You can almost feel the smoke of a different era still hanging in the air at the Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club. On the stage, you'll likely find a full-bodied blues band with a twanging guitar, fierce keys and throaty vocalist who, yes, sounds like he may have just smoked a pack. Not a single wall, table or tile is without chipped paint in this dark joint. Old photos and posters of Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Dr. John leave little room for white space anyway. And in the center of it all are a few middle-aged couples dancing and twirling around so impressively in front of the stage that if you're young and single you think, "Life goals," and if you're old and married you think, "Why can't I do that?" This isn't a place where you go to gab — there's simply too much to absorb.
READERS' CHOICE: The Continental Club