Photos by David Venezia Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles

When it comes to finger-lickin’ favorites, no one satisfies our craving for soul food better than these guys.

Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles
2765 N. Scottsdale Road,
Scottsdale, 480-945-1920;
10 W. Yuma St., Phoenix,
602-340-1304
loloschickenandwaffles.com

Really, what is chicken and waffles? Breakfast? Dinner? Brinner? Whatever you call it, at this palace of the creative combo, owner Larry “Lo-Lo” White is soul-food royalty, being the grandson of Elizabeth White of the legendary Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Café in Downtown Phoenix.

While it’s daunting to contemplate finishing the KK’s Number One platter (three pieces of juicy fried chicken, two waffles, two cheese-draped eggs, onions and grits swimming in butter), most diners surprise themselves by peeling off every speck of bird from the bone and sopping up every last drop of syrup. The finishing touch: a jar of Kool-Aid “drank” and a slab of Sanny Sand’s red velvet cake.

If the new Scottsdale digs are much slicker than Lo-Lo’s original store in south Phoenix, rest assured it’s the same insanely delicious, stick-to-your-ribs Southern food – catfish, chicken gizzards and the cheesiest macaroni you’ve ever had – that has most guests waddling out wider than when they came in.

Flavors Of Louisiana

Flavors Of Louisiana
13025 W. Rancho Santa Fe Blvd., Avondale, 623-935-2357

Flavors’ fancy touches are few, but its down-home charms are many, born of owner Jennifer Goff’s hometown experiences in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“From the Bayou to You” is her slogan, and it’s an apt description, with the space done in an ambient color scheme of orange, and dishes looking like they came from your Cajun mama’s casual kitchen. Where else are you gonna get gator, or crawfish tails, or Boudin sausage balls, served with Acadian-authentic dirty rice and Cajun chips?

Go for soupy gumbo, offered Tuesday through Thursday with chicken and sausage, or Friday and Saturday stocked with shrimp and crab. Mark Thursdays on your calendar, too, for the Crab Landry special, an open face po’ boy mounded with sweet crab stew and fried shrimp over crunchy garlic toast. Saturdays are another good time to be a Southerner, for the special of Dunkin Catfish – golden brown battered fish strips over rice all smothered in crawfish étouffée. For dessert? Just two words: banana pudding.

Fat Daddy’s Down Home Kitchen

Fat Daddy’s Down Home Kitchen
3220 E. Baseline Road, Phoenix,
602-438-7443

The menu goes on for miles,
starting at breakfast, through lunch and dinner, to the finale of “Gimme Some Suga” (dessert). The setting is kind of spiffy, with upholstered booths that you don’t want to spill on, no matter how messy the hot links dripping in barbecue sauce can be. It all adds up to serious soul, singing in a harmony of fried catfish or whiting, black-eyed peas, candied yams and sweet potato pie.

These are faithful renditions, with fried chicken and waffles cooked to order, and pork ribs plump with succulent pink meat that falls easily from the bone.
You’ll want biscuits, the insides heavy with butter, the outsides crusted with honey, even if it means less room for your combo of two pieces of fried chicken, two eggs, grits, home fries and a waffle drenched in syrup.

Another great main event: fried pork chops with bacon-rich red beans, black-eyed peas, a cakey chunk of cornbread, and a slice of pecan pie.
Ooh-wee, indeed.