My kind of place Catfish Nuggets soooo good The Pork Chops with onions peppers gravy OMG The Collard Greens The Mac n Cheese the Corn Muffin The BBQ Ribs Great Service by Neek(I'm sure I spelled that incorrectly) She got me a sample of the Potato Salad yummy The prices are so inexpensive for all the food you get My Bestie tried one of the Signature cocktails Grandma or Grandpa something lol Margarita She loved it read more

The catfish was phenomenal. I could've done with just 1 piece because they were bigger and thicker than I thought they were. The service there was also extremely nice and pretty fast. Next time I'm in the area I will definitely come back. It does get packed here during lunch time as an FYI. But worth the wait. read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Menu - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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I have visited this once lovely place many times in the past but they get no more of my money after this last experience. First let me say, that I live at least an hour away. On Fri 11/10/23, I was headed to a hair appt in Chesterfield {which is another 30min in the opposite direction} and decided that I really wanted Mama J's for dinner. I placed my order online at 4pm for 4:45 pick up. I arrived, food isn't ready. No biggie, I'll sit at the bar and wait. Young lady named Brooklyn {blonde braids} asks my name and I give her my last name. She asks for my first name, I kindly say I gave my last name because people pronounce it wrong. She INSISTS on my first name, I tell her and what does she do? Repeat it wrong! So I repeat it 2 more times and louder so she can hear me. She IMMEDIATELY scrunches up her face with an attitude and turns to check the status. She then says something to another lady, Nique {Neek? Black mask, synthetic black wig} and now I'm just waiting. Now I am a diabetic who just sat in 2hrs of traffic so I'm hungry and I can feel my blood sugar level dropping! Food and drink come and I sip my drink JUST IN CASE I want another one {adding to the $70 I've already spent}. It's good so I ask Brooklyn if I can order another one. She says ok and proceeds to take a try of glasses somewhere. So I feel myself getting weaker and I open the seafood salad while I wait for this tea. Before I can even put my fork in it, Nique RUDELY tells me "You can't eat that here. You ordered to go so you have to take it with you." I explain that I AM going, I'm just waiting on my drink and I need to put something on my stomach. She repeats that I can't eat it there. Now, it's NOT crowded, there are bar seats and table seats available and no one is waiting to be seated, so it's not like I'm taking up space. There was a young next to me eating Mac and Cheese out of the same little brown to go bowl that I had, but ok. I told them never mind about the drink and as I was gathering my things I said " I'm a diabetic who just drove 2hrs to get here. If I fall out in this place, then what??" As I said this a lady named Crystal came from the back asked me what I needed, I explained what I was waiting for & what I was doing and she kindly provided my drink at no charge. Brooklyn never returned during this time. We get home and not only has the customer service gone downhill, so has the food! I ordered for 2 people: fried chicken was ok, seafood salad was SALLLLLTY, greens tasted like sugar had been added while the yams were hard and bland. Mac and cheese was just ok & the catfish was still pretty good. They need to train these people on customer service!!!! Everybody should have the care and compassion of Crystal. But as for me and my family, they get no more of our money. read more

I have to put Mama J's back on my list of faves! The pork chops were absolutely divine...tender, juicy & flavorful. The Best of any soul food restaurant in Richmond! The menu is a little pricey because it's a la carte. However, it's well worth it if you like good & tasty food read more

Cornbread was sweet - gritty, everything you could ask for. The greens were full of flavor. Sides were a bit small to be honest. The mac and cheese honestly wasn't too special - kraft mac and cheese would have been acceptable. The chicken was cripsy without being too heavy. My friend got the catfish which were huge portions. Great flavor, well done. read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Mmm Mama J's, can't wait to come back and try more of your menu. Today I had the Caesar salad with an order of Catfish nuggets. Large well done Caesar that hit the spot. Perfect lightly golden fried Catfish in juicy bites - would get these to snack on any day. Lovely staff and I look forward to coming back when it's full service. read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

This place was so good!! It was crowded when we arrived however the wait wasn't long. It was hard for us to decided but my husband decided on the catfish and greens and Mac. I had the fried chicken and yams and couldn't pass up cake for dessert. Let me tell you the cake was going so fast I had to ask the waitress to cut my piece right then and there. The table next to us ordered 4 pieces to go! My husband was mad because they took the last piece of the kind he wanted. We did decide to have the peach cobbler and ice cream at the table with the kids and it was so good!!! When we come down from Detroit again we are for sure stopping here again!! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - So good! - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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WOW, did not know what to expect when coming. I had the catfish, with yams, Mac & cheese, and potato salad, finished off with peach cobbler. Food is cooked to perfection and has the right amount of seasoning. Very very pleased with this decision. The only negative I could find was the limited seating and the wait. Apparently everyone likes eating here. Your a fool not to stop and eat at this gem. read more

