Mama's Rican Kitchen

We had Mama's Rican Kitchen cater our Winter Wonderland Event at work for 40 people. Deanna is delightful to work with on accommodating since we had 5 different food allergies to work around. She and her assistant came, set up, and even bought plastic utensils to match our color theme. We ordered:Caesar's salad, Arroz con gandules, empanadas, tostones, pernil, pollo and two cakes (confetti and pineapple upside down). Everything was delicious. Why 4 stars? I know our office is difficult to find sometimes, but they were 30 mins late and pushed our schedules around and we had to start and missed some team members.

As a confessed east coast foodie snob whose been spoiled beyond belief with vast varieties of home cooked ethnic grub, adjusting to AZ's significantly less diverse food scene has been rough... even nearly 10 years later. That's why I was happy to find about this up and coming catering/family lunch and dinner spot through a friend of a friend about a month back before they officially launched on Yelp. After my experience, I had to come on to share. Still delivery only vs. brick n mortar, Mama's accepts all forms of payment and does catering specials both large and small (think wedding to family meal for 4-6 people) and will also delivers individual orders thru doordash and her own IG/FB pages, text or phone call to listed number directly with zero to small delivery fee depending on your order size and location. Whether you have or have not had Puerto Rican food before, and no matter how high your standards for food in general, Mama's food is an undeniably delicious experience and great foodie newcomer to the very limited scene here in the east valley. Her pastelillos (empanadas) are divine pockets of meaty cheesy (or request to skip the cheese if you must!) goodness...all of her variations on rice are beyond flavorful with the perfect not-too-soft/not-too firm Goldie locks perfection...and don't get me started on her meats! Via my recent tailgate catering experience, I've tried the beef pastelillos, bistec, pollo and steak guisado, arroz con pollo, and fried chuletas (pork chops) and all are moist and tender with the right crispiness in the right places! I ordered the roasted pernil picnic family meal as extras to feed the fam after the party ended but my family ate it before I could try it! As if that weren't enough, Mama Deanna Navarro's story of moving to the valley from Cleveland, Ohio as a single 30's something mom with 2 daughters and working her way up to management levels at a big local bank before leaving the role 2 relocations later to return to the valley and pursue her passion of bringing her late grandma's recipes to life beyond the corporate potluck is almost as heart warming as her Boricua spin on her chicken tortilla soup (also tried this as an add on extra for family dealAnd it was excellent)! Huge bang for your buck (same prices as Hawaiian bbq Or Chinese and similar set up as entrees accompanied with salads and rice and beans and some delightful fried appetizers and Puerto Rican pu-pu platter type options) and I felt the portions larger and way more tasty overall.I highly recommend. Tip: if you have preferences or sensitivities, let mama know ahead of time as her seasonings are delightfully present. If you like it more bland, less salty for your high blood pressure, or extra spicy to an AS standard, just let her know! Mama prides herself on caring about what you like and catering to your needs so be picky!

So let me start by saying that if you're a Rican missing home and don't want to cook call her. This reminded me of my family back east. The food had so much flavor you can tell it was made with love. The empanadas were unbelievably delicious. The food was so good before I finished eating I sent her info to the manager in my Mesa office. She is such a great person so sweet and genuine. We don't have alot of Puerto Ricans in Az so when I find legit food and people I support them. She is definitely legit. I will definitely be calling her again and being the practice I work for has 8 offices I will be sending them all her info. Thank you mama you made my day today. I was feeling home sick.