The Tastes of Tallahassee

Geographically speaking, Tallahassee is in a unique position to be influenced by the nearby locales of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and the Gulf Coast. We take these neighboring flavors and infuse them into our own understandings of what Southern food is meant to be.

There’s the traditional Southern-style meal—think collard greens and casseroles, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese, with sweet tea to drink. It’s the kind of meal you would find at a Baptist potluck. Barbecue is big, too, with Southern sides paired with a rack of ribs, smoked turkey, or burnt ends, all smothered in your preferred sauce of traditional red or maybe an Alabama white sauce.

Due to the nearby Apalachicola shores, Tallahassee enjoys its fair share of the Gulf Coast’s fresh seafood and trademark oysters. Keep trucking along the same coast, and you’ll reach Louisiana within daylight hours; that seafood incorporates Cajun influences, with gumbos, étouffée, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, and po’boys appearing on many local menus.

From come-as-you-are mom-and-pop restaurants to soul spots to elevated establishments that are reimagining Southern traditions, Tallahassee has many palate-pleasing options for a down-home meal. Turn the page to discover some highlights.

Photo by The Workmans

Southern Casual

A Southern casual establishment exudes Southern comfort, both in its food and environment. Whether you’re dining at a hole-in-the-wall or a food truck, the facade is often unassuming, but the food is bragworthy. You will leave full and as part of the family.

Coosh’s

Louisiana transplants Durand “Coosh” Willis and his wife, Margaret, the owners of Coosh’s, brought a taste of south Louisiana to Tallahassee in 2001. Their bayou background is felt in their Southern hospitality and such dishes as authentic crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and jambalaya.

Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack

Tallahassee’s seafood scene wouldn’t be nearly as notable without Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack. A shack it may be but the most welcoming sort, with a reputation for serving the freshest oysters available from Apalachicola.

Southern Smoke BBQ

Southern Smoke BBQ began as a food truck before transitioning to brick and mortar. Every day, Raymone and Tamara Tatum stoke their smokers to serve up meat and three sides: smoked wings, pulled pork, and ribs alongside your choice of slaw, baked beans, collards, potato salad, fried okra, and hot honey cornbread. The Rattler and The Seminole are signature meals named in honor of the nearby universities.

Tally Mac Shack

Another former food truck, Tally Mac Shack experienced enough success and garnered enough of a following to warrant permanency. It takes the Southern staple mac and cheese and piles it high with toppings such as peachwood-smoked pulled pork and buffalo chicken.

Photo by The Workmans

Southern Soul

You can’t talk about Southern food without acknowledging and honoring its history and association with soul
food. Tallahassee’s past and present are rich with the influence of Black-owned restaurants that plate you up proper.

Olean’s Café

From a young age, Olean McCaskill, owner of Olean’s Café, knew she wanted to open a restaurant in Tallahassee. Since 1997, Olean’s has been a comfort and a staple to generations of Tallahasseans. The food is served cafeteria-style, with  McCaskill packing plates with her secret-recipe fried chicken, black-eyed peas, greens, and corn muffins. Your heart will be as full as your belly, as the restaurant’s walls are adorned with Bible scriptures and local memorabilia.

Earley’s Kitchen

In April 2024, southside staple Earley’s Kitchen enjoyed a much-deserved renovation, introducing a new design but keeping its tried-and-true recipes. Now in its forty-fifth year, this Black-owned business serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cafeteria-style. The menu might include oxtails, liver and onions, smothered pork chops, fried chicken (rumored to be the best in town), sweet potato soufflé, collards, and always-from-scratch desserts.

Ma’s Diner

Love for mamas is strong. In 2019, Michael Robinson and Adam Kent envisioned a place that served food just like their moms make. They opened Ma’s Diner, an old-school booth-and-counter spot that began by solely serving breakfast and lunch, but as of March 2025, now dabbles in dinner. Breakfast is sure to satisfy with chicken and waffles, home fries, and grits, but the night menu is worth sampling, too; opt for the signature Southern-style meatloaf and pork chops slathered in jalapeño bacon jam.

JoEllen’s

Another notable female-influenced, Black-owned business is JoEllen’s. Owners Joe and Teresa Nix named the restaurant in honor of Joe’s mother, who passed away in 2014. Located in Kleman Plaza, the restaurant features a menu dotted with clever names such as PEP Talk (pork chop, eggs, and potatoes) and the Morning After Burger. Here, fried catfish and shrimp and grits are staples for breakfast. For dinner, the We Belong Together Pasta is a creative take on fettuccini alfredo with shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, and collard greens. Be sure to start with the fried green tomatoes or fried deviled eggs.

Photo by The Workmans

Southern Elevated

It’s no secret the South is steeped in tradition, as is its cooking. Yet, there are a handful of restaurants rethinking classic dishes with contemporary twists.

