The food at Sideshow has a very limited lifespan. The new downtown food cart specializes in Belgian-style pommes frites, poutine and beignets—all best devoured immediately after ordering before they rapidly turn from hot and crispy to soggy and greasy. As the name suggests, the cart was originally intended to provide side dishes to other meals in the Southwest 9th Avenue and Alder Street pod, though owner and cook Jason Myers added a small sandwich menu after realizing he'd profit from offering something more substantial. Still, the cart's biggest draw is its deep-fried fare, and Myers says the poutine is still his top seller. Sideshow's Yukon gold fries ($4 for a small cone, $6 large) are cooked twice to a deep golden brown while retaining a soft, buttery interior. They come with a choice of five sauces (Myers recommends spicy Sriracha mayo; I can't disagree) or thick vegetarian gravy and squeaky cheese curds. Unless you're sharing, opt for the smaller $5 serving (forget "side dish"; the mammoth $7 box can easily provide lunch for two), or you'll never get through the whole thing before it devolves into a sloppy brown mess. Likewise, the beignets ($3 for five), which are wonderfully soft little pillows of dough, lightly sweetened with powdered sugar and as good as any I've had in New Orleans, should be shared and consumed quickly, before the sugar turns to paste and the insides go cold. Fortunately, this is the kind of food you'll be happy to shovel down your gullet without pausing for breath.

EAT: Sideshow, Southwest 9th Avenue and Washington Street, 208-6681, sideshoweatery.com. 11 am-6 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-4 pm Sunday. $.