You can skip the Cajun restaurant on the ground floor of Canary Club on the LES, and head to the jazz club downstairs.

The Ryerson is a great spot for Southern comfort food in Crown Heights.

Chocolat is a restaurant in Harlem where you can eat some red velvet pancakes or a big serving of shrimp and grits.

Charles’ Pan Fried Chicken is a great spot for an extremely quick sit-down meal or some food to go. Be sure to get cornbread with your fried chicken.

Melba’s is a spot in Harlem with some great fried chicken, catfish, and waffles. Try it for a casual meal, and get a side of mac and cheese.

Jacob Restaurant is a buffet in Harlem where you can fill a styrofoam container with some very solid soul food, Caribbean food, or spaghetti.

Parish is a bar on the Lower East Side that’s a good spot for Happy Hour and New Orleans-inspired food.

Katie O’s is a counter-service soul food restaurant in Prospect Lefferts Gardens that makes fried chicken to order, and really good potato salad.

Printers Alley is a Nashville-themed bar in the Garment District, and it’s great for big groups.

Lowerline is a tiny restaurant in Prospect Heights with excellent New Orleans-style food.

Le Sia is a Chinese spot in the East Village specializing in large format seafood boils.

Sugar Freak is a fun group dinner spot for Cajun/Creole food in Astoria.

Jackson’s is a restaurant in LIC with Southern-ish food and a good Happy Hour.

The Gumbo Bros is a small counter-service spot in Downtown Brooklyn serving gumbo, po’ boys, and beer.

Handcraft is a Kips Bay bar with Southern-inspired food.

Popina is a tiny, casual restaurant on the Brooklyn waterfront. The food is a mix of Southern and Italian, and they do some great chicken and pasta.