Technically, Vern’s is not in the neighborhood, but it’s close enough — at Main and Exposition, just east of Baylor. Why is it worth a visit (despite a paltry 2 1/2 stars from Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper, less than it gives Baker Bros. in Old Town, with its canned olives)? Well, for one thing, this is authentic, as real as it gets soul food, and how many places like that are left in town? Second, it has communal seating, which means you are often forced to sit next to someone who could be completely different from you. And how often does that happen in Dallas?

The food, of course, is top-notch. The chicken fried is as good as anywhere in town, the short ribs are addictive, the chicken and dumplings may be the best I’ve ever had, and the meat loaf puts almost everyone else’s to shame. I had lemon pound cake on Friday that may be the best pound cake ever made in the history of the world.

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And none of this takes into account the vegetables, which to my mind are the true stars of real soul food — or any Southern cooking, for that matter. The greens, the beans, the sweet potatoes, the smothered corn: It’s not so much that all of it tastes good, but that it tastes the way it is supposed to taste. Which is not like canned olives.