“I
like a cook who smiles out loud when he tastes his own work.
Let God worry about your modesty; I want to see your enthusiasm.”
― Robert Farrar Capon
Let God worry about your modesty; I want to see your enthusiasm.”
― Robert Farrar Capon
BIG
MAMMA’S RIB SHACK AND SOUTHERN COOKING
1453
North Lake Avenue
Pasadena,
CA 91104
626-797-1792
Monday Closed
Tuesday
thru Thursday 11:30 AM to
9:00 PM
Friday
and Saturday 11:30 AM
to 10:00 PM
Sunday 12:00
PM to 8:00 PM
Two friends of ours moved close to Big Mamma’s and alerted
us to the fact that it was in the neighborhood.
As it turned out, Big Mamma’s had been there since 2002 and is the
latest opening for a family that has owned restaurants for seventy-five years. We decided to go there with our friends, but
the first night we tried; Big Mamma’s was having a special music event and we
decided to return on a less hectic evening.
We could have saved ourselves the trouble if we had checked the web site
first and noted the special event. We
tried another place that we have visited and reviewed in the past, but they
were having a bad night, as any restaurant can occasionally, so the whole
evening was a bit disappointing. We
resolved to try to get into Big Mamma’s in a couple of weeks.
We made time to return to Big Mamma’s with our friends
the following weekend and arrived before the dinner hours to find it not
crowded. It’s a pleasant space, a bit
larger than it appears when you first enter, with both booths and tables. There is a small bar and an equally small
performance area for musicians. We were
seated at one of the tables that are between the performance area and the front
window. It felt a bit as if we were a
window display. The server (a grandson
of Big Mamma’s) joked that it would make them look busy. We retorted that it might scare customers
away.
Big Mamma’s menu is
extensive. They are properly named Rib
Shack and Southern Cooking. The
selections give you choices of Southern style, Creole and Cajun dishes. We’ll leave it to you to examine the menu on
the web site. As much as I enjoy all of
the cooking styles at Big Mamma’s we came here for to sample the que, so we looked
at their combos. They come in two sizes,
regular and mini. We ordered mini combos
thinking that we wouldn’t have too many leftovers. The Mini BBQ Combo includes a pork spare rib,
a chicken leg, a half hot link, and a slice of beef or pork. You can get white meat chicken for an
upcharge, but other than that there are no substitutions. The combos also come with a choice of two
sides. Sharon chose macaroni and cheese
and yams for her sides. I selected
greens and coleslaw. One of our friends
ordered a plate of ribs with macaroni and cheese and hush puppies while the
other ordered a plate of sliced brisket with macaroni and cheese and yams as
the sides. While we waited for our
orders our server brought a bowl of corn muffins with honey and some butter. The orders arrived promptly, but we forgot to
order our meat dry, with sauce on the side so it arrived with sauce on all the
meat.
Corn Muffins
The bowl of small corn
muffins was a real delight. They did not
seem to be made with the usual commercial corn muffin mix that makes most of
the corn bread we have encountered but were firm enough to stand up to butter
without crumbling away. The butter
provided was, delightfully, not rock hard and melted right into the
muffins. Eaten with the butter and the
honey, a bottle of which was thoughtfully provided, they were quite
enjoyable. These muffins are just basic
cornbread done right.
Collard Greens
The greens are done with a
totally conventional preparation. There
was no attempt to reach any new culinary heights here. This is not what I would give to someone who
doesn’t like greens to try to change their minds, but if you like greens you
will like these.
Cole Slaw
I’m usually not a fan of
finely chopped cabbage slaws. I did like
this one; however, since it as good a chopped cabbage and carrot slaw as you
will find anywhere. Again, it’s very
basic just, done well, if somewhat on the wet side.
Yams
When they are put on the
table you see a rather ordinary bowl of cubed yams in brown sugar sauce. We all agreed that when you put some in your
mouth, Wow! You don’t find yams this
good very often. The added spices were a
puzzle, a hint of vanilla, possibly some ginger and a couple of other things,
but whatever they put in them they come out outstanding.
Macaroni and Cheese
The macaroni and cheese is a
baked version with a bit of interest in the taste. Something about this makes it one of the
better side dish mac and cheese we’ve tasted.
The macaroni was not too mushy, as with many baked macaroni dishes, made
with a cheddar cheese sauce that had a bit too much flour in the sauce to suit Sharon. She remarked that the mac and cheese seemed a
bit bland but a nice counterpoint to the very peppery barbeque sauce on the
meat.
Hush Puppies
The hush puppies had jalapenos
in them. Sharon did not even bother to
try them. However, they do not have too
many peppers in them. Put a little honey
on them and enjoy. They are definitely
done in the tradition al manner – fried balls of dough designed to keep the
dogs or the diners quiet and content.
Pork Spare Ribs
These are ribs that do not
disappoint. They are tender and meaty
with a subtle but noticeable smoke flavor.
They aren’t the greatest ribs I’ve ever had, but they are done well and
I would certainly go back to have them again.
Sliced Beef
Both brisket and tri-tip are
on the menu. I suspect that if you don’t
specify which cut you want on a combo you get whatever they have the most of in
the kitchen. The taste and texture of
this beef told us it was tri-tip. It was
sliced a bit thinner than I would like for tri-tip, but was not tough, not over
cooked and quite tasty. I did have to
wipe the sauce off to get a good taste of the smoky flavor but it was very
good. Again, not the best I’ve had, but
definitely worth ordering.
Chicken
This was chicken barbecued
right. Make no mistake, it is
barbecued. The smoky flavor gives the
clue. It was tender, juicy and done
through. I had a thigh. Sharon went the upcharge for white meat and
got a breast. The breast made it home as
a leftover and made a good chicken sandwich for her lunch, some chicken chopped
for homemade rice and vegetable bowl, and enough for a kitty test which it
passed. You can’t want better chicken.
Hot Links
The hot link was tasty, but more
like a mildly spicy hot dog. The flavor
was pleasant with subtle spices and a suggestion of an after bite. It was too much for Sharon only because it
had the sauce on it. I thought that the
sauce was hotter than the link. This is
the only thing here that I thought was just average.
We’re certainly glad that
our friends told us about Big Mama’s. We
will probably make it a regular stop when we are in Pasadena, at least until
I’ve had the chance to try everything on the menu. If the rest is as good as the barbeque we
will have an enjoyable time. The
barbeque here is Louisiana style, a bit milder, and more subtle than most other
regional styles. The thing about Big
Mamma’s is that while they don’t seem to be extending the genre, everything we
sampled (Well, maybe not the hot links.) was done traditionally, but done
right. It’s not cutting edge barbeque,
but so well done that unless you have to have one of the spicier regional types
you will enjoy it. We give Big Mamma’s an
eight and a half.
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