Sometimes, Louisiana culture seems to run countercyclical to mainstream America. So it goes that, with Labor Day well behind us and with others putting away outdoor summertime pleasures like so many pool toys, people here are wheeling out their grills, filling up the propane tanks and wiping down their heirloom cast iron. The reason isn’t the calendar, and it really isn’t even the temperature. It’s football.

You can eat like a king anywhere if you can pay a king’s ransom. But one blessing of New Orleans has long been how well you can eat on the cheap. Is that still true, in our age of trendy concepts and avocado toast? I set out to find out, with a quest for the $5 lunch.

A tall glass of iced tea, just picturing it can be a relief on a sweltering day. But what type of tea? Ah, that’s where some trouble has been stirring.

It happens to all of us. Maybe your lunch break is limited to 10 minutes, or something less than ten dollars. Maybe a sit down restaurant is out of the question, and you still won’t stoop to big chain fast food. You see a taco truck ahead and the matter is settled.

A Hubig’s pie was a humble pie. But it had a huge place in the heart of New Orleans. Want proof? Just look at the response when the first little blip of good news on the future of Hubig’s hit the headlines.

I would like to address a false rumor circulating in the news. Multiple sources are claiming that summer is almost over. For evidence, they present back-to-school stories and ads full of men’s sweaters and ladies’ boots. They even track the countdown to Labor Day weekend, as if that settles it. But in Louisiana we know better.

From a walk-up counter, NolaNica serves Nicaraguan soul food, like chicken with rice and beans, and mash-ups, like Mombacho nachos, a dish with fried plantains and a name that makes me smile.

Blink and suddenly August is here. Summer is flying by once again. Where does the time go? But time is relative, and for New Orleans restaurants this is when time slows to a crawl.

New Orleans can thank a generation of Vietnamese immigrants for making staples of their traditional cooking common cravings in this town – the pho, spring rolls, bun and banh mi. Today, something different is taking shape before our eyes, and on our plates. The kids of those immigrants, the American-born second generation, are opening their own restaurants and creating a Viet-New Orleans hybrid.

With the right potables and know-how, you can mix good cocktails anywhere. Making a true cocktail culture, however, that takes some different ingredients. New Orleans has the essentials.