Pay close attention to the operating hours of Marble's Southern Cookery, or disappointment could be yours.

Craving fried catfish, I pulled up to the restaurant on a Wednesday, and its gate was locked. The restaurant has been run for almost a quarter-century by Mississippi-born Lee Marble, and it's established enough that three days a week is plenty.

(Marble also is nearing retirement, but don't fret. He plans to pass on the restaurant to his daughter, who's had her hand in the business since it began.)

Stop in at week's end to find Marble's handiwork steaming behind a short countertop -- container after container of Southern cooking.

"We've got a pretty good handle on how we do things at this point," he told me. "We put love in it, and time."

The Food

Follow the brass rail to a counter where you can look over the day's options. What's on the line? Depends on what Marble's in the mood for that day. At 70, he's in business for the kicks: "I cook for me," he said.

"This is all the food I want."

Catfish, pork chops, ribs and chicken stay in the line-up, and so do popular sides. Chicken lasagna is as likely as Marble's apple-laced meatloaf to round out the menu.

Marble's fried chicken ($6.95 or $8.50, depending on the cut) gets talked up a lot, and it lives up to its reputation. Thick, craggy and crisp breading covered miraculously moist chicken.

Farm-raised catfish ($8.50) is cooked to order. It shows up with a crunchy cornmeal breading around melt-in-your mouth meat.

Every dinner comes with two sides (extras cost $1.55), and choosing from the lineup is daunting.

Macaroni and cheese is spiced-up and rich with whole milk and several cheeses; sweet potatoes have soaked up more butter and brown sugar than is reasonable, and to delicious effect; thick mashed potatoes taste like childhood; greens are enthusiastically salted; lima beans are simmered to buttery softness.

Fresh-baked cakes and pies fill a second display case, and from the dozen varieties we went for a slice of sugar cream pie and another of luscious sweet potato pie ($2.50 apiece).

The Service

There was a good cop/bad cop dynamic between the two women behind the counter: One gave both of us a look of exasperation as we debated our choices; the other flashed a smile sweet as the tea and asked whether this was our first visit.

The Atmosphere

Marble told me Southerners can cook up something out of anything, or almost nothing. He looks to have applied that notion to his decor, as well. The restaurant is without frills in its three dining rooms. Sit at a booth or one of the haphazardly positioned tables and let your eyes fall on the pork chop instead of the bare walls.

The Price

$27 for two diners, with tax and tip, seemed like a fair deal for the feast.

Next Time

That catfish always will make it into my meal. And the macaroni and cheese. And the sweet potatoes.

-- By Tracy Cumbay / Star Correspondent, 2/23/2007