14 Best Southern Restaurants near Santa Monica

“Food was delicious and the restaurant had a fun and bubbly vibe! Tomaurea provided great service! He was fast and friendly. His magic tricks, jokes, and singing was just a bonus that made our experience even better. Would love to come back!!“

“Love love love Cajun/Creole food! I was more than pleasantly surprised to find this gem in my neck of the woods, and am happy to report that Mardi Gras Tuesday will be my go-to Cajun/Creole joint for the foreseeable future. Mind you, I'm no expert on the cuisine, but I've been a fan for a long time and can happily endorse the Étouffée (crawfish), the Jambalaya, the Mac and Cheese, hushpuppies, and the friendly service at Mardi Gras Tuesday. *Though the cornbread didn't necessarily wow me, all and all, it was a great meal for the portions, price and quality. And considering they got slammed as soon as we walked in (around the start of the Super Bowl), the service was quick and we were in and out of there with bellies full of comfort food within an hour. Can't wait to go back!“

“We had four or five different plates, and everyone was excellent. The service was great and we talked to the owner several times who made sure we were well taken care of. She is the one that makes this place happen. She even gave us a complementary piece of Excellent strawberry cake. Can’t wait to go back there again when we can.“

“First sit in restaurant we had while on vacation… the vibe is a VIBE! The music playing, the customer service.. the love you feel when you walk in the door is everything. The service was amazing! Then the food…. I already started eating before thinking about a picture. Every food we got (and we had all different types of breakfast) was made well! Definitely enjoyed this.. experience.“

“Such an amazing time here! Marty in particular really shined and was so accommodating. Food, Atmosphere, everything was excellent. Saved room for a key lime pie dessertParking: I have a large one ton truck with an 8ft bed, super easy to park here.“

“I follow on Instagram Actress, Gabriel Union and her Husband retired basketball player Dwayne Wade, and noticed they were eating some Willie Mae fried chicken and yams after the Oscar parties, and the food looked delicious. I Yelped the restaurant and discovered it was in Venice, CA, and I decided to try it out today. I was not disappointed. The fried chicken, baked chicken, yams, cabbage, butter beans, cornbread, and gumbo were fantastic. They made everything fresh to order so everything was very hot and fresh. The service was impeccable. Bri, our waitress was amazing. She was very personable, and kind, and recommended various tasty items. The place is cute with modern decor. Ample parking on the street or in the rear of the location in the parking lot. Note: They do not have greens which was a bummer but overall, everything was excellent. Great place to dine and eat some soul Louisiana food.“

“This place delivered as advertised! Super moist chicken. The atmosphere was ok but lots of dirty tables and when I asked about it the staff member gave me her towels to clean it myself. Overall, it was a manageable experience and this was my second trip the first was fantastic!“

“The ambiance is alright it's a small little shop I'm guessing they're still renovating it I'm not sure but it's on a busy street you can do a u turn so that's the good thing I didn't mind and you can park in the back aswell and the service was good I'm not gonna lie they took my order quickly didn't wait that long like 15-20 minutes for my food it was worth it though I'm not gonna lie them fries are good as hell perfectly seasoned and not too hard just crispy/ limp but that slaw was amazing that's what I think had a crazy amount of flavors in it, it was the best slaw I've ever tasted I honestly wouldn't mind just ordering their slaw alone and their chicken is crispy as hell perfectly coated in flavor and breading the juice is seen in the bites you take it's good as hell and their sauce is good the yellow one is amazing it taste almost identical or similar to the chicken-fil-a sauce but that's my opinion you should decide on your own and see but also white sauce is also pretty good and overall it was pretty great I'm not gonna lie yall should come and try it fs!!!!“

“The sides in my opinion were okayyy.. However, 4 stars to Uncle Andre's because they have a niche that cannot be found elsewhere. Their bbq is the type of bbq you only find at cookouts. The bbq immediately transported me to a summer day at the park with friends and family.“

“It was a fun experience.Miles, our server, made the experience very good.Ordered steamed shrimp and kids chicken straps meal.Kids meal came out on a fun paper boat and drink came out in souvenir cup that you can take home.Beer also included a souvenir glass.Fun place to eat when you visit Universal Studios.“