Really great food the fried fish and collerd greens were cooked so well. The fried chicken was only two pieces was hoping for at least on more for the price. Great ambiance and wonderful service. read more

Definitely met my expectations. Nice at atmosphere, fresh and hot.... cool staff! Will definitely return! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Mama J's reminds you of a great Sunday dinner any day of the week. Just delicious home cooked food. Yum . A lil whole in the wall-but brings back happy childhood memories eating good food around the table. Cake is awesome too. Give it a try! read more

This place used to have the best brisket in town and we loved going there but we got take out today and it was almost inedible. The bread was so hard we couldn't bite into it and the brisket wasn't tender like it used to be. Unfortunately we won't be back anymore. read more

Sara, was a good server, helpful and on top of things. 4pm arrival, place was busy but for 3 of us, no wait. Wingettes happy hour price $6 w sauce. Ordered extra crispy and they were good. Catfish, I was told was excellent. My shrimp was lightly battered and fried. Yummy! Pasta seafood salad was good but lacking flavor, actually not sure what, maybe a little kick? Mac and good, not great but had flavor. Corn muffins, Not dry... very delectable moist and slightly sweet. read more

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The Best Soul Food I Ever Had , Service Was Amazing. Yes It's A Wait That's How Good The Food Is But It's Worth The Wait. Like A Soon As My Food Came Out It Was Super Hot, Everything Was Amazing. & It's Worth The Money Because You Will Have Some For Later. 10 out of 10 must try again ‼‼ read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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Absolutely delicious food! Great team and great owner! A must eat when in RVA! The fried chicken, wings and catfish are my favorite! You will not be disappointed! read more

My boyfriend and I went here for dinner. I ordered the catfish two ways; baked and blackened. For sides, I chose green beans and macaroni and cheese. Both the green beans and macaroni and cheese taste sweeter than I'm used to but it was yummy. The blackened fish was too salty for me. I think I prefer it baked after trying all three. My boyfriend ordered two fried catfish, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, and green beans. He thought the green beans were sweet too and he would've liked more cheese in the macaroni cheese. He liked the batter on the fish as well. We both agreed that the meal was good! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Blackened Catfish, baked Catfish, Macaroni & Cheese, String Beans - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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This place is alway great ! It better when I get there at 12 and no wait! Catfish nuggets are perfect ! Cook fresh ! The fried chicken dark meat was moist but the skin taste like it way easier and not fresh ! Very unpleasant ! The collards were on point ! Tea always good . Waitress perfect ! Roll not home made but good ! Atmosphere great ! Cake always good ! Good meal! read more

Southern flair, hole-in-wall, cozy restaurant. The fish was nicely cooked, flakey, and the crust had a slight crunch but needed a bit more oomph of flavor. The greens were rich and cooked well. The Mac n cheese was gooey and creamy but lacked luster, although I am grateful it wasn't that nasty Mac n paste you get fed at other restaurants...I just need more flavor. I know this is a local favorite place to eat at and maybe when I came in it, it just wasn't a good day for the staff. I strongly encourage you to come in for a filling meal at a good price and make your own conclusion. read more

We walked right in because it's Thursday afternoon at 300. Interior is clean and hip not sterile. Great music playing. The service was fast and friendly. The iced tea is fresh and delicious. Main entree - fried chicken white meat - comes with choice if dinner roll or corn bread. Both were good - the dinner roll was a soft and pillowy - get the roll. The sides we chose were all amazing - collard greens, potato salad, cabbage and Mac and cheese were all special themselves. I'm waiting for peach cobbler. You can split a peach cobbler and ice cream between two diners. Best dining experience in a long time. Thanks for the recommendation Dex from lumber liquidators sales team. Server Karen was great! read more

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LOVEEEEEEEED EVERYTHING about this place from service to the food! However, the place is very small with close seating. You can literally hear the other tables conversation even if they are whispering lol. I am so very pleased with the way the food was cooked and the servers attitude was amazing ! I will be returning very soon. the catfish and yams are so bomb ! Get them read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Heaven on a plate - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Had a great lunch here before leaving my son at VCU. It was packed so we had to wait a bit for a table. Once seated the service was great and the food even better. read more

