Momma Deans: Good for Fayetteville’s soul | OU Review

Momma Deans Soul Food Kitchen

1701 S. School Ave.
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Tel: 521-1669
Twitter: MommaDeans
Hours:
11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.  Tues – Sat
11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sun.
Closed Monday

Final score: 4 out of 5 pieces of hot water cornbread

Don’t let anyone tell you that free Facebook advertising isn’t effective. There I was, checking my Facebook page this morning, and saw an update from Momma Deans Soul Food Kitchen.

How can you resist an invitation like that? I’ve heard good things about Momma Deans in the past among my local foodie friends. This Sunday seemed like the perfect chance to give them a try.

It didn’t hurt that my family’s post-church Sunday meals in El Dorado often involved going to a place called the Kozy Kitchen where soul food, or what we called Southern cooking, was the prime attraction. The taste of collards, catfish, mashed potatoes and fried okra take me immediately back to my childhood.

I felt a little giddy when I got there and realized they actually had hot water cornbread, a rarity here in the Ozarks, but a staple of south Arkansas cuisine. It’s a cross between a hushpuppy and a piece of normal cornbread, that retains the best characteristics of both.

I decided on take out and made my order from a menu on the wall that changes often. For $9.99, you can get a meat and two vegetables and a desert or, in my case, a meat and three vegetables. A children’s size is available for $5.99. The selection of meats is what you’d expect in a soul food restaurant: Chicken fried steak, chicken fingers, brisket, etc. and the vegetables are staples of Southern cooking as well.

It’s not a big place and was about a third full when I arrived just before noon to make my order. I got progressively more and more hungry as I watched truly heaping plates of food delivered to those eating at the restaurant.

I waited about 10-15 minutes for the food to be ready and enjoyed the loud Gospel music playing from the kitchen. I was also impressed by the homemade pepper sauce on the tables, basically a mason jar with peppers floating in vinegar that I assume would be excellent on some well-cooked greens.

The food arrived and I brought my bounty back home for my wife and I to enjoy.

There were a few issues with the order I noticed once we got home, nothing fatal, but it did detract from the excellent food.

First, there was no silverware included. This could have been an issue if we weren’t going immediately home, but easily solved with forks from our own collection.

Second, the mashed potatoes that came with my wife’s platter did not have gravy. Maybe you have to ask for gravy, but I’ve always thought it was part of the unwritten Southern code that mashed potatoes are assumed to come with gravy unless otherwise stated. The mashed potatoes were still pretty good – smooth but not creamy, homemade with the odd lump and well seasoned – but were begging for a little gravy.

Finally, one of our two platters was ordered with a roll, not hotwater cornbread. We got cornbread with both.

All of these negatives were easily outweighed by the tasty dishes.

I had chicken fried steak as my meat. It was one of the best pieces of I’ve ever had, tender and moist, flavorful and huge. The white gravy which was laced across the top added a creamy and peppered finish to it. My sides, the fried okra, purple hull peas and mac and cheese were each distinct, delicious and ample. Sometimes the flavor of one side dish invades the others, masking the more mild tastes, but not at Momma Deans. The hot water cornbread was almost as tasty as the Kozy Kitchen version from my youth.

My wife ordered the chicken fingers and they were cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside with tasty breading, but moist and flavorful on the inside. The coleslaw was tangy and fresh enough that the red cabbage still bled purple into the cool mayo sauce. The fried zucchini was a standout as well.

“Everything is so fresh,” my wife said.

I agree. It’s clear that a lot of attention and practice goes into each dish at Momma Deans. The portions are huge as well. Unless your ravenous, expect to have a snack left over for later.

I’d highly recommend Momma Deans if you’re looking for Southern cooking that is authentic, practiced and incredibly filling.

For a South Arkansas transplant like me, it tasted like home.

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