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Food

Hansen’s: Where New Orleans’ Famous Sno-Balls Were Invented (Maybe)

Supposedly, New Orleans’ love affair with sno-balls began here at Hansen’s on Tchoupitoulas, more than 75 years ago. If the stories are true, this is where the shaved-ice machine that makes New Orleans sno-balls different from snowcones was invented. Across the street is McKeown’s Books and Difficult Music, one of the city’s best used book stores.

Evening on the Square in Oxford, MS

On Friday, 4/27/12, I drove down to Oxford to pay a visit to the new End of All Music record store, and as it was the kickoff evening for the Double Decker Arts Festival, I parked near the square and hung around for awhile. The upstairs balconies that give the festival its name were full of people, as it was a lovely evening outside. Walking into Square Books, I found an interesting book by Elijah Wald about the history of the African-American verbal ritual the Dozens, and then I grabbed a dinner at Soulshine Pizza Factory before heading back to Memphis for my jazz gig at the Westin Hotel. 

Warehouse No. 1 Restaurant, Monroe LA

I decided to eat dinner Friday night at the Warehouse Number 1 Restaurant in Monroe, Louisiana, which is built on the levee directly beside the Ouachita River. I hadn’t eaten there in nearly ten years, but it’s still good.

Having A Taste of History at Zesto’s Drive-Ins @ZestoATL

Zesto Drive-Ins are an institution in Atlanta, and occasionally pop up elsewhere (Evansville, Indiana and Columbia, South Carolina come to mind), and they were “fast food” before there was fast food. Now they seem to be expanding in Atlanta, and while the classic original locations are the best for their architectural value, the new ones have an attractive retro look as well. The burgers are good too, and at a reasonable price.