If you are looking for real southern home cooking soul food - look no further! Mama J's is a popular spot and for good reason. I've waited over an hour numerous times and it's always well worth the wait. I ordered the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and the greens. Oh my, those greens! The chicken has a nice crunchy outside the way fried chicken should always be done! The Mac and cheese is probably my least favorite but that's only because it's not a creamy cheese - it's got more lumps of cheese but it's still rather tasty. One of my favorite spots in Richmond! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

The wait was 45min-1 hour. Was it worth it? Overall, yes! Our server was extremely attentive and kept the refills coming before we asked for anything. When I asked for her honest opinion on certain foods she told me which one I could live without. (Being pregnant I wanted the entire menu). I ended up getting the fried pork chops covered in gravy, onions, and peppers. You have to order your sides separate which is about $3 each. For my sides I chose Mac and cheese (which was amazing), collard greens (which she said is better than the string beans I was thinking about getting), and mashed potatoes (which wasn't that great because I love garlic and a more thicker texture and that was more like school lunch. When the waitress came back she noticed I ate everything except the mashed potatoes so she asked if she could remove it off the bill for me since I didn't enjoy it. Which was nice gesture because I would have normally just paid for it so instead I added it to her in tip because she was on top of everything. Overall the atmosphere was good because they had all of the 90s jams going! The only complaint I had was how small the restaurant was so people waiting are pretty much sitting next to you while you eat. But hey, we all wanted to see everyone's plate because the wait had to be worth it! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Smothered Pork Chops, Mac and cheese, collard greens, and mashed potatoes. (corn bread comes with, or bread) Catfish Sandwich in the back. - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Love the fact the owner is accountable and will Rectify any issues immediately I love Fried turkey wings and smothered The Mac and cheese lord it's to die for I keep saying ima try something different but Fridays is the best day of the week .. read more

I love Croaker Spot. Love it! I ate so much of it during my 4 years of college, living in Petersburg. Every change we got we headed to Croaker Spot. When I went back to Richmond a few months ago to visit a friend I suggested Croaker Spot. She said, I'm tired of Croaker Spot, we have plenty of new soul food spots here now since you left. Mama J's came out of her mouth first so we tried it. It was a Sunday afternoon. They don't take reservations so my friend said we have to be sure to beat the church rush. We tried. It was 10 of us. When we got there the wait time was about 30 mins. We waited. The place is super small. We waited the for sure 30 minutes. Because we had time to look over the menu, we all knew exactly what to order. The minute we all sat down we were greeted by the server. She took our drink and food orders at the same time. We had 4 kids in our party. When she came back with the kid's drinks, she also came back with baskets of bread. Nice! For appetizers we shared catfish nuggets, fried chicken wingettes and fried shrimp. They were sooooo good and made us all very anxious for our dinners. I ordered 2 pieces of catfish, mac and cheese, yams and collard greens. I live in Phoenix, I don't get this kind of good food often The rest of the party ordered smothered pork chops, the crab cake entrée, chicken tenders, Beef Tips with rice, BBQ ribs and Country Fried Steak. Everything! Everything was out of this world good. I know this because I literally passed a plate around to try every single thing on everyone's plate. Now, I will say ... the catfish was delicious but I'm still a fan of Croaker Spot's fish more. My next time in Richmond I'll be sure to visit both spots for ole' time sake. read more

Ended a day trip to Richmond on a high note for sure. Mama J's kitchen had a great reviews so we knew we would get great soul food here and it did not disappoint. Just a note that this place does not take reservations, so you have to walk in and hope for a short wait. On a Saturday night the wait for a group larger than 2 people is closer to an hour, but since we were two people we got lucky and had two great seats at the bar. The waitresses were super friendly and attentive and we got our order in quickly: fried chicken, Mac and cheese and sweet yams. The portion size of the chicken was huge and a daunting task to finish it all, but I got through most of it. The chicken's crust was so light and flakey it basically melted in my mouth. The Mac and cheese and yams were so good and flavorful and the yams were surprisingly my fave over the Mac and cheese. Highly highly recommend if you're in Richmond! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

