Review: Mama Hamil's

There's plenty of this and more where it came from at the copious buffet at Mama Hamil's. (Credit: Leah Starnes)

Mama Hamil’s Southern Cooking restaurant has been a Madison staple for years. In January of 2007, they moved into a much larger two-story facility that quickly became a favorite lunch and weekend dinner spot.

They have some of the finest southern country cooking you will find anywhere. They have a set price of $7.94 for lunch and on Friday and Saturday nights they add a few more selections for $11.21.

Hamil’s is now in their fourth generation of being a family-owned restaurant where all the family members learned the art of cooking including growing and raising their own foods. They have taken that home-grown philosophy and made Hamil’s one of the best buffet values around.

The Food: Hamil’s offers daily specials every day for lunch with at least 5-8 meat choices, at least 12 vegetable dishes, cold salad offerings, desserts made fresh daily and plenty of corn bread and hand kneaded yeast rolls.

Excellent fried and baked chicken, fried chicken livers, barbecue, chicken and dumplings, meatloaf and red beans and rice are just a few of the features, and some offerings are specific to certain days of the week. On weekend nights they add fried catfish and more barbecue offerings like ribs.

The vegetables are a must as you will feel that you just walked in to grandma’s kitchen— but don’t fill up too much or you’ll miss the divine southern banana pudding, cakes, pies and cobblers. Their salads are exceptional and hold true to the southern style and their dressings of ranch and comeback are, needless to say, homemade.

The drink: Hamil’s is an alcohol free, family friendly buffet restaurant that offers iced tea, soft drinks and fresh brewed coffee. However, with all the wonderful home cooked food you won’t even think about a drink except to wash it all down.

The scene: Anyone who has eaten in the tiny original building that formerly housed the restaurant can surely appreciate the new digs—Hamil’s is a huge facility with an upstairs eating area for the overflow crowd or for special groups. They also have a huge porch down one side along with a covered back porch for great outside dining during the beautiful spring and summer days.

Rustic and old is the décor with many old photos, tools, and a car tag collection, with a special Madison-Ridgeland room featuring old composites of seniors from years past, football memorabilia and red and white tablecloths for a simple and casual dining experience that makes you feel like family. They also offer some of the best wait staff around who attend to every detail of your meal.

The bottom line: Hamil’s is the type of place you take out-of-towners to give them a taste of what Mississippi cuisine is all about.

You will truly want to go back again and again. You will be very pleased with what you will find and get plenty of good food and service with each visit.

Just be sure you haven’t got a lot to do after you visit Hamil’s—this is loosen-your-belt, catnap-on-the-couch good ol’ country cooking.

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