Just Like Mama's Soulfood Seafood & Bbq

Yesterday, Just Like Mama's was invited to our neighborhood's weekly food truck event. Two words - "bomb diggity". They were set up and ready to serve on time and that is a huge plus in our neighborhood. We ordered the Crawfish Etoufee, Oxtails, Peach Cobbler and Banana Pudding. The portion sizes were enough for me to have left overs. I loved the creation of the Peach Cobbler wrapped with a waffle cone. It was tasty. Everything was perfect and I will definitely be on the lookout for them when I am craving Soul Food.

Just Like Mama's is like a one man band with ALL the instruments. This dude shows up with a pit packed full of delicious BBQ complete with decor from The Blues Brothers and serves various soul food favorites for a reasonable price. On a recent evening I wasn't planning on dinner; perhaps more of a liquid diet kinda night. Togo containers all around me hearing praise after praise nearby made me go shell out a mere $15 for a two meat plate with a bacon wrapped jalapeno and sides. Mama raised this boy right! Here's the verdict:St. Louis style pork ribs were fall off the bone tender. Perhaps some of the best bark on ribs that I've experienced. A bit crispier than I'm used too paired with holy sh*t good BBQ sauce. This is a must try food food truck slash caterer here in ATX. Seriously, quite close to nearby faves Salt Lick and Valentina's. Smoked sausage was also excellent. Maybe an higher percentage of fat in the crisp casing? The smoke from the pit really sent this selection into overdrive. With the exception of Austin fave Smokey Denmark, I don't get excited about sausage. JLM's was quite stellar. Amazing BBQ sauce hopefully known from this day Ol' Rooster coined "triple nipple" is also spread across the meat to your specs. Here's something I don't regularly comment on either...sides. Beans packed with brown sugar and jalapenos could be the best I've had in a BBQ setting. Realistically, I'm only knocking off a star for one issue. This is Texas folks; if you don't have pickles, onions, and jalapenos (pickled) readily available your missing something that we expect. Otherwise, over the top excellent!

I ordered a giant turkey leg. And my oh my was this thing good. The flavors were delicious and the meat was tender. Fell right off the bone. Next time around I need to try the ribs and some of their sides.

Amazing - we got a 1 meat 2 sides plate (pulled pork, collards and potato salad), the fried catfish with crawfish ettoufee on red beans and rice, and a peach cobbler waffle cone. All of them were delicious!! Definitely check it out if they're ever in your neighborhood!

