09/10/08

Best Down Home Southern Cooking out of the South

by atb2

I need to do a bit of background. I go to Vegas a couple of times a year mostly on business and stay in the large Strip hotels but need to get off of the Strip to just relax. I was looking for good comfort food on one occasion and saw a review for Big Mamas. Comfort food to me means fried and likely either East European or Deep South. Off I went.

Okay in the interest of honesty you need to be comfortable with not upscale restaurant and locale. Food was critical and I did not worry about the neighborhood. Felt like I had died and been transported back to the South after I ate there the first time. Great food and real people.

My wife hates Vegas and never goes with me on business trips but I told her when we were going through Vegas on a trip a few months after my first adventure to this restaurant she was in for a treat. Okay I am an adventurous diner. My wife is not. I look for good food and good people. If it is upscale, okay but not real critical to me. She questioned where I was taking her and especially when she saw it was not upscale. She has been on some of my culinary adventures in the past.

Brief synopsis of her review. "Honey, when we are driving back through Vegas on the way back to CA after this trip to Salt Lake, we have to stop at Big Mama's again." We did and she wants to go back. I have now over heard her on several occasions since that trip tell her friends how they need to go there.

Hush puppies, fried cat fish, fried chicken, greens corn bread and sweet potato pie are the things I remember most. I will return. Good food and good people.

07/28/08

Hits the spot every time.

by AnonAF

I do not go here for the ambience. I go here for the smothered chicken, pineapple cake, and peach cobbler. It's a local family joint - the kind place you might find in a church basement. I would have to recommend it because I love the food here. It's a friendly place with good food that never disappoints me.

• Pros: Great smothered chicken.
• Cons: Not great ambience.

11/06/07

Extremely disappointed

by netter1

I'm from Los Angeles, and I have to say I am a devoted fan of the Pasadena, CA location. My husband and I have been talking up this restaurant to all of our family and friends. As we were in Vegas this past weekend with family, we decided to drag some of them to Big Mama's for the best Southern/Soul/BBQ, as we knew the recipes were the same. Sadly, the food, atmosphere, and service were at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the Pasadena location. The Pasadena location is a nice restaurant with pleasant staff and good table service. The Vegas location is more of a fast food joint where the customers are more likely to take out their order than to dine in. In fact, after we parked, we weren't sure if they were even open as 1/2 the lights in the dining area were turned off. Our server (the only one around) was extremely friendly, and determined to get our orders correct. However, the yelling match she conducted with the person on the kitchen side of the counter to ensure our orders were right was unnecessary and absurdly entertaining ... in an oh-my-God-I've-got-a-story-for-you drinking story way. Additionally, The food quality was all over the place...from cold corn bread and chicken & dumplings with no dumplings to perfectly fried okra and excellent fried chicken. The fried pork chops were nicely cooked, but the gravy on the smothered pork chops was lukewarm and slightly off. My brother commented that his oxtail entree was a little "vinegary"...as I've had the oxtails in Pasadena (which were not at all vinegary), his comment both surprised and worried me. I can honestly say that I won't be returning to this Las Vegas location.

• Pros: plenty of parking
• Cons: food, service, atmosphere