10 Pennsylvania Soul Food Joints That Locals Swear By (And Won’t Trade For Anything)
Pennsylvania might be best known for cheesesteaks and pierogies, but ask the right people and they’ll tell you the soul food here hits differently.
Across Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and smaller cities in between, there are kitchens where collard greens simmer low and slow, fried chicken comes out shatteringly crisp, and mac and cheese gets piled high enough to qualify as its own food group.
These spots don’t chase trends or worry about being trendy. They just keep doing what they’ve always done: feeding people food that feels like a warm hug on a cold day.
1. Love & Honey Fried Chicken – Philadelphia (Northern Liberties)
Love & Honey feels like a fried-chicken love letter: every piece is hand-dredged in buttermilk, fried in small batches, and paired with scratch-made sauces and desserts.
In Northern Liberties, the little shop hums with pickup orders and takeout bags headed to nearby rowhouses.
The menu is simple: chicken, biscuits, sides, sweets, but it’s all dialed in, the kind of food that makes people seriously debate which is better, the crispy breading or the juicy meat underneath.
As the brand quietly expands around Pennsylvania, the original Philly location still feels like the place where locals discovered their fried chicken.
2. Ms Molly’s Kitchen – Philadelphia
Ms Molly’s looks unassuming from the outside, but step in and you’re greeted by the smell of frying fish, baked mac, and cabbage drifting from the kitchen.
This cozy neighborhood spot leans hard into homemade cooking, with big plates of fried fish, crab-topped fries, and classic sides piled into generous portions.
Delivery platforms literally tag it as soul food and comfort food, which is exactly how locals treat it: somewhere you swing by when you’re tired, hungry, and in need of something that tastes like a Sunday plate you didn’t have to cook yourself.
3. Carmi Soul Food – Pittsburgh
Carmi is the name Pittsburghers bring up with a little pride in their voice. This Black-owned spot started as a neighborhood favorite and has grown into Carmi Soul Food and Carmi Express, serving authentic soul food made from cherished family recipes.
Reviews and press pieces gush about the fried chicken dinners: crispy, well-seasoned pieces paired with five-cheese macaroni, cornbread, stuffing, and greens, the kind of plate that could easily feed two but somehow doesn’t.
I’ve been here twice now, and both times I left wondering why I don’t visit every single week. Locals talk about it as both a Sunday treat and a celebration spot.
4. Butter’s Soul Food To Go – Philadelphia (Brewerytown)
Brewerytown’s Butter’s is the kind of counter spot where the line forms early and everyone seems to know someone behind the steam table.
Owner Kevin Bell has been cooking soul food for decades, and it shows in the details: fried or baked chicken with shatter-crisp skin, buttery baked mac and cheese, greens that taste like they’ve been simmering all day, and candied yams that border on dessert.
Regulars talk about it like a second living room with better food, a tiny place where you grab a styrofoam tray and walk out with something that genuinely feels like home.
5. Soul Food Connection – Wilkinsburg / Pittsburgh
For more than three decades, Soul Food Connection has been a fixture in the Wilkinsburg community, quietly feeding generations from its small storefront just outside Pittsburgh.
Step through the door and it feels like someone’s aunt has taken over an entire restaurant: steam rising from trays of fried chicken, smothered dishes, and slow-cooked sides.
Recent write-ups mention a warm, welcoming atmosphere and authentic Southern dishes, plus a newer plant-based soul food menu for those who want greens without the ham hock.
Regulars don’t just eat here, they reminisce about how long they’ve been coming and how little the flavors have changed.
6. Men In The Kitchen Restaurant & Lounge – Harrisburg
In downtown Harrisburg, Men In The Kitchen feels like a cross between a lounge, a supper club, and a soul-food kitchen with a Cajun twist.
The owners describe it as a place where they blend flavors and experiences and create a unique social atmosphere, mixing Cajun-American dishes with comfort-food roots.
Events like HBCU brunches and fish-fry nights turn the dining room into a community hangout, while the regular menu leans into things like seafood plates, loaded fries, and soulful mains served late enough to catch the after-work crowd.
Tourism listings now treat it as a must-try stop for central Pennsylvania.
7. Mildred’s Halal Soul Food – Allentown
In Allentown, Mildred’s Halal Soul Food quietly combines two worlds: traditional soul food and halal preparation.
The small spot on North 2nd Street serves fried chicken, fish, oxtails, mac and cheese, and other comfort staples, all made to order with halal ingredients.
Late-night hours on several days mean it’s not unusual to see people coming in after work or a night out, hoping for a hot plate before heading home.
Review and guide sites describe it as home-cooked Southern comfort with a halal twist, which is exactly what keeps locals coming back for more every single time they pass by.
8. S & D SOULicious Cuisine – Allentown
S & D SOULicious Cuisine began as a food truck before expanding into a brick-and-mortar spot in Allentown’s South Mall, and it still has that we built this ourselves energy.
The family-run business specializes in Southern cuisines with touches of American and Latin flavors, serving fried whiting, mac and cheese, and other soul-food plates out of their space on Lehigh Street.
Locals talk about it as a hidden treasure in an otherwise ordinary shopping center: you walk past big-box stores and suddenly there’s this little kitchen sending out soulful food that feels anything but generic or rushed.
9. Pineapple Eddie Southern Bistro – Erie
Pineapple Eddie sits on a corner in Erie and feels like a small, buzzy bistro more than a traditional joint, but its heart is pure soul.
The family-owned restaurant leans into a fusion of Southern regional cooking and Caribbean flavors, think jerk-kissed dishes, rich stews, and Southern sides reimagined with island spice.
Dining guides call it one of Erie’s culinary treasures, and its following is strong enough that people regularly recommend it as the place to take out-of-towners when they want to show off what the city can do beyond wings and pizza.
Every bite carries a little warmth and a lot of personality.
10. 24SevenEatz – Erie
24SevenEatz feels like someone turned a family soul-food kitchen into a small, modern restaurant and then invited the entire city.
The owners describe it as a soul food spot built on generations of family recipes, serving dishes meant to warm the heart and comfort the soul.
Map and social listings highlight classics like fried chicken and hearty sides, plus rotating specials that keep regulars curious.
Locals talk about it like a place you stumble into once and then start recommending to everyone, a little Erie kitchen where every plate tastes like somebody’s best Sunday effort and leaves you counting down the days until your next visit.