I just feel like they should have a meal for the fried chicken & not charge extra for the sides , kinda pricey, and my wings were huge lol other than that I love the greens they were cooked perfectly
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Dee Mohaugany
Danielle, the waitress, was FABULOUS!! She was extremely helpful in her suggestions and really took care of our party of 5. She was warm and welcoming, which made our time pleasurable. The food was great and my recommendation will be the catfish and cabbage - hands down!! Thanks for a wonderful experience and we'll definitelybe back!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Matthew Williams
Fried chicken is good but the sides are really where it’s at. Idk what gravy they use on the mashed potatoes but it’s the best I’ve had out anywhere.
Before I stepped off the aircraft on my arrival to Richmond the young man sitting next to me suggested that I dine there I had pork chop one grilled and one fried Mac n cheese cabbages it was amazing almost and almost as good as my mother coming from a country girlAbsolutely delicious ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Chops and Gravy, Yams and Mac and Cheese
Starreese Bagwell
The area was really small butt the food was good. Felt like we're being rushed to eat in some way.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Sandwich
Seth Sobel
Very friendly atmosphere and great food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brad Coffell
Amazing food as always. As an outdoorsman, I rarely order fish when dining out. However, I typically order the catfish when dining here and have never been disappointed. The sides are also amazing. The only issue, they are often terribly busy and just unable to keep up. Even with that, my wait was still relatively minimal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Kevin Jackson
Great food and plenty of it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cobbler, Potatoes, Dark Fried Chicken, Yams and Mac and Cheese
Monite Carlisle
The wait was long and the food was cold
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Mimi Blevins
First of all, this is the best soul food that I’ve had in Richmond. Absolutely delicious and the only time I’ve never had to add salt, pepper, or hot sauce to enhance the flavor! We had the fried chicken (dark), pork chops, mac & cheese, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and cabbage. The only negative is the price. Sides are $5.00 each and not included with the entree. It came with two pork chops that were big and succulent. Unfortunately, while the chicken was the best tasting fried chicken I’ve had, the leg and thigh were tiny for $13.00. I felt like I was at KFC and for $13.00, I expected to get two big pieces of chicken, not something that looked like it came off a Cornish hen.i definitely plan on going back; however, I will avoid the fried chicken. The staff was extremely nice and love that it’s locally owned!
Ok! At first, I wasn't expecting much. But, OMG!! The food, service, and atmosphere was excellent. I didn't order a main meat because they had seafood salad as a side and my other favorite sides: cabbage and potatoe salad, so I had all sides and wasn't disappointed!! The server Dana was EXCELLENT! He provided a sample of the white wine when I was not sure what to drink. The music was humming, old school R&B and soulful 80-90's music. I had a great dining experience with friends. Thanks
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cobbler, Potato Salad, Catfish Nuggets, Mama J's Famous Seafood Salad
Quinn Almighty
Everything was GREAT to me. I got the chicken wings with the collard greens, yams, Mac & Cheese… I also tried that cake and a sweet potato pie. I ate all of it…. I would definitely recommend anyone to try this place out.. I’m from NC and I like to try a bunch of different restaurants. I also did a video on YouTube.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Yams and Mac and Cheese
Dennis C
Nestled in the historic enclave of Jackson Ward, Mama J's is a neighborhood staple that offers brilliant insight on the culinary art and journey of soul food. We met up with one of our longtime friends here at his recommendation and was thoroughly satisfied with our experience.Located off North 1st Street, the establishment rests and blends beautifully along the brick-and-mortar backdrop of the surrounding buildings and elaborate murals of the thoroughfare. While street parking may appear a bit tight, there is ample pay-by-meter spaces in the public lot right behind the building.As you enter the restaurant, you will find yourself immersed in a southern dining experience that is rich in color and flavor. The elegant bookshelf-style bar is a great centerpiece that adds to the ambiance of the establishment. The wooden chairs and clothed table-tops presents a simple, but thoughtful theme to the dining experience (as you might imagine, these seats get filled quickly). The menu does not require much effort to decipher - it gets right to the point which is a great change to other restaurants that tries to do too much with