Big Mama’s Country Cooking

Saw this place after a visit to the Marina and decided to try it out. So glad we did! The food was delicious, the service friendly and fast! Just good home cooking, great vegetable choices and very good prices! The country fried steak with gravy was melt in your mouth good!!!

My kind of place, atmosphere of small town diner, prices are very good, food is great with large portions. Individual counter, booth, table seating. I watch the staff knock out a ton of orders very quickly. They know what they are doing!

Great food & fast service! We ordered the fried fish & shrimp, fried chicken, mac & cheese, baked beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, coleslaw, cherry cobbler. Everything was hot & delicious! We’re coming again on a Friday!

I had several hours to kill while waiting in Panama City for friends to arrive on a later flight. I Googled best southern food and read numerous articles praising Big Mama’s and wasted no time driving here. This place has a cool, rustic setting and a backwoods feeling. I was sure the food was going to be awesome. And, unfortunately, this might have been my biggest letdown in years.
While the bland, printed, paper menu didn’t bother me, I expected the food to rival mamas kitchen and many of the wonderful southern style restaurants we’ve enjoyed in the south for decades. It didn’t happen. The food was closer to fast food or even a Denny’s. Mama would be very disappointed.
The fried chicken was dry and bland. The mashed potatoes and gravy didn’t pack a punch and the desserts tasted like stuff they’d pull out of the fridge at the Waffle House, rather than cooked in the kitchen.
I asked around town over the weekend, inquiring if Big Mama’s used to be excellent, but something had changed. According to the fishing guides we went out with (who grew up here) this place was sold a few years ago and turned to cheap, low grade food almost immediately. I can attest to that and couldn’t have been more disappointed.

Awesome country style cooking! Even if you’re just in the mood for some good home cooked vegetables, you’ve come to the right place. The fried chicken is some of the best in the area, but if you can catch them on a day when they’re offering their seafood special then go for it. Their fried shrimp rivals some of the more expensive restaurants in PC, and here you can get shrimp, fish, and 3 sides for only about 10 bucks. Definitely worth a try the next time you’re looking for a hearty lunch on the bay.

I was here a few weeks ago with a co-​worker, we went here for lunch. Good home cooking. Portions are more than enough, I was the last one eating and that is not the norm.
Service was very friendly, great view of the pond. Indoor and outdoor seating. We ate indoors. I had a chicken dish for lunch, it was cooked perfectly and so tender and moist, best I’ve had that I can remember.
You might miss the place because it’s hidden behind some trees. If you’re in the area definitely give this place a try. Prices are very reasonable too.

Today I got the smoked pork chop for the first time which was way too salty. Cornbread is served cold when it should be served hot with butter on the side. Brussel sprouts were good as well as the pinto beans. Green beans were also too salty. Baked chicken is very good. Food is served quick and check out is fast also.

Southern food done very well. Mama’s always has a wide variety of proteins and veggies and the cornbread and mac n cheese are awesome. I wish there was a Big Mama’s type eatery near me in California.

Used to be great, now they play favorites on who and when they serve people! I had hoped that discrimination was of a bygone era! Not at Big Mamma’s though!

This business is only open weekdays and closes after the lunch crowd. The set up is simple and spare, with large old diner style booths around the walls and plain 4 top wooden tables and chairs in the center. There are great window walls on 3 sides of the huge open dining area, allowing you to appreciate the quiet green marshy water views all around.. The food is basic southern fare, and you build your meal, choosing from a list of 4 or 5 entrees and a list of ‘sides’. Pricing is according to number of ‘sides’ you choose. Service was very fast and very efficient, and the food was steaming hot when it arrived, (about 5 min after I ordered.) It took longer to wait for my food to cool than it did to order and receive it. The fried chicken was amazing, as was baked macaroni and cheeze and the peach cobbler. The slaw was not-​so-​hot. Portions are large. This is definitely NOT a health food restaurant, but I enjoyed every bite. Lunch 4 sides and tea was $ 11 and change before tip. Too big a meal for middle of the day, but never-​the less, a treat. Try it if you are in a hurry and hungry at about 11 AM.

Service was only ok, but food was quite good, and the prices were great!

This is the first place we hit when deplaning from a red-​eye flight to Panama from California. Southern hospitality greeted us. We had arrived just after the breakfast service time had formally ended. Our waitress got the kitchen to agree to one more breakfast order. We experienced perfectly cooked eggs, easy-​over, great biscuits, sausage ladened gravy and chicken fried steaks. Country style potatoes were to-​die –for delicious. If we lived in the area or visited often our arteries would clog and our stomachs would know no bounds. Great place for a grounding in Southern cooking at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended. As others have pointed out, Big Mama’s has moved from the Harmon location.

2^nd visit and left with a smile and full. Very nice time and my eggs, grits and ham were cooked just right. The best was the gravy. It had sausage and was so good. My girlfriend did a cart wheel she liked it so much. Go down 98 past Beck and turn right on Frankford (a Autozone is on the left) it is at a red light. Go all the way to the end make a left on W. Beach and a littlt bit down on the left is Big Mama’s on the Bayou. Next time I am going back for lunch.

Big Mama’s was an absolutely fantasitc «classic» establishment. Local restaurants are hard to find in a city… but look no further! This is a best kept secret in Panama City. Many locals visit this restaurant on a regular basis, and based on what we kept hearing from tables next to us, some folks visit everyday! I had the best country fried steak I’ve ever had along with amazing mashed potatoes, baked macaroni & cheese, killer green beans, and a slice of homemade pecan pie for dessert. It’s souther soul food at its best!