So I Have had an eye on this place for a while now, I must say the reason I gave this restaurant a four-star is not because of the flavor of the food because the food here was absolutely delicious 10 out of 10 I gave it a 9 1/2 I must also say the prices here are a a bit high I ordered the smothered fried chicken with gravy and onions macaroni and cheese and yams with a lemonade one dinner for one person it's almost $30 to be exact my total came out to $27.25 but other than that I absolutely enjoy the food and I will definitely be back soon read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Fried chicken smothered in gravy Macaroni & Cheese Candied Yams - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

Their catfish was so delicious!! (I'll def. go back) Not too much breading and perfect amount of fish. There are a lot of instances where it's all breading and no fish. The seasoning was also on point- not too bland, not too salty. I'm not sure how consistent they are so don't be disappointed if it doesn't taste as I explain. We got the seasonal greens (collard greens) and it was on the sweeter end. The more we ate the sweeter it got. I'm not used to sweet greens so it was interesting to me. The Mac and cheese was pretty good, my friend likes her Mac and cheese that's more on the cheesy side, but for me I enjoyed it because it was flavorful as any Mac and Cheese should be. The cornbread was really good also, generally people make their cornbread dry, but this was very moist. Lastly we ordered the peach cobbler... mmm wouldn't say that it was amazing. Thought it would come out pretty warm, but it was on the colder side than warm. The peaches seemed like they came from a can and not homemade. The catfish was the highlight of everything (two thumbs up) read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Their prices have changed- don't go by their website - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

I tried Mama J's a few months ago and I was disappointed with my food. My cousin brought me lunch a couple of weeks ago and the food was good. So I tried it today and was happily surprised. I ordered catfish, greens, yams and peach cobbler. Everything was good except they gave me apple cobbler instead of peach. The cobbler is why I gave 4 stars instead of 5. I'm sure I'll try them again. read more

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Expect to wait an hour or more... no matter when you go to Mama J. The food was good/OK...BUT, not that good to wait an hour plus to be seated and then wait another 20 to 30 minutes to eat......oooono!!! I will not be returning again. The service was outstanding!!! read more

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Mama Js is delightful! I only gave it 4 stars because the line is always long and there is often an hour wait. When going there make sure to get the fried catfish. The cakes are to die for! It is routinely cheaper than other southern comfort restaurants in Richmond. read more

It's alright, the food is a bit on the bland side. There are better places in Petersburg.

Terrific soul food. Catfish is my favorite - batter is thin, light, and crispy, and fish is hot and tender. Fried chicken skin is also crispy and tasty, and seals in the flavor. Collard greens are good, but could use more seasoning. The coup de grace is the peach clobber. Serving is huge, and beneath the crust is hot, sweet, and gooey peach goodness. Friendly service at the bar and good local beers. read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Peach cobbler - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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First time going to this soul food restaurant. The owner herself recommend that I stop in and try her food. Simply delicious! I got the Jumbo shrimp and my mom got the catfish. My shrimp was seasoned very well. My mom's catfish was very good. This place has both dine in or takeout. Due to pandemic all orders are takeout only. Whenever I'm in the Richmond area I will definitely stop in for some amazing soul food. read more

Fantastic soul food. I came here travelling through Virginia on business and my only regret is that I no longer have any business in Virginia, because this food is amazing. I had the pork chops, some catfish nuggets, and a side of candied yams. I really wish I could have tried some more. read more

Always a pleasure! Great food, service, and atmosphere. Love the collards, Mac and cheese, yams, and fish.

Food was bomb! Sides were phenomenal. I had catfish yams Mac and green beans. Definitely worth the hype!

For once there was no line and no wait to get in. Took full advantage of that and grabbed the first available table. Ordered the crab cake dinner with Yams and their famous Mac and cheese. WOW this place is always a 12/10. If you haven't gone, it's time to make that move fam. read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Crab Cakes - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

This food was absolutely delicious. Well seasoned and nice portions. I had the fried chicken and my husband had the fried pork chops. Sides were mac and cheese, greens, and sweet potatoes. Everything was good. Got a piece of lemon and strawberry cake. Big slices and they were good too. We will def be back! read more

Mama J's Kitchen - Soul Food Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

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Walked in the restaurant and filled with smoke in the air. That should've been my cue to leave, but we were hungry. The hostess is the only thing pleasant about this restaurant. We waited a hour for table. When the food arrived had hair in the mashed potatoes. Requested to speak to the manager several times. Bad customer service manager never came out to even acknowledge the mistake. I will never ever support this restaurant again! read more