This 50-year-old Southside institution -- that's had its ups and downs since Irreasa Drakes, who made the place famous with her consistently good cooking, passed away in 1990 -- is on the up again, dishing out soul food like Southern gra'mas used to make, no matter the shade of their skin. Drake's got 12 thumbs up one day last month from six visiting African-American high-school football coaches with arms the size of tree trunks, in town for a coaches' camp. Sitting around a blue plastic-covered table, digging into plates piled high with chicken and dumplings, fried chicken, pork chops, boiled potatoes, greens, black-eyed peas, enough corn bread to soak up the "pot likker," and peach cobbler on the side, they all sang Drake's praises. "We never eat anywhere else when we're in town," one said. Case closed.

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