“Rinky dink place, but the food and atmosphere make up for it. The customers were friendly. The service was extraordinary. The owner cane out, the cook and the waitress all checked repeatedly. Great service. Because we represented a sorority, Many people spoke to us. One person actually paid for our meals! When we found out, we all cried. It was a wonderful spirit at Dulans, and we were thankful for everything that occurred. We'll be back the next time we go to L.A.“

“This is a small place next to a small parking lot. So I was there on a rainy late Saturday afternoon and got right up to the order window. I had the fish and shrimp combo with cabbage and red beans & rice. The fish was fairly thickly and crunchy-battered cooked just right. The shrimp were quite large for a combo plate... this place isn't cheap, but they have it all down to a Cajun science. Food: 5* (Delicious to an item) Service: 5* (Delivered to my car) Looks like I'll be returning here!“

“We gave this place a 5 star rating when we came previously. Now, I doubt if we'll ever come back. We came in on 11/10 at around 2:15 and were told that there was a 45 minute wait. We left to head over to the Southern Girl Bakery. We came back about 50 minutes later and still had to wait to be seated. We werent seated until 3:24. Normally, the front of house worker will seat you and tell you that your server will be coming soon. That didn't happen for us. She pointed to a table to tell us where to sit. Our table still had food on it and I had to ask someone to come and wipe the table off. Every other table had drinking water on the table. Ours had none. We had to watch other people that were behind us coming in get served before us while we were forgotten about. No one came to tell us they were serving us for about 15 minutes. Someone walked by and saw me looking around to see who would help us when and said to me that she would help us in a second. 5 minutes later she finally came back with water. We never got her name. We finally got to order drinks and got a Sprite, 2 lemonades, an Orange Sherbert mimosa and Caramel Apple mimosa and then our food. This was about at 3:50. After some time, I looked over and saw what I was sure was my wifes 2 drinks sitting at the bar with people walking and talking around them. I had to get up and go to the front to find our server and remind her that we hadn't gotten our drinks. At 4:11 she then brought our Sprite and lemonades and then asked us if we had gotten the mimosas. She then brought us over the CA mimosa that had started to change colors and the OS mimosa that had ice cream in it that had completely melted and we had to ask for them to be remade. We then waited until 4:45 for our food and then we called it quits. Our daughter was hungry and wondering where the food was and actually started to cry when we said we were leaving because she really wanted to try the strawberry shortcake pancakes. As we were walking out, neither our waitress nor the front of house worker even acknowledged us. Waitress didn't even come and check on us during the wait or see if we needed refills. She stayed in the front area of the restaurant most of the time so I couldn't even see her to remind her that we were waiting. I definitely shouldnt have had to remind her that she never brought our drinks over. We live in Torrance and it's about a 20-30 min drive from our place to here. We wasted gas and time coming here. This was the worst service that I've ever received from a restaurant. Particularly upsetting that my daughter broke down about us leaving. They had a big party in their back room but we still shouldnt have been treated this way.“

“Came on a Monday night with a party of 4 and was able to get a table immediately. First of all, I love the atmosphere of this place, and as soon as you walk in you get hit with the smell of smokey bbq goodness. There’s tons of TVs to see all the ongoing games, no matter where you’re sitting. I started off with the Pig Head Red Ale to drink, which was very good. I got a 2 meat combination plate, which was enough food to leave me stuffed by the end. The ribs were very good - fell off the bone with a nice bark and smokiness. The pork belly burnt ends were pretty good, some pieces were melt in your mouth tender while others were on the tougher side. Flavor on them was excellent though. Potato salad was incredibly creamy and I enjoyed the addition of bacon. The cornbread was tasty, fairly moist and with a good sweetness and flavor. We had some hushpuppies for the table, which were nicely crisp on the outside while soft on the inside with a multitude of complex flavors between the peach chutney and the brown sugar cinnamon butter on the side. They have four different house bbq sauces, all of which are very good in their own way. Will definitely have to come back again to try out some of their other meats!“