their menu (as if they want to give you a play-by-play production).All together, we ordered the crab cakes, pork chops, and wingettes, along with servings of mac-and-cheese and corn muffins. I am not exaggerating when I say that EVERYTHING was amazing. The crab cakes were fresh and flavorful - there is a perfect amount of Old Bay seasoning, along with a collaboration of other flavors that works great with the morsels of crab meat found in each patty. The wingettes were cooked to perfection and juicy. And the pork chops SLAP! Never in my life have I eaten a juicier fried pork chop. The meal was pure ascension.Coupled with great service, our dining experience was spectacular. I would recommend, 10/10, for anyone that is coming through and/or staying in Richmond to give Mama J's some love and experience this culinary delight.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ayesha Daniels
New resident to Va and had been looking for some southern food .I went here to eat with my daughter on Saturday, March 30. Upon arrival they were busy we couldn’t even sit down and eat so I decided that we would just go ahead and order out we ordered at 4:04 PM. While viewing the menu, I realize that there is no meals everything is sold separate dark meat for two pieces $14 a side was five dollars each. The drinks was three dollars each. The person who took our order said that it would be about 20 to 25 minutes, so my daughter went back in to check and see if our food was ready after 25 minutes just to learn that the food was not done we didn’t get our food until after 5 o’clock after going up to the counter several times to see if our food was ready After getting our food we had to go outside and eat and realized that we had two tiny pieces, leg and thigh, barely any meat on them in this big ole box with a piece of cornbread, and then our sides packed separate while the food was good, it definitely wasn’t worth the money. It was like any other Southern food place I couldn’t believe the size of a chicken literally bite-size. I didn’t think I was gonna make a review but after realizing that I just paid almost $60 for the little amount of food that I got I was pretty upset honestly.I know this place gets a lot of business just because we weren’t even able to sit down and just how hectic it was when we did get there, but that’s no excuse to be serving those bite-size pieces of chicken for what it cost it’s robbery to not make it a meal and to pay for things separate as I did. safe to say no hard feelings I won't eat here again.
I just feel like they should have a meal for the fried chicken & not charge extra for the sides , kinda pricey, and my wings were huge lol other than that I love the greens they were cooked perfectly
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Danielle, the waitress, was FABULOUS!! She was extremely helpful in her suggestions and really took care of our party of 5. She was warm and welcoming, which made our time pleasurable. The food was great and my recommendation will be the catfish and cabbage - hands down!! Thanks for a wonderful experience and we'll definitelybe back!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fried chicken is good but the sides are really where it’s at. Idk what gravy they use on the mashed potatoes but it’s the best I’ve had out anywhere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cobbler, Potatoes, Catfish Nuggets
Before I stepped off the aircraft on my arrival to Richmond the young man sitting next to me suggested that I dine there I had pork chop one grilled and one fried Mac n cheese cabbages it was amazing almost and almost as good as my mother coming from a country girlAbsolutely delicious ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pork Chops and Gravy, Yams and Mac and Cheese
The area was really small butt the food was good. Felt like we're being rushed to eat in some way.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Sandwich
Very friendly atmosphere and great food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing food as always. As an outdoorsman, I rarely order fish when dining out. However, I typically order the catfish when dining here and have never been disappointed. The sides are also amazing. The only issue, they are often terribly busy and just unable to keep up. Even with that, my wait was still relatively minimal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Great food and plenty of it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cobbler, Potatoes, Dark Fried Chicken, Yams and Mac and Cheese
The wait was long and the food was cold
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
First of all, this is the best soul food that I’ve had in Richmond. Absolutely delicious and the only time I’ve never had to add salt, pepper, or hot sauce to enhance the flavor! We had the fried chicken (dark), pork chops, mac & cheese, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and cabbage. The only negative is the price. Sides are $5.00 each and not included with the entree. It came with two pork chops that were big and succulent. Unfortunately, while the chicken was the best tasting fried chicken I’ve had, the leg and thigh were tiny for $13.00. I felt like I was at KFC and for $13.00, I expected to get two big pieces of chicken, not something that looked like it came off a Cornish hen.i definitely plan on going back; however, I will avoid the fried chicken. The staff was extremely nice and love that it’s locally owned!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
