MeMa's Chick'n' & Ribs — Restaurant in Castle Hayne

Reviews for this place are insanely high. I was expecting to have a long wait and maybe be told they had run out of something. We pulled in at lunch on a Friday to only a few cars and started to wonder about our decision to try it. We also had a FB coupon so thay shouodve been another clue, I guess. I remained optimistic and we entered. The service was fantastic. Two people that are seen in all the photos are bubbly and pleasant, the female was helpful at the register noticing we were new. We ordered the chicken and ribs bc, well, namesake. The fried zuchinni was decent. It arrived piping hot to the table, crunchy, with a light batter, mild seasoning level which was surprising, and ranch for dipping that was very generic. It was good though, Id order it again. I ate about 3/4 of it before the ribs came out. The chicken plate came out in between the zuchinni and the ribs. Immediately, we were as deflated as the chicken looked. It was so very sad looking on the plate and as someone who cooks oftens, I knew what was about to happen. It didnt appear to be smoked, but Im not sure its advertised as smoked, so not holding it against them at all. You know how a drastically overcooked chicken that gets reheated, is deflated? Like, almost think about how a very dehydrated person looks saggy. So, the chicken skin was that saggy and the gap between it and the meat was something out of a movie, Im envisioning "Christmas Vacation" here. The thigh was so dry that it flaked into strings like string cheese. He suffered through some of it with the bbq sauce. Then he had to dig into the white meat. We all know if the dark meat is stringy dry, that the white meat is going to be like dry cement dry, right? It was, no surprise there. He ordered fries with his meal. They were warm and fine. The hushpuppies were cold, old, not crunchy and SURPRISE dry as dirt so one bite and thats all it got. When the plate was delivered they automatically brought him ketchup packets which he carried in his pocket. Weird. It was fine, but weird. On to the ribs, I was ready to cancel them bc they took a long time, but they finally came out and I was optimistic. Two of them had some parts around the top that had a little moisture but the rest of those did not have any. The other ribs in the half slab, were horribly dry and barely warm. I resorted to pulling meat off and spreading it among the plates to make it look like we ate more than we did. The sauce was homemade. It reminded me of a mop sauce, which I love normally. It was vinegar-based so it was a good for me. Tbh, it could've used a little heat but thats my preference. The seasoning was okay, it reminded me of a Chinese rub, almost like 5 spice powder, and was on it like a paste rather than a smoked rib having a dry rub. As we were trying to eat, a table was leaving and they went to speak to them and the customer said something like, "Dont worry, with food this good you'll make it", and we looked at each other struggling to find something in this $60 lunch worth even eating another bite let-alone coming back or saying good things. Maybe its the way people eat in this area? This was just awful. Maybe we ordered the "wrong thing?", but we literally ordered the two items in their name. It really seemed like it had been well overcooked, then rewarmed to serve days later. Literally no redeeming value. I was shocked at this based on all of the reviews. I dont normally leave reviews. She asked us to leave a review as we were leaving. We never told her we enjoyed our meal. She asked if we wanted a box for our ribs and we said no. I thought about a review for 24 hrs. I concluded that people who read reviews need to hear all kinds of opinions, so here is mine. We live in NC, I was raised from childhood in this state. Im shocked at how awful this meal was with the reviews. f/up after Rest reaponse: They are correct, we didnt tell them, but we arent those people to return food. If they wouldve asked, we wouldve haven't either. You cant remake bbq in 20 min so was what it was. We were sad when...

First off, service was great. I did manage to get in just before the lunch rush hit around 12 pm, so I'm sure that helped. Staff was brimming with the type of southern charm and hospitality you see in movies. My order was taken quickly at the counter, and dispatched in about 10 minutes.

I ordered the pulled pork plate, and opted for seasoned fries and coleslaw (can't have pulled pork without coleslaw) as my 2 included sides.

The pork was great - tender, juicy, and had a nice smoky flavor. Tasted like it may have already had a little vinegar based BBQ sauce - though I didn't see any extra sauce on any of the nearby tables for those who may want a little more.

The coleslaw was fantastic, small pieces of apple offer a little sweet crisp flavor that perfectly contrasted with richness of the pork.

The fries could've been better. To me, it seemed like they hadn't been cooked long enough, or maybe the oil wasn't quite hot enough - and contrary to the images drawn in my head when I read "seasoned fries" on the menu, they were relatively free of seasoning. Clearly salted, but no visible evidence of much else.

Possibly my favorite part of the meal wasn't even mentioned on the menu - the hush puppies. These were exceptional. Crispy outside, almost muffin like crumbly on the inside, with big pieces of corn throughout, and seasoned to perfection.

Update: I've kept going back, and they've kept being amazing. They even updated the fries, and they're fantastic as well now - they're now larger wedge style fries, fried very well, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. They're also seasoned well now salt n'...

This place is in my neck of the woods so I decided to give it a whirl. I was actually really excited to try this spot considering NC has some pretty respectable barbecue places in general. I ordered a white meat bbq chicken sandwich, two hot dogs with fries and a side of zucchini. The hot dogs were about the equivalent of Gwaltneys at best, completely dry and on a stale toasted bun. Let’s keep going. Zucchini was mushy, most likely due to the water content, however the batter doesn’t stick like a typical tempura. I get that there is a play on cornmeal to create a crunch and to give a BBQ theme but it wasn’t executed well. Discs or zucchini “fries” may work better. In terms of the “white meat” chicken sandwich, the price was higher than dark meat, understood, but if you order a sandwich you shouldn’t have bones in it, plus it shouldn’t come with dark meat. Once I discovered the third bone, that’s when I decided to snap a photo. I can tell by the color of the chicken that this had some smoke put on it, likely cherry or something along those lines, but the flavor was slightly bland, it could have used a touch of rub prior to it coming out for service or off the smoker. The fries were the highlight of the meals, but I don’t think they are made in house. The BBQ sauce was okay. To me it seemed heavier on the vinegar and fruit aspect of it. Overall, I don’t think I’d return or spend any additional money here. My bill came out to 43 after tip for...