Jennifer Biggs

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Note: I’m glad to be back at work and looking forward to bringing you new, fresh stories and reviews starting next week. Meanwhile, I hope you’ve enjoyed the round-up articles we’re been running in Dining, and we’ll finish off Second Helpings with a repeat of last year’s article about soul food.

You’ll see in the article (which is running just as it did last year with just an update or two), I asked folks to tell me their favorite places. I was taken to task for omitting Stein’s (2248 S. Lauderdale; 901-775-9203) so I set up a meeting with a group of men who meet there daily, or very nearly every day. And as I said after the meal: OK, this belongs on the list, and it’s being rectified now. (Also, Fred Jones — this is to you: You still haven’t gone to Madea’s with me, so let’s get that on the schedule. Call me.)

That said, here’s what I had to say about soul food in Memphis last year.

Speaking only anecdotally, one might say Memphis has more mom-and-pop restaurants than just about anywhere in the country. It’s something food writers buzz about when they visit, something that is such an ingrained part of our culture that we might fail to appreciate the plethora of meat-and-threes (OK, mostly meat-and-twos these days) that are the Southern answer to the diners of the North and the Midwest. In a city that historically has had a large African-American population, many of these gems serve soul food.

Like any category of restaurant, some are better than others. We have our favorite Mexican places, our favorite places to eat Thai food, our favorite white-tablecloth restaurants. After visiting 18 places, I’ve come up my Top 10 Soul Food Restaurants in town. Did I miss yours? Tell me about it.

The difference between soul food and home cooking is harder to define in the South than elsewhere in the country, where our culinary traditions moved north as part of the Great Migration. Many of the same items are served in both kinds of restaurants, and sometimes the only distinction is whether the cook or owner is African-American or white — and even that is insufficient.

While soul food belongs to the black community because of its origins in the kitchens of enslaved people, who were given undesirable cuts of meat and leftovers, like the greens of turnips instead of the root, the difference in the preparation of most vegetables is often inconsequential. Lima beans, black-eyed peas, cornbread and even greens can taste about the same.

But you’ll seldom find spaghetti as a side unless you’re eating soul food. Pig parts are generally a giveaway. Pig tails, pig feet, hog maws (the small intestine), chitterlings and ham hocks are served in soul food restaurants (though greens might be cooked with ham hocks anywhere). Very sweet Kool-Aid and a mix of iced tea and lemonade called VIP are other tells.

Interestingly, at least five of my top 10 are owned by women, and women have an ownership stake in most of the other restaurants on this list. Here they are, in order of preference.

Madea’s Restaurant (2665 Overton Crossing; 901-474-9631). Owner Phyllis Coleman is a newcomer compared to some of the folks who made the cut, but she gets the No. 1 spot because her food is absolutely on target, every time. Coleman’s restaurant is open only Friday through Sunday, and she says she cooks what she’s in the mood for, so there’s no set menu.

She’ll always have chitterlings — she goes through about 450 pounds over the three days. Specialties include enormous smothered pork steaks, neckbones and oxtails as tender as a fine osso buco. Chicken and dressing, chicken and dumplings — you don’t know what you’ll find unless you call ahead or just show up ready to feast. Coleman prepares everything from scratch, she seasons to taste — with a liberal hand — and don’t talk to her about keeping the meat out of the greens. Coleman is old school. She also puts okra in her black-eyed peas because her grandmother told her that peas don’t taste right unless you cook them with a bit of okra. Don’t miss: neckbones.

Ms. Girlee’s (629 Chelsea; 901-522-8778) is another new kid on the block, but only because the Leach family’s restaurant Melanie’s burned a few years ago. They’d been in business there for about 30 years; when they reopened at another location, they changed the name to honor the family matriarch. It’s hard to imagine better fried chicken, and the oxtails are also superb. The meatloaf is among the best in town, and the mashed potatoes and boiled okra are heads above many. Don’t miss: fried chicken.

Peggy’s Heavenly Home Cooking (326 S. Cleveland; 901-474-4938). Owner Peggy Brown worked at The Peabody for years and opened her place about 10 years ago on Cleveland. She calls her cooking healthy, but we’re not going to stretch and agree with that. What I know is that her fried catfish is the best around, that her greens are the best for my palate (no meat, but lots of flavor), and I love that now and again, you can get chow chow with your black-eyed peas. Also, she cooks rutabagas, and they’re great. Don’t miss: fried catfish.