Oh. My. Good. Goodness. To paraphrase my friend Big Jimmy F.,...Yes, this guy certainly CAN cook!I don't know where James F. found Just Like Mama's roving bbq pit, but my husband showed up after a weekly backroads Dripping Springs HEB trip talking about seeing a roadside BBQ set up called "Mama's" in the No-Man's land between Driftwood and Dripping. As Hubby unpacked a week's worth of groceries, I asked why he didn't just stop and find out what Mama's had to offer! I mean...DUH! The groceries could wait! Since any potentially worthwhile food option anywhere near us is worth trying, we hauled our butts back into the truck and headed back toward the smoke signals from Mama's pits. Reggie's bbq is the real deal. His menu this day offered sandwiches, plates and sides with the best values on the plates - 1, 2, 3 or 4 (!) meats plus 2 sides for a price that let you go home feeling like you definitely got your money's worth. Although I tried to order a simple brisket sandwich, code-talk from my husband steered me toward the 2-meat plate while he ordered the 4-meat option, aka "The Armageddon" plate per the menu. The Sides: Don't skip them. Choices this day were baked beans, potato salad and mac 'n cheese. He was low on mac 'n cheese so we skipped that and left it for lovers of that dish who would truly appreciate it. The potato salad was very good, but the baked beans were EXCEPTIONAL. Most places start with canned beans and doctor them up - I don't think that was happening here. If these beans started life in a can, they certainly overcame that humble beginning. They tasted like he started with a few pounds of dried navy or field cream-pea beans and slow-cooked them into excellence along with tomatoes, peppers, bites of ham, chunks of sausage and enough brown sugar to embarrass his mama. The beans alone were a labor of love and you must not pass up the chance to taste them.The Meats: My playmate and I chose brisket, pulled pork, baby-back ribs, chicken, and sausage, and we were given generous portions of each. Since Texas is a community property state, we claimed a share of each other's plate and there was plenty for both of us with another meal's leftovers as lagniappe, (check the dictionary if you're not from Louisiana).Full disclosure...we are not loyal fans of most Texas bbq. Too often, it tastes of too much smoke or the sauce is overwhelmingly astringent and spicy. Just Like Mama's bbq reminds me of the excellent flavors I found in the Carolinas - tender, moist meats that fall off the bone, possess a kiss of smoke that leaves beef tasting like beef - pork tasting like pork - chicken in recognizable pieces - sausage links that taste like someone made them with love that morning using a family heirloom recipe. The sauce was good enough to drink, but added sparingly so it didn't drown the meat. I'll ask for sauce on the side next time so we'll have some to use on other recipes later. He needs to bottle this stuff - it's food crack.What could Just Like Mama's BBQ and Soul Food do better? Marketing! All my husband remembered as he drove past the first time at 65 mph was "Mama's"...try Googling that for a roving bbq pit - frustrating! Even "Just Like Mama's" takes you to Cleveland, Birmingham, and parts far afield from the Austin area. Short of considering a name change, (what about "Mama Taught Me How"?), I'd like to see him spend some bucks to put his name and number on the carry-out bags and hand out a printed flyer with each order. All it takes is one taste of his food and most customers will want to know where he's going to be from week to week. I know that we will be tracking Just Like Mama's down whenever we're in the mood for exceptionally good barbecue - I hope he considers finding a way to push that information out to fans like us.

Wish I had a picture to post but don't because I literally ate my entire plate.. creamed corn was delicious and my toddler ate almost an entire serving of sausage ! I also really enjoyed their sauce they use like plum or grape jelly sounds weird but honestly was delicious. Complemented the smokey flavors so well!

These men made me physically illl. I told them I was vegetarian and asked if there was anything I could eat that was a vegetarian meal. They said you could have baked beans but there was bacon in it and pick it out. I asked if there was anything else and they said macaroni is one of our most popular items. I said that would be amazing and I would love to try that. The man on the grill then also cut a piece of what looks like sausage and said it was his Boudin and it was vegetarian and to please try it. I asked multiple times after that if it was vegetarian and he guaranteed me it was. So I ate it. I got physically ill soon after. And went back up to talk to him about that. There were others ordering Boudin who were very excited that it had meat in it, even though he had just told me it was vegetarian. He said nobody knows what I make in my Boudin, mine does not have meat and if I got sick to let him know later. It had meat. My body told me so and he lied. He didn't care. He wanted me to eat something that he felt I should eat rather than respecting what I told him about my health concerns. He repeatedly said we make these things " for YOU people" which was insulting. I shouldn't have to apologize for my dietary conditions and should be able to trust those that serve me food if I tell them that I am unable to eat certain things. I am extremely upset about these business practices and am angry that they do not care if they endanger others.

My husband and I ate here while having a few beers at Compadre Brewing. We had the boudin, brisket sandwich, and baked beans. All were top notch! The barbecue sauce was delicious and on the less salty side so you could really taste the flavor. The boudin was nice and moist, not dried out at all like you sometimes get at other places. My husband really enjoyed his brisket sandwich and the baked beans were soooo good. On top of that the owner was very friendly and chit chatted with us while we were off to the side playing backgammon and drinking our beers. Definitely recommend this place!!

Chicken fellow of the bone! Spicy sauce was tray! And the Mac n cheese was tasty too! And they're very friendly!

Reginald had his food truck in the neighborhood today. The oxtail was so delicious. It was tender and juicy. We waited a long while (I think it was his employee's first day so nbd at all), but it was totally worth it. Thank you!!!!