Doc. Witherspoon's Soul Food Shack

Awesome place. Excellent chicken dumpling soup and fried chicken. Great find whenever you're in Duluth.

Reviewed on Yelp

Came in for the fried catfish which was very good but the corn bread dressing was unlike anything I have had, very good food. The inside of the restaurant is comfortable and relaxing and the owner is very nice. A local business that I plan on returning to many times. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I spent a week in Duluth for work and I wish I would have found this place earlier. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was on point. The chicken dumpling soup is a must try! More...

Reviewed on Yelp

This place is great and the chicken is amazing. You should already be on your way to Doc's without having to read anymore! The Mac and cheese had great flavor and plenty of cheese the greens were good as well with a nice spice to them. The staff was amazing as well. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

This restaurant is the spot for good soul food. I did take out and ordered at the counter. It took about 10 minutes to get my order. The menu is simple, but plenty of options to mix and match. Staff was very helpful answering questions and friendly. The chicken was crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside. The sides were both amazing. The beans were tangy, but not spicy. While we were waiting for our order the restaurant was about 50 % capacity at about 8pm. The parking situation is street parking, but there was plenty around. The restaurant is kid and family friendly. I think it brings a great new flavor to the Duluth food scene. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I wanted to like this place so much, the menu SOUNDS amazing, the problem was they were completely out of almost everything that we wanted to order, and the kicker is we were there at 11:30 AM, how is it already all gone? !?! Some people in our party got to try some chicken, but I had to order a burger which was not very good and fries that were completely undercooked. The waitress was fine, but not very friendly and showed no empathy for our disappointment of not getting to order what we wanted. No apology, no explaination, just "Were out." We spent over $100 for lunch that day and barely got to eat anything we wanted. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Great service, great atmosphere, great food! The owner and staff were very friendly and welcoming. The food was cooked perfectly. 10/10 would recommend!

Reviewed on Yelp

I'm Southern born-and-raised and am steeped in the culinary traditions of northern Georgia (soul food!) and New Orleans (cajun/creole). For a Southern boy living in the frozen north, Doc Witherspoons is a Godsend, a little taste of home in downtown Duluth. What to order (the best stuff): CATFISH. I've had fried catfish straight out of the lake and into the fryer and the first batch I had at Doc's was as good or better. No significant fishy aftertaste (means the fish was fresh), perfect crispness on the breading, melt-in-your-mouth succulence on the inside. Catfish shouldn't be flaky. If it's flaky, it's dry. It's akin to salmon that way. It should taste like sweet river water and have some of the same texture as a properly fried oyster. Doc's hit it JUST RIGHT. Man, oh man, if I hadn't had to go back to work, I would have ordered another plate right then and there. This is the ONLY place to get quality catfish in the area.CORNBREAD DRESSING. Now, this is a sweet cornbread. Y'all Minnesotans seem to prefer that to the sort of crumbling, savory cornbread I grew up with, but Doc's transforms its sweet cornbread recipe into something blissful with the addition of spices, peppers, onions, and either chicken or some of the smoked turkey they use in the collards. So good. Not spicy. The perfect sweet-and-savory accompaniment to fried foods. Second best cornbread dressing I've had to my momma's.COLLARDS. Far as I know, there are 2 maybe 3 places to get collards in the Duluth area. OMC, Famous Dave's, and Doc's. Proper collards have the vinegar for tartness, pork/bacon/etc for saltiness, and a bit of heat. Doc's hits all three (though I personally add a fair bit of salt to mine and, once, an added splash of apple cider vinegar since my greens came fairly dry -- the flavor is in that potlicker). More importantly, they're the ONLY place that hits all 3 major elements. I don't recall which is which, but between OMC and Famous Dave's, you'd have to order one of each and mix them to get proper greens. One lacks that pork saltiness, the other has that in abundance and no discernible vinegar flavor. Collards are perfect with fried food because the vinegar cuts the greasiness and cleanses the palate.Honorable mention:CHICKEN. I'm spoiled on chicken, growing up on my Granny's and mom's homemade fried chicken and then living for so long in the deep South and around the place where Popeye's originated. But this chicken was perfectly cooked (surprisingly hard to achieve with on-the-bone chicken) and well seasoned. I enjoyed it and have even gone for the very reasonable 8-piece bucket for a family dinner, but to me there's no comparison to the catfish. If you aren't a fish-lover, though, you can't go wrong here. I believe they ONLY do dark meat, though. Heck ya, it tastes better, but don't go in expecting a breast/wing combo.MAC & CHEESE. I really liked the mac & cheese. Not as much as my own, but I really liked it. It was unique in a way that kept me digging in and the creaminess pairs really well with the fried food. If you enjoy mac & cheese, you gotta give this a try!BEANS. The beans were good but different. Not your standard baked or barbecue beans, by any means. The beans were al dente and not at all mushy and the sauce they'd cooked in was rich and flavorful. I still prefer the collards and dressing, though.CORNBREAD DONUT. Sweet and buttery, but in my opinion, world's away from the dressing which is obviously made from the same cornbread. It's a nice side, but I often end up skipping mine in favor of finishing off that dressing.Caveat: Doc's is fairly new and obviously still experiencing growing pains. They don't always have everything on the menu and service can be slow at times. They are also closed from 3-4 PM between lunch service and dinner service (as of the writing of this review). The food quality does also vary from time-to-time. The last catfish dinner I ordered was a touch disappointing because the pieces of fish were smaller/thinner than prior orders and about half had dried out (ie. they were flaky, not juicy).Last word: my shut-in, disabled war veteran father who grew up in southern Tennessee, hasn't left the house more than a handful of times in the last 8 years, but we showed him Doc's menu and he was there... an hour early... texting to ask whether we could take lunch earlier. Dad's an avid (former) fisherman who loved to catch, clean, and fry catfish. We went in for the catfish lunch and he seemed to be in heaven. I confess, I was too. I look forward to coming back again and again. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I ordered several meals for my family dinner.  They were the Doc's fried chicken dinner, two of the Dirty Fried Rice Bowls and a Poochies Southern Hospitality Bowl.  Everything was amazing!  The spices they use on the fried chicken is soooo good!  I highly recommend their food. More...

Reviewed on Yelp