Lil' Dizzy's Cafe in New Orleans is the Baquet family's Treme Creole soul-food corner at Esplanade and N Robertson, with fried chicken and a lunch buffet.
Try: Fried chicken plate
Tip: Lunch only Monday to Saturday 11:00-15:00; the gumbo and fried chicken combo is the canonical order.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Try: BBQ shrimp po-boy
Tip: Cash only at peak; check the Jazz Fest schedule, the room turns into a circus on festival weekends.