Crock Pot 2 (7911 E. Shelby Drive; 901-758-2295). There was a Crock Pot in South Memphis for years, and I tried it some time ago but didn’t come away very impressed. A friend on Facebook raved about Crock Pot 2, so I visited and ate the best smothered chicken of my life. Fried, covered in gravy — have mercy. Also special are the pinto beans, the corn, fried sweet with butter and sugar, and the greens. Don’t miss: smothered chicken.

Alcenia’s (317 N Main; 901-523-0200). Owner B.J. Chester Tamayo throws around “baby” and loves to hug a neck — and it’s all charming. But she can cook, too, and folks swear by her fried chicken and her various methods of sweet potato preparation, including her sweet potato cobbler. It’s her deft touch with desserts that really makes her cooking more soul food than simply “country cooking,” as she’s not one for pig parts (she’ll cook neckbones, but says white people won’t buy them, so it’s usually for events). She offers a Saturday soul brunch that features a somewhat peculiar combination of choices, such as salmon croquettes, fried green tomatoes, eggs and chicken and waffles (along with a beverage, including the sweet Kool-Aid she calls Ghetto Aid). Don’t miss: the cabbage. Even people who don’t like cabbage love it.

Gay Hawk (685 S. Danny Thomas; 901-947-1464). This former tavern, opened in 1951, still retains a bar in the middle of the building and has a loyal clientele. There’s a small buffet that is replenished often. Fried chicken is very good, but our favorite (besides the entertainment of listening to old friends debate politics at an adjacent table) was the ham hocks. They’re sliced thin, through the bone, then slow-cooked with a generous amount of red pepper. I’ve never seen them prepared this way, and neither has anyone else I’ve told about them. The texture is something like a good boiled country ham, but smokier and spicier. It’s the don’t-miss item.

The Four Way (998 Mississippi; 901-507-1519) is the iconic soul food restaurant of Memphis. Opened in 1946, it’s where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ate when he was in town and a place where organizers met during the civil rights movement. After original owners Irene and Clint Cleaves died, Willie Bates purchased the place on the courthouse steps — he grew up in the neighborhood and wanted to preserve it. Bates has died since the original article ran, but the restaurant is still open and the food is still good. Folks advised him to move it, but he laughed at them, and told them there was no point in having The Four Way without the history. He added turkey and dressing to the menu every day, and it’s the most popular dish for a good reason: The turkey is tender, small pieces, carved from an actual turkey, not processed meat. The cornbread dressing is savory with sage, and it’s all topped with giblet gravy. Don’t miss it.

Kountry Cookin’ (1128 Winchester; 901-345-5505). The barbecue ribs here should be called smothered, and let’s face it, there is a lot of gravy in soul food. But here the slow-cooked ribs — these haven’t seen the inside of a smoker — are falling-off-the-bone tender and swimming in a barbecue sauce that has become gravy-ish because of the juices from the meat. Order them with greens, and if lima beans are available, get them, too. Chitterlings are served every other Saturday, but just October through March. Meatloaf is good, so is chicken and dressing. Solid all around. The ribs are the don’t-miss.

Orange Mound Grill (1238 Airways; 901-458-3429). Daisy Miller bought this restaurant from her aunt and uncle 57 years ago and is waiting to put in her 60 before she retires and hands it over to her granddaughter. There are chitterlings every day, neckbones most days, a nice chicken and dressing, a butter roll and greens that are delivered, cleaned and cooked daily. Take your cash, and if you get the opportunity to meet her, strike up a conversation. Don’t miss: sweet potato pie (if sweet potatoes are your thing).

Dindie’s Soul Food (375 Stage; 901-474-7487). Note to Dindie’s: I’d love to love you, and you make the list because your catfish is to die for, and your greens are some of the best I’ve eaten. But, please, please: Have at least most of what you have on the menu actually available. At my last visit, the repeat visits to the table to tell us you were out of something we ordered turned comedic. No lemon for the tea, no tartar sauce for the fish, but worse: Only a handful of vegetables from the extensive list were in the house. Don’t miss: the catfish.