ABSOLUTELY GREAT.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ok! At first, I wasn't expecting much. But, OMG!! The food, service, and atmosphere was excellent. I didn't order a main meat because they had seafood salad as a side and my other favorite sides: cabbage and potatoe salad, so I had all sides and wasn't disappointed!! The server Dana was EXCELLENT! He provided a sample of the white wine when I was not sure what to drink. The music was humming, old school R&B and soulful 80-90's music. I had a great dining experience with friends. Thanks
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cobbler, Potato Salad, Catfish Nuggets, Mama J's Famous Seafood Salad
Everything was GREAT to me. I got the chicken wings with the collard greens, yams, Mac & Cheese… I also tried that cake and a sweet potato pie. I ate all of it…. I would definitely recommend anyone to try this place out.. I’m from NC and I like to try a bunch of different restaurants. I also did a video on YouTube.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Yams and Mac and Cheese
Nestled in the historic enclave of Jackson Ward, Mama J's is a neighborhood staple that offers brilliant insight on the culinary art and journey of soul food. We met up with one of our longtime friends here at his recommendation and was thoroughly satisfied with our experience.Located off North 1st Street, the establishment rests and blends beautifully along the brick-and-mortar backdrop of the surrounding buildings and elaborate murals of the thoroughfare. While street parking may appear a bit tight, there is ample pay-by-meter spaces in the public lot right behind the building.As you enter the restaurant, you will find yourself immersed in a southern dining experience that is rich in color and flavor. The elegant bookshelf-style bar is a great centerpiece that adds to the ambiance of the establishment. The wooden chairs and clothed table-tops presents a simple, but thoughtful theme to the dining experience (as you might imagine, these seats get filled quickly). The menu does not require much effort to decipher - it gets right to the point which is a great change to other restaurants that tries to do too much with their menu (as if they want to give you a play-by-play production).All together, we ordered the crab cakes, pork chops, and wingettes, along with servings of mac-and-cheese and corn muffins. I am not exaggerating when I say that EVERYTHING was amazing. The crab cakes were fresh and flavorful - there is a perfect amount of Old Bay seasoning, along with a collaboration of other flavors that works great with the morsels of crab meat found in each patty. The wingettes were cooked to perfection and juicy. And the pork chops SLAP! Never in my life have I eaten a juicier fried pork chop. The meal was pure ascension.Coupled with great service, our dining experience was spectacular. I would recommend, 10/10, for anyone that is coming through and/or staying in Richmond to give Mama J's some love and experience this culinary delight.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
New resident to Va and had been looking for some southern food .I went here to eat with my daughter on Saturday, March 30. Upon arrival they were busy we couldn’t even sit down and eat so I decided that we would just go ahead and order out we ordered at 4:04 PM. While viewing the menu, I realize that there is no meals everything is sold separate dark meat for two pieces $14 a side was five dollars each. The drinks was three dollars each. The person who took our order said that it would be about 20 to 25 minutes, so my daughter went back in to check and see if our food was ready after 25 minutes just to learn that the food was not done we didn’t get our food until after 5 o’clock after going up to the counter several times to see if our food was ready After getting our food we had to go outside and eat and realized that we had two tiny pieces, leg and thigh, barely any meat on them in this big ole box with a piece of cornbread, and then our sides packed separate while the food was good, it definitely wasn’t worth the money. It was like any other Southern food place I couldn’t believe the size of a chicken literally bite-size. I didn’t think I was gonna make a review but after realizing that I just paid almost $60 for the little amount of food that I got I was pretty upset honestly.I know this place gets a lot of business just because we weren’t even able to sit down and just how hectic it was when we did get there, but that’s no excuse to be serving those bite-size pieces of chicken for what it cost it’s robbery to not make it a meal and to pay for things separate as I did. safe to say no hard feelings I won't eat here again.