Fried catfish is cornmeal-dredged Alabama farm-raised catfish, deep-fried golden and served with hush puppies, slaw and tartar sauce, the canonical Friday plate.
Where to eat it: 11 restaurants across 4 cities.
Farm-raised catfish from west Alabama and the Mississippi Delta became the canonical Alabama Friday-lunch fish through the 1960s and 1970s. Niki's West has run Friday catfish on the cafeteria line since 1957 and Eagle's Restaurant in Smithfield runs catfish Friday as a soul-food anchor. The hushpuppy, slaw and tartar sauce side combo became canonical by the 1970s and remains the Birmingham plate served at meat-and-three counters citywide.
Common allergens: Fish, Gluten
Tip from the editors. Use yellow cornmeal, not white; the yellow gives the canonical golden crust and bigger flavor.
Niki's West on Finley Avenue West Birmingham has run the meat-and-three from a cafeteria steam table since 1957, opposite the Alabama Farmers Market.
Why locals love it: Tourists rarely cross the rail tracks to the Acipco-Finley district to find this 1957 cafeteria; locals queue for the catfish.
Tip: Get there by 12:30 for the fried catfish and turnip greens; weekday lunch is the peak.
Eagle's Restaurant on 16th Street North in Smithfield is the Black-owned soul-food anchor since 1951, with the Friday catfish and a multi-generation kitchen.
Why locals love it: The Smithfield Black-owned soul-food kitchen since 1951 sits a block from Acipco and most non-locals never find it.
Tip: Order the Friday catfish; closed Saturday and Monday so plan around the schedule.
Demetri's BBQ on 28th Avenue South Homewood Birmingham has run a Greek-American meat-and-three since 1973, continuing the 1961 El Rancho BBQ tradition.
Why locals love it: The 1973 Greek-American meat-and-three in Homewood is masked behind a barbecue sign; locals know it as a Birmingham lunch institution.
Tip: Order the Greek salad alongside the pulled-pork plate to taste the Greek-American crossover.
Bully's is the best-value James Beard award-winning meal in the United States: oxtails, catfish, and six sides for under $14, in a modest dining room.
Try: Soul food steam table with oxtails, neckbones, catfish, and sides
Order: Oxtail plate with mixed greens, mac and cheese, and yams
Tip: Arrive before 13:00 for the widest steam table selection; popular items sell out.
The Mayflower Cafe's lunch counter is one of the South's great cheap seafood deals: a full fried shrimp plate with coleslaw, comeback sauce, and a side of c.
Try: Fried shrimp plate with comeback sauce
Order: Fried shrimp plate at lunch, with extra comeback sauce on the side
Tip: The lunch rush from 11:30 to 13:00 is the most efficient time to eat here; a table turns in 30 minutes.
Hal and Mal's kitchen runs until 21:00 but the bar stays open later on live music nights, making it downtown Jackson's most social late-night venue.
Try: Southern food with live music
Order: Mississippi beer on draft with whatever is left on the kitchen menu before 21:00
Tip: Check the event calendar; special events extend the bar hours well past the kitchen close.
Loveless Cafe on Highway 100 in Nashville has served scratch biscuits, country ham and redeye gravy since 1951, anchoring the Natchez Trace's tourist circuit.
Order: Country ham with redeye gravy and biscuits
Tip: Lines build by 09:00 weekends; put your name down and shop the on-site Hams & Jams Country Market while you wait.
Arnold's meat-and-three lunch in Nashville delivers a protein plus three vegetables and tea for under $15. Located in The Gulch. At 605 8th Ave S.
Try: Meat-and-three plate
Tip: Lunch only, Monday to Friday 10:30-14:30; cafeteria line moves fast. Cash and card.
Monell's family-style Southern dining in Germantown, Nashville has run since 1995, seating strangers at communal tables in a Victorian house north.
Signature: Family-style Southern lunch, Skillet fried chicken
Order: The full family-style spread: fried chicken, country ham, mac and cheese, greens.
Tip: Reservations available; tables seat ten. Sunday brunch is the marquee meal, books a week ahead.
Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Stockyards City Oklahoma City has served USDA prime beef and cowboy breakfasts to ranchers and visitors since 1910.
McNellie's Public House in Oklahoma City stays open until 02:00 on weekends, anchoring Midtown's late-night scene with 300-plus beers and hot pub food.
Order: Fish and chips at midnight; dry stout on draft
Tip: The kitchen stays open late at McNellie's, making it one of the few places to get real food after 23:00 in Midtown.
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