & crispy. Macaroni & cheese made my wife wax poetic about her childhood. And the candied yams were enough to make the mere thought of eating dessert laughable. Can it possibly get better? Yep--it all comes with a corn pancake & maple syrup served before dinner arrives so you start to question the wisdom of having ordered dinner in the first place! Without a doubt, 500+ reviews cannot be wrong...and this place delivered in spades. Best part of the whole meal was the friendly service and smiles. We felt like family from the moment we walked in, and it made the meal. Will we be back? You bet...and we can't wait! read more

We've had been wanting to try the Southern Kitchen for a while. We were not disappointed! Food was great and even through it was packed, the service was good. read more

Visited with my wife during the holidays and she is VERY hard to please but this place passed the test!! The staff was wonderful and friendly, came over and explained the menu, specials and etc.. My wife had the creamed beef with biscuits and I had the butterfish.. omg.. Amazing!! Can't wait to come back and try other items... great job, my taste buds thank you read more

I don't know how this place has had such great reviews. Fried chicken was over fried and the meat was dry. Mac and cheese was too greasy instead of creamy. Too overpriced for such low quality food. I remember it being a little bit better about 4 years ago although the catfish back then tasted like the bottom of the pond so I swore not to ever order that again. I wanted to give them another chance but they fell short again. They really need to reevaluate the cooks. read more

Southern Kitchen - Tasteless fried chicken. Greasy Mac and cheese. They have no clue what southern food is! - Southern Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Southern cooking at its best. This is a spot worth going out of your way for. Soul food done right. I'd be willing to bet everything on the menu is fabulous but I can say with certainty that the catfish fillets and fried chicken are spot on. Best catfish I've had in 3 years since leaving Nashville. The fixins were outstanding as well.... collards, black-eyed peas, fried okra, mashed taters....Absolutely yummy. Oh and the strawberry lemonade is a must have. read more

The food is excellent. The portions are worth the money spent. I tell you this food is the bomb. Bring the family, bring the kids. Just be ready to wait awhile for your food. It is worth it. read more

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We had a pretty large party we thought we would go check out this amazing restaurant that everybody raves about in Tacoma. We love soul food it's actually everyone's favorite in our family and I'm not too bad a cook myself so I pretty much know what this is supposed to taste like and I have to say it is extremely overpriced for the food that you get. I ordered the cat fish tenders and it was basically cat fish french fries. All you could taste was breading no catfish and it was $17 so if you want to spend a lot of money and get basic below standard food this will be the place to go. Although the waitstaff is extremely friendly, basically the nicest people I've met in the food industry work there so the people are great. I'll probably just go back and get something to drink and talk to the waitstaff they're just so nice. read more

Can't believe I had never been here. So good. My favorite was the corn cake. Had the fried chicken, yams and cornbread stuffing. Fried okra was great too. read more

Southern Kitchen - Great fried chicken. - Southern Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

We happened to be over there for a morning appointment. Not being familiar with AREA I checked yelp for a great breakfast location. We were seated promptly and waited on. Food came very fast. I had chipped beef with biscuits... boyfriend had chicken fried steak. No room for tea but it looked amazing. We will definitely be back for lunch. read more

We finally checked this place out after all the hype we have heard about it. We got the chicken fried steak with mash potatoes and corn and the fried chicken with the Mac and cheese with mash potatoes. The food was great all around. It wasn't the best I've ever had but it was a good meal and enjoyable. The Mac n cheese was very good and we enjoyed the corn bread they give you while your dinner is being made. The service was quick and friendly. If you want some good quality home-made comfort food then this is place to go! read more

The server was friendly and the price was low. The food is very flavorful. Definitely a must whenever I'm in Tacoma.

Waited over 1.5 hours for food. Then it came out one plate at a time with 10 minutes in between each plate. My chicken and mashed potatoes were cold... servers didn't seem to care. Got more chicken and it took 20 min!!!! Mentioned to them our food took forever and their response "It's always busy here"... um, how about if you know it's ridiculously busy, hire more employees? Won't be back! read more

This place use to be insane. Then they sold it and the new owners couldn't care less about quality

i am from ga this place does not serve southern style cooking !!! if you are from the deep south do not waste your time and money ! you will be pissed ! read more

Their food is really good. It's very old school and they treat everyone like family. Everything on the menu is really tasty and they serve corn bread pancakes with maple syrup on the side. Southern Kitchen is always worth visiting. read more

First time eating here. Lets just say AMAZING. Service was excellent on a very busy day. Had catfish stripes with mac and cheese and red beans. Wow. Catfish was cooked perfectly with great seasoning. Mac and cheese melted in my mouth with amazing flavor. Red beans were full of flavor and delicious. My friend had chicken with collard greens and cornbread stuffing with brown gravy. Chicken was cooked perfectly with seasoning that complimented the meat perfectly. Collard greens were amazing and tasted like they should, tender and succulent. The dressing was moist and with the gravy was perfect. Not to salty like many places serve. It was perfect. This place is so worth visiting. Expect to wait a bit on weekends but the wait is very much worth it. I will definately come back. Love the food and loved the staff. read more

This North Carolinian finds this place absolutely delicious! The breakfast deal is a DEAL! The service is excellent and we just love being able to find grits, biscuits and gravy, and the best pancakes in our neighborhood! read more