Table 23

With its signature Southern-style wraparound porch, Table 23 exudes Southern hospitality. Southerners themselves, owners Joe and Mandy Lemons welcome guests to their tables and keep comfort at the forefront while mixing up the menu with dishes such as pecan-crusted okra, pimento cheese guac, boiled peanuts, smoked gouda grits, sweet tea–brined pork chops, a Reuben with pickled collard greens, bourbon-thyme creamed corn grouper, and Lucky Goat coffee-crusted rib eye.

Leon’s at Lake Ella

Few restaurants in Tallahassee are making more waves than Leon’s at Lake Ella, a concept brought forth by chef Leon Brunson. Brunson, who has been featured on Hulu’s Secret Chef and Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, maintains a thriving catering business while also elevating Tallahassee’s lunch scene at Leon’s at Lake Ella. Lunch service spotlights soups, salads, sandwiches, wings, and pastas based in traditional Southern stylings with Brunson’s own flare. The sandwiches shine. The shrimp and grits sandwich features blackened shrimp, cheese grits, pickled red onion, and gouda. For the vegetarians (or not), try the fried green tomato sandwich—fried green tomatoes, tomato jam, Boursin cream cheese, and arugula on rosemary focaccia.

Backwoods Crossing

At its origins, Southern food emphasized living off the land. The Rice brothers, Jesse and Tyler, literally went back to the roots, utilizing locally caught and harvested products alongside items from their own on-site garden at Backwoods Crossing. The farm-to-table restaurant features innovative offerings, including jalapeño catfish bites and blue crab corn bisque to start. The Big Foot, a slow-smoked pork loin with bourbon-glazed Granny Smiths and sweet potato mash, steals the show.

Two chefs shaking up the southern food scene

Photo by The Workmans

Chef Spotlight: Brandon Miller, Table 23

Q. How did you get your start cooking?

A. I started cooking at an early age. Nothing extravagant, but my parents really got me into it. Growing up, I remember on Saturday mornings watching cartoons in our trailer that was barely holding up and smelling the scent of charcoal burning with the scent of Boston butts, ribs, chicken, and hamburgers on the grill. I really didn’t understand why my parents had people coming over in the backyard and eating barbecue, but they were trying to make ends meet, just trying to survive and make a dollar to feed their family. From there, they bought a small shack and then finally built their own barbecue restaurant in a small town called Morven, Georgia. Watching my mom and dad got me doing what I love to do.

Q. What influences and inspires your cooking?

A. What inspires me is to one day keep my family business going. I’m still learning and have so much to learn. It’s a tough business, both physically and mentally. You definitely have to have a strong mind and support team. Failure is not an option. The people who put me in this great position—God, my mom, my dad, Mrs. Mandy and Joe Lemons, Grama, and Big Mama—I’m not going to let them down. 

Q. Why are you passionate about Southern food?

A. Southern food is what I know well. Southern food makes you feel and remember loved ones who are still here and even those who have passed on. Southern food brings people together: We laugh, share great memories, cherish each other, and toast each other with love over a great meal. So, when you come to Table 23, you’re not a customer but more a family member or guest. 

Q. What sets your menu apart in Tallahassee?

A. I think what sets us apart is that you can get an amazing steak or fried chicken and gouda grits or barbecue brisket and collard greens, and even boiled peanuts and banana pudding. It’s the variety. It would be boring if every restaurant had the same menu. 

Photo by The Workmans

Chef Spotlight: Leon Brunson, Leon’s at Lake Ella

Q. How did you get your start cooking?

A. At Waffle House. In high school, I needed a job for gas money and worked there my junior and senior year. I loved that it was fast-paced. At the time, I didn’t love food. I was a bit of picky eater, but I loved the atmosphere of restaurants. I enrolled in culinary school, graduating at the top of my class, then went on to gain valuable experience at Firefly in Panama City Beach before making my way to Tallahassee, training under chef Keith Baxter at Kool Beanz Café. 

Q. What influences and inspires your cooking?

A. At Kool Beanz, I learned the most and began to really develop an appreciation for flavor. Also, I began to travel, visiting other states and countries to learn about how they utilized flavor and their cooking techniques. Now, I take international cooking techniques from all over the world and transfer them into Southern food. Think Calabrian chili in collard greens or Moroccan spices dusting fried chicken. I’m also highly influenced by the culinary career of Sean Brock, the chef I look up to most. He’s located in Nashville now, but he’s had notable restaurants throughout the country, and his influence is so far-reaching. You can’t talk about Southern cooking with a modern twist without mentioning Sean Brock.

Q. Why are you passionate about Southern food?

A. I grew up in a family that was very country and cooked at home. Dishes like chitlins, collards, mac and cheese, cornbread—that’s the food I grew up around and knew. To many people, it’s important not to stray from the tradition of Southern cuisine because people have expectations. My goal is to embrace and respect those traditions while being creative and pleasantly surprising people.

Q. What are some of your favorite dishes to cook and eat?

A. To cook: Japanese curries, fried rice, collard greens, and soups because you’re able to layer in a lot of flavors. To eat: I enjoy a nice, flavorful salad, and I love a good breakfast. It’s an underrated meal.