Vaughan's Lounge

Bywater, 9th Ward, New Orleans · Bar · $$

For two decades a Thursday at this Bywater corner bar meant Kermit Ruffins, a trumpet, and free red beans and rice handed around while he barbecued out back. Ruffins moved his standing gig across town years ago, but Vaughan's kept the low ceiling, the shotgun room and the habit of putting a band where the pool table should be. The room has barely moved a chair in twenty years, which is the whole appeal.