Stein's Deli in New Orleans is the Magazine Street Jewish-Italian deli in the Lower Garden District, with $15 Reuben sandwiches and a long sandwich queue at lunchtime.
Tip: The Reuben sandwich is the cult order; the deli closes Monday and runs out of bagels by 11:00 on Sunday.
Address: 2207 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130
Willie Mae's Scotch House in New Orleans is the 1957 Treme fried-chicken counter on St Ann Street, a 2005 James Beard America's Classics winner with three-piece chicken plates and red beans.
Try: Fried chicken plate
Tip: Lines are real; arrive at 11:00 open or expect a 45-minute wait. Cash and card both accepted.
Dat Dog on Freret in New Orleans is the Freret Street specialty hot dog counter, with $9 alligator sausage, crawfish dogs, vegetarian franks and crawfish etouffee on top of any link.
Try: Specialty hot dog
Tip: Build with crawfish etouffee on top of a frank for the local order; sides of fries run $4 a basket.
Parkway in New Orleans is the 1911 Mid-City po-boy room on Hagan Avenue near Bayou St John, with $13 fried shrimp po-boys dressed on Leidenheimer bread plated in 10 minutes.
Try: Shrimp po-boy with debris
Tip: The back garden patio runs cooler in summer; the counter line is faster than the wait staff.
Domilise's in New Orleans is the 1918 family po-boy counter on Annunciation Street in Uptown, with $13 fried shrimp po-boys dressed on Leidenheimer bread at the corner of Belle Castle.
Try: Fried shrimp po-boy
Tip: Cash and local-card only at the counter; the kitchen closes when the bread runs out for the day.
Mother's in New Orleans is the 1938 CBD cafeteria-line lunch counter at Poydras and Tchoupitoulas, with $12 red beans and rice plates and the Ferdi Special po-boy from the menu.
Try: Red beans and rice
Tip: Lines run long; arrive 11:00 or after 14:00 for the shortest wait, the cafeteria runs fast at the counter.
Liuzza's by the Track in New Orleans is the Bayou St John lunch counter near the Fair Grounds that invented the BBQ shrimp po-boy, $15 with butter-pepper sauce on Leidenheimer bread.
Try: BBQ shrimp po-boy
Tip: Cash only at peak; check the Jazz Fest schedule, the room turns into a circus on festival weekends.
