Army & Lou's -- soul food with more than a dash of style. Army & Lou's has been around for 63 years. Through thick and thin, and coupled with a change in owners a few times, it has managed to survive the daunting restaurant business by consistently turning out soul food and Southern dishes that, while not fancy or finessed in any way, are flavorful to the core.

"Flavor" is the operative word. Too many restaurants get all caught up with presentation and puffery and forget that it's all about the flavor. Anybody can make a plate of food look good, but can they make it taste good?

The food at Army & Lou's tastes good. Over the years, a new dish or two have been added, more or less to keep a toe in changing tides --most recently a combo of catfish nuggets and chicken wings (the ultimate in low-key surf and turf) and "honey hot chicken wings." But for the most part, the menu has always been stacked with comfort-food classics.

The buzz words at Army & Lou's are "scratch cooking." I don't get to go into the kitchens of the restaurants I review, but I will take it as gospel that A&L is making a lot of its food from scratch, simple food that is prepared with care.

I kicked off a recent lunch with a pile of the honey hot chicken wings. Meaty, flavorful, messy, delicious. A turkey sandwich was a feast that had me fixated on the goodness of the nicely seasoned gravy coating the the slices of turkey. When it comes to "hot turkey," it's all about the gravy ... and the mashed potatoes on the plate, which were quite good, as well. A strong finisher was the peach cobbler, which I always seem to end up ordering here.

Dinner brought out the best of Army & Lou's. Leaping right into the fried chicken, this is half of the bird, fried to a pale gold with a crusty, crunchy coating. That crusty facade gave way to the moist and tender meat (order the all white meat) underneath. It's as good as fried chicken gets. I paired it with creamy-good coleslaw (one side dish comes with entrees).

Another fine dish, listed under "Southern Specialties," was the pork chops. Two meaty chops that benefitted mightily from the "smothering," which implies a thick, deliciously flavored gravy (chicken can be had "smothered" as well). My side dish with the chops was a nicely done mac 'n' cheese.

On the seafood end of matters, Army & Lou's menu lists shrimp, perch, trout, scallops and catfish. Catfish can be ordered as "steak" or fillet. I tried the fillet and it was cooked a lot more than I would have liked, so it came off dry, and that robbed the fish of not only its moisture but also its flavor. A side dish of steamed rice was nice.

If you want to experience a cross section of the seafood choices, order the "deluxe seafood platter," an arrangement that includes shrimp, scallops, catfish and crab cake. It is one terrific bargain ($19.95) and includes soup or salad and choice of one side dish. Oh, yes, and the best corn bread muffins in town. Don't miss those.

For dessert, I decided it was time to try something other than my usual peach cobbler, so I went for the sweet potato pie. Not bad, but the peach cobbler beats it by a mile.

Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author.