Sam’s Soul Food Restaurant and Bar

When New Yorkers think of Bronx restaurants, City Island crab shacks and Arthur Avenue pasta palaces come to mind. But this welcoming Southern-style kitchen, with a wood-paneled bar and a sofa-filled lounge, belongs on any thorough outer-borough restaurant list. Students from Hostos Community College and legal eagles from Bronx County offices pack Sam’s during the day, when copious lunch platters spotlight moist fried whiting, plump jerk chicken and freshly smoked ribs. Owner Sam Amoah, a native of Ghana, will point you to something tasty. Get there early; special dishes sell out fast.