Co-owner Cooper Hudson and Executive Chef Colin Mays stand outside the new location of Mama’s Boy, dubbed Mama’s Boy at the Falls. The new location opened on Oct. 13 and has since had over 7,550 customers. “I will be executive chef for both locations. I have known that this move was going to come ever since I took this position two years ago,” Mays said. “I have been looking bigger picture and trying to build a big management team.” Photo by Zoe Peterson.
After 11 years of growing and changing, the management and staff of local Athens restaurant Mama’s Boy has opened a second location just four miles from Clarke Central High School.
As customers walk into the blue and white building located at 197 Oak Street, and are welcomed by the establishment’s bustling crowds and home-made biscuits, they might not see how much Mama’s Boy has grown during the past 11 years.
Back in 2006, co-owner Cooper Hudson was driving through the North Oconee Greenway area when she saw a for-sale sign on a site that once housed a laundromat. Within an hour, Hudson and her two soon-to-be business partners Alicia Segars and Mitchell Jarrett were meeting to brainstorm what would eventually become Mama’s Boy.
“Now knowing what I know about commercial property, we were really lucky that we got it right the first time,” Hudson said. “Within a couple weeks, we had made the menu.”
Mama’s Boy was the creation of Hudson, Segars and Jarrett, who met while working in other local restaurants, such as the Last Resort Grill, where they gained experience in roles ranging from dishwasher to wait staff to management – both front of house and kitchen.
All the pieces began to fall into place. The group had a concept and a building, but still needed a name for the restaurant.
“The name comes from my dad who passed away a year before we opened Mama’s Boy,” Segars said. “His wife used to call him a mama’s boy because his mom used to take care of everything for him.”
As the restaurant has grown and become more engrained in the Athens community, there have been numerous changes made to its daily operations. Mama’s Boy initially served three courses, but management would later cut dinner from the menu around 2010. Jarrett also left the staff around that time and Segars and Hudson increased their focus on brunch and catering.
“The biggest growth is in catering. When I first started working, catering wasn’t anything near where it is now,” Hudson said. “One year we did 120 weddings. Most years, we only do 90-100.”
The catering business grew so big that it outgrew the Oak Street location and was moved to a satellite location called “Goodie Two Shoes” off of East Broad Street in Downtown Athens in 2012.
“The place we moved (catering) to was sort of a Band-Aid,” Segars said. “Moving to Goodie Two Shoes was a forced decision.”
Goodie Two Shoes served its purpose and allowed the Mama’s Boy team to cater more weddings, banquets and University of Georgia home games. Word about their success made national news when they filmed an ESPN segment with Todd Blackledge – a moment Hudson, a South Carolina native, felt legitimized years of hard work.
“That was definitely a turning point. That spot was aired during the (UGA vs.) South Carolina game. I was catering a wedding and my phone just started blowing up,” Hudson said. “A lot of people (from back home) didn’t even know we had a restaurant. People watch those football games.”
While Goodie Two Shoes offered an expanded kitchen space for catering, the Downtown location brought its own set of logistical challenges.
“We have had a lot of problems with loading catering feeling kind of dangerous, with loading in and out of (Goodie Two Shoes),” Segars said. “We had problems with parking tickets and loading off the curb.”
As the catering side of the business continued to grow, the owners knew that Goodie Two Shoes was only a temporary solution to their problems. This led to the decision to close that site and to open a brand new location.
“We were looking for property before we moved to Goodie Two Shoes. That was the best of what we saw at the time, so we (had) been looking for four or five years,” Segars said.
As their search ranged around town, an ideal property was recommended to Hudson and Segars by realtor Chris Blackman and the interior was designed by Hudson and Segars. The co-owners made sure to capture the aesthetic of the original Mama’s Boy in the new location.
“It has a similar look. We used the same wallpaper and floor,” Hudson said. “It’s got the white walls on the inside and the blue wallpaper.”
In preparation for the opening, Executive Chef Colin Mays began to grow the size of the staff.
“I will be executive chef for both locations. I have known that this move was going to come ever since I took this position two years ago,” Mays said. “I have been looking bigger picture and trying to build a big management team”.
“I feel like Mama’s Boy has become a continuation of many people’s weekend. Some people get into more things than others, but no matter what you got into the last night, you wake up the next morning and come to Mama’s Boy.”
–Colin Mays,
Executive Chef of Mama’s Boy
The new location, called Mama’s Boy at the Falls, is located on 8851 Macon Highway just over the falls at the Clarke-Oconee County line, and was opened on Oct. 13. The new location replaced Goodie Two Shoes and functions as the source of all of the restaurant’s catering with the added opportunity for on-site events.
“It’s been nice to have the space for catering, and have the people that weren’t able to get in,” Hudson said. “Weekends have been pretty intense, but I guess that’s to be expected.”
For Mays, no matter which location customers come to, creating a relationship is a guiding principle.
“I feel like Mama’s Boy has become a continuation of many people’s weekend,” Mays said. “Some people get into more things than others, but no matter what you got into the last night, you wake up the next morning and come to Mama’s Boy.”
According to Hudson, since its opening, more than 7,550 people have visited Mama’s Boy at the Falls. Many frequent diners of the original Mama’s Boy, such as Clarke Central High School sophomore Braden DeLamater, have visited the new site.
“It has the same feel as the original Mama’s Boy, (and) no matter where you are sitting, you can sit and look over the falls,” DeLamater said.
Whether through catering or a sit-down meal, the staff hopes to offer a caring and memorable experience.
“Those relationships we build with people don’t come from one person. It’s not a line. It is a web of every worker that works here,” Segars said. “Deep down, everyone is a Mama’s Boy at heart and wants to be doted on and taken care of and treated like you’re special.”
