Mama Annie's puts the soul in soul food

Mama Annie's Southern Style Cuisine is the type of restaurant where the owners also bus tables, make the banana pudding and cook the ribs. If you don't finish every molecule on your plate, you might see some genuine disappointment on the face of whoever cleans up your table afterwards. 

Mama Annie's offers everyday items but it's all about the daily specials here. We did not come here for a salad. On a recent Friday lunch, we checked out two specials, Fried Catfish ($8.50 with two side items) and BBQ Ribs ($8 with two side items). And, from the everyday menu, Hamburger Steak & Rice with Onions & Gravy ($8 with two side items). The restaurant is located in a long one-story brick building called Conley Plaza also housing Presidential Barbershop, across from the Alabama A&M's Huntsville campus. 

Our food hit the table nice and warm in about 15 minutes and jealousy began to sink in immediately. This is because I'd agreed to let one of my dining companions pick first from the menu and she selected the catfish I'd been secretly coveting. Mama Annie's gives you a pretty good pile of catfish. Cornmeal battered, lightly fried. Interestingly, the catfish is in chunks rather than filets - which results in more cornmeal and salt-and-pepper seasoning getting on more square-inch of fish. Hot. Fresh. Crispy. The catfish taste comes through, not overwhelmed by the batter.

The hamburger steak's flavor was like much of our Mama Annie's fare: nothing fancy, just tasty well-executed and home-style. Nice portion of meat. Appealing sweetness from the gravy and sauteed onions. My pork ribs were meaty and reasonably lean. Big smokiness from the walnut and wild cherry wood used to grill the ribs. A few slices of pork, like thin medallions, were served atop the ribs. If they decided to include three ribs instead of two, I would not object. That said, still ended up crawl-under-my-desk-for-a-nap-when-I-get-back-to-work satisfied. 

Here's how the sides we tried break down. The turnip greens were tender and had little slivers of pork in them, and we added some pepper sauce for a little more oomph. The mashed potatoes were chunky and buttery and made from skin-on red-potatoes. The black-eyed peas let the inherent earthy natural flavor do the lifting. Fried green tomatoes are cornmeal battered and somehow cooked to a gelatinous yet solid texture with citrus-like zing inside, and deft light-gold color on the exterior. They don't become a stringy mess or fall apart when you bite into them. Not normally a sweet potato enthusiast, but the brown sugar and cinnamon notes in Mama Annie's version basically took things from Side City to Dessert Town, an enjoyable cruise in my book. Their very cheesy macaroni and cheese makes use of white and yellow cheeses and penne pasta. You got your choice of roll or cornbread, but I pity the fool who doesn't choose the latter at a soul-food joint. Mama Annie's cornbread is subtly sweet, light and airy.

It was pretty tepid inside Mama Annie's. A couple of portable fans adding breeze and hum to the low-key dining room, whihc is outfitted with local artifacts like A&M pennants and an autographed print depicting Microwave Dave, the Huntsville bluesman who often plays solo sets here 5-7 p.m. Mondays. Henry Carter, previously of Birmingham's B&A Warehouse and Hugo's Rotisserie, opened Mama Annie's in 2005. He named the restaurant after his grandmother. 

Our meal was right-on for sure, but also a little decimating because Mama Annie's was out of banana pudding, a dessert they are known for. How would I describe this level of disappointment? It's like being at lunch back in middle school and thinking the pretty girl two tables away is waving at you and then you wave back only to discover she's actually waving at some cooler dude at the table behind yours. Not that that ever happened to me or anything. Back to the present. With no banana pudding in-play we checked out Mama Annie's Peach Cobbler ($2.50) and Carmel Cake ($3). Wow. The peach cobbler benefited from lots of flakey dough and fruity, syrupiness that kisses your tongue's edge. Lots of burnt-sugar-bliss icing and moist cake sparked things on the caramel cake.

Mama Annie's service was attentive (drinks stayed refilled), thoughtful (our nice server steered me to the sweet potatoes and peach cobbler) and welcoming (very family-like).

This place definitely puts the soul in soul food.

Mama Annie's Henry Carter: 3 items he always keeps in his home fridge

Mama Annie's Southern Style Cuisine
4550 Meridian St. N
Monday - Friday 11: a.m. - 7 p.m.
Recommendations: Catfish, hamburger steak, ribs, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and fried green tomatoes. 
Suggestions: Check website for daily specials.
Alcohol: Nope.  
Ambience: Local soul-food spot.  
Service: Thoughtful and welcoming. 
Vegetarian-friendly: Not really.
Price range: Most items $5-$10.