Momma Lo's BBQ Relocates Southern Style Cooking To South County
Southern-style BBQ in Great Barrington is getting rave reviews by people willing to stand in line for Momma Lo's cooking.
Lotetta “Momma Lo” McClennon says running her own restaurant has always been a dream. Even though it took a long time and a lot of struggle, she says Momma Lo’s BBQ, now open right in the middle of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is that dream come true.
Tucked into the back of the well-trafficked Great Barrington House Atrium at 24 Main Street, Momma Lo’s may be humble in size and appearance but is serving up authentic southern-style barbecue the region has been missing.
McClennon is soft spoken and isn’t one to brag about her cooking. Luckily she has two of her sons, Attarilm and Ahmed, working with her. Ahmed, a talented rapper who performs under the name Buddha da Great, is more than happy to serve as his mother’s hype man. It’s clear the men take a lot of pride in their mother’s success.
“We’ve got the flavor, the sauce and the love,” Ahmed says. “This has been a dream of hers for so long. We’re really blessed to be here.”
McClennon, a mother of 5, grandmother of 6 and great grandmother of 3 grew up in Chattanooga and started cooking when she was young alongside her mother and grandmother. She worked in kitchens all her life, first in Chattanooga and then, after a stint in the military in the 80s, in Atlanta. McClennon says life was hard but full of love and family. Due to unfortunate circumstances in 1999, McClennon and her youngest children had to move up to Grace Smith House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. Soon they got their own place and McClennon cooked: she cooked for work, for fundraisers, catered events and was on staff most recently at The Hotchkiss School. She was also always cooking at home for family, friends and neighbors who couldn’t get enough of her food. Two and a half years ago, while eating her barbecue in the back yard, her next-door neighbors decided to help Momma Lo make her vision real and bought her two large professional barbecues.
After being laid off from Hotchkiss due to the pandemic, McClennon put everything into the new venture, setting up her grills under tents in a parking lot in Craryville. Then, one day, entrepreneur and owner of the Great Barrington House Richard Stanley pulled in on his way to go golfing. He tried a piece of brisket and asked McClennon what she was doing on the side of the road. He offered her the spot in his locally iconic building and in a matter of months Momma Lo’s BBQ opened its doors.
“It’s the journey, not the destination,” says Ahmed. “We started at the side of the road and now we are here. Everything happens for a reason and for my mom it was the right place, right time.”
It’s a great story, one that’s still being written, but it wouldn’t mean much if the food didn’t hit. But boy, does it hit. Momma Lo’s is big news in Great Barrington right now. There are lines out the door — they sell out almost every day and diners are raving about what appears to be straightforward barbecue and sides served out of Styrofoam.
What makes it so good? McClennon and her sons say it tastes great because it’s made with love. But if you didn’t know the story of love and struggle and determination, would the food still rise to excellence? Here at Momma Lo’s the answer is yes. It would do this family a disservice to praise the food just because of the story behind it. Emotional context and nostalgia play a big factor in how we perceive how good something tastes but McClennon is also an incredibly skilled chef making expertly executed dishes.
What does “love” taste like? At Momma Lo’s the answer is charcoal. Meat smoked for 24 hours over a bespoke blend of hardwood in a high-tech smoker tastes great, but that’s not how most of us cook in the back yard. McClennon is cooking everything over charcoal. This involves less cooking time, so the flavor is raw and direct. The primal essence of charcoal comes across the most elementally in the brisket ($25.75) which is balanced with a homemade sauce that carries an assertive tang and spice. The jerk chicken ($18.75) has surprising floral and citrus notes that counterbalance the char. The standout pork ribs ($25.50) have not just a great flavor but a satisfying toothsome texture that would be lost with a longer cook time. Because McClennon isn’t cooking her ribs for a very long time, connective tissue and fat stays at just the right consistency to bite right through and add flavor and textural variety. Had they been cooked longer, a lot of that nuance would have melted away. Pulled pork ($25.50) is also on the menu.
Every dish comes with two classic southern sides — a choice of beans, mac and cheese, collards, coleslaw and cornbread — which, like everything else, look deceptively simple but are packed with flavor. Specials and menu changes are bound to pop up as well. Combo platters and family-sized meals for sharing are also avalible.
Truly this is southern comfort soul food at its finest — better than you expect and more satisfying than you were prepared for. The food and the story at Momma Lo’s is a welcome addition to Great Barrington's diverse culinary landscape and the community.
“We just want to keep bringing the love and spreading the love,” Ahmed says. “But you need to get here before four o'clock. Because we sell out!”
Momma Lo's BBQ
284 South Main Street #9, Great Barrington, MA
(518) 598-4684
Open Wednesday- Saturday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Sunday 1 - 6 p.m.
