Mamma D's Smokehouse

After talking about making the 35 minute drive for several weeks, the confirmation of freshly made jerky convinced us to go. Definitely well off the beaten path and not much else is even open during the hours this place is. Decor is bright small town diner, belying its more stately roadhouse exterior, but they will apparently smoke and pull any kind of meat or poultry around. The pulled turkey was a first for me and it along with the special corn soufflé side, were the deliciously pleasant surprises. The brisket was quite stringy, but probably the most flavorful item on my combo plate. All were served 'dry' with 3 sauces are available: the proverbial 'sweet baby', a house-made 'red' which was HEAVY on the pepper, and a house made 'yellow'. I enjoy mustard-based BBQ sauces more than most people, but this one was heavier on the plain yellow mustard than the red was with the pepper?!  (A spicier option would be nice, otherwise, if you ask me, stick to the first two mixed together.).  I was also in the mood for some chicken wings, but was thoroughly disappointed by the quality and taste. And the perfunctory salad bar, was just that.

As for the jerky, the friendly couple that owned the place were nice enough to come 'round with some samples.  The beef was mediocre (cajun was not distinguishable, so we're looking forward to the promised spicy batch), but the turkey variety was so tasty we had to take some home!  Also on the plus side is the homemade cinnamon butter, which made an average dinner roll taste like Cinnabon!

Its quite likely we will be back to give the place another chance later this year and to try the ribs and flavored sausage/brats...but I honestly can't encourage anyone make the drive from Bloomington, Decatur or Champaign based on the meal we had, unless you're really bored on a Friday or Saturday night between 5 and 8 pm.

A solid three stars but add a star for the hospitality.   The owners were very friendly and spent time talking with the customers.  The restaurant is very quaint and located in a small town a little off the beaten path.  They're only open Friday and Saturday nights from 5 to 8PM in the Winter.  

I ordered the combo plate of brisket, pulled chicken, and pulled turkey, baked beans, and french fries.  The brisket was chopped and very flavorful.  I liked the "red" sauce on the beef.  The chicken and turkey were good although I was unable to really tell the two apart.  I used a little of the mustard and red sauce.

They have three type of barbecue sauce, one is store bought and two homemade sauces, one tomato based and one mustard based.  The tomato based sauce is a little spicy with a lot of black pepper but sweet too.  The mustard based would be awesome on pork but I didn't order pork this time.

I would like to have some bread to make little sandwiches out with but all in all it was a good meal.  Next time I will order the ribs...  I can't believe I didn't order pork or brats.  They sound good.  We did buy some jerky though.  I picked up a 1/2 lb of turkey jerky to snack on later.

Two things sum up this trip:
1.  Ribs.  Fall off the bone why did they even give me a knife did I miss any meat ribs.  Wow.
2.  Mountain Dew Apple Dumpling ala Mode.  Yup, you read that right.  I really shouldn't have eaten any more, but when Tristan ordered it I couldn't say no.

Weldon took us about 40 minutes to get to from Bloomington but it was so worth it.  I was using the new Yelp map that refreshes with restaurants as you zoom around and it popped up.  What an awesome find!  We are so going back.

Mama D' is worth the effort! But remember they are only open Friday and Saturday.