text: I've walked by the front door on my way to browse stores nearby in Plaza Midwood and have thought a hundred times of stopping in. A friend of mine and I used to always talk of stopping into Mama's. Four years of playing \"we should do this\" later, we stopped in. And it was pretty good.\n\nThere's a lunch special was $4.95 for a curry chicken, but we opted on oxtail and Caribbean jerk chicken. The best way to describe the oxtail was being like a chewier pot roast, and pretty nice with the plate's included rice and beans. I know wanting to try someplace out for years builds a lot of hype, so my expectations for the jerk chicken might have unfairly been a little high. The spice mix Mama uses for the chicken is great, with enough punch to brighten up the poultry that's a bit dry. If you have trouble picking side dishes (I can be indecisive, or maybe not), opt for the collard greens instead of the sweet potatoes. The portion is bigger, and the flavor is fuller. On that note, portions are plentiful-the small size will fill you up without making you feel like the Goodyear blimp.\n\nSome of the other reviews have mentioned cleanliness and service. When we first came in, we did a lot of \"taking in the sights.\" The sights were a gigantic DJ booth and a wall of speakers, for the music they have on the weekends (that created even more of a mythical status for Mama's). The place looks a little grungy, but since the plywood outside wasn't a problem, I didn't have a problem with the floor and tables looking a little messy.\n\nA lot of folks swung by for take-out orders (I'd like to try that out) or even just for a chat. There was one guy explaining his plan for fixing all the world's troubles as a small group of people gathered. We were leaving as he was starting to speak; now I wish we had stayed for it all.