Powell's

You don't have to trek far from the French Quarter for honest to gosh soul food, but you do have to be somewhat adventurous. Often, you'll know you're approaching it because it's the only place on the block you're likely to see people hanging out on the sidewalk. It's the real deal, where friendly folks are pleased to set you up with heaping plate lunches of red beans and rice, pork chops, smothered chicken and the like. It's all slid into a styrofoam container for your takeaway pleasure.

Powell's, just a few blocks from Rampart St and facing a side of Louis Armstrong Park, is down an unpromising stretch of vacant houses.