This blues joint has hosted the likes of B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland and T-Bone Walker, and we're not whistlin' Dixie!

Originally located on Central Avenue, LA's famous jazz strip, Babe's & Ricky's Inn is one of the city's oldest blues clubs; the vinyl booths and guitar-decorated red walls give the impression of a Mississippi juke joint, and the waitstaff is full of traditional Southern hospitality. First-timers looking for the quintessential Babe's and Ricky's experience should stop by Monday nights for Jam Night, where $8 is all it takes for a soul-food dinner—fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens and black eyed peas—and a date with illustrious soul singer Mickey Champion. Now, odds are you probably won't even see Ms. Champion when she starts to sing with the jam band (the Louisiana lady is quite pint-sized), and when you do finally figure out who she is, we bet our bonnets you'll be flabbergasted. She looks like an old granny, but sings the blues with power as raw as a shot of moonshine. —Elisa Jacobs