Having a pro athlete for a father can teach you the most important lesson of all: never give up, whether you're in the gym, on the playing field, or sitting in front of an enormous plate of awesomely unhealthy food. Feast on the third, at Po-Bill's Cafe.

Awash in Mavs blue & green and decked out with family hoops photos, Po-Bill's is a welcoming, lunch & early dinner soul-food cafeteria, run by a Carter High-alum with her mom and sister, and named for her dad, a former Globetrotter who for the last 31 years has run a Lincoln High charity tourney called Po-Bill's World Famous Basketball Classic -- though if that name is accurate, you already knew that. The grub's prepared by two matriarchal cooks, one North Texan, one Cajun: smothered pork chops, meatloaf, oxtail, chicken & dumplings, candied yams, cornbread muffins, mac & cheese, banana pudding, and peach cobbler; frequent specials include chicken tetrazzini, blackened chicken wings, two-meat spaghetti, salmon croquettes, and "hot-water" corn bread, so named because it got busted diluting its mom's Grand Marnier with Slice. Friday night is fried-seafood night, anchored by catfish and supported by shrimp, shellfish, and cornmeal hush pups; every third Friday, free samples of the regular menu will be handed out from the porch, to entice you inside, or to ensure you're properly nourished before dancingyourbuttoff at Minc.

As for booze, it's BYOB for now, though beer & frozen margaritas will be served free as the place pursues a liquor license; the house limit's two-per, ignoring the lesson your professional non-athlete dad taught you, never give up after just two beers.

Add this to My Thrillist

Gain weight just by looking at the menu