Mammas Place

DIOS MIO! This is the best local Mexican food in Ellis County, in little ol' Italy, TX. Three of my former students run Mamma's Place with Mayra's cooking, and her sister's Wendy and Claribel delivering the fresh, hot plates of authentic comida. The homemade flour tortillas are perfect especially when wrapped around the fresh ingredients--beef or chicken fajitas, fresh guacamole, cilantro, whatever you want on a burrito--just tell them. Breakfast burritos are the way to start the day with egg, potatoes, cheese, bacon, etc....whatever you want, the three sisters can deliver. (Mamma is actually Mayra's mother-in-law who started the business when the girls were in high school.) Burritos are not the only bill of fare. Enchilada plates, beef and chicken fajitas, street tacos, carne guisada are served up with refried or regular beans, Spanish rice, and two types of salsa: traditional red and dynamite green (I LOVE the green!) I'm not sure but I know in the past they have served several traditional foods such as menudo and lengua but I have never tried it; not sure it's still on the menu. Their hours are like 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. We are so sad they don't stay open for dinner/supper but they have families too and can't work constantly. If you go by in the late afternoon you'll see them making those homemade flour tortillas and oh my God...they are huge and they melt...

What a great find! We were driving and saw a sign for Italy and got off the highway and found this cute little restaurant that looked like it was a place where mostly locals eat. It definitely is a local restaurant and super good food, though mediocre service as our server never returned after bringing the food to our table. After sitting down with menus, our server took our order. I had the shrimp taco plate with rice and beans. The shrimp tacos had onion, lettuce, and avocado in a soft flour taco shell. Delicious! The rice and beans were also good and the rice seemed different than any other rice I've had in any other Mexican restaurant. My mother had a street taco plate with beef fajita meat in corn tortillas since she has a gluten allergy. Her food came out quickly and was good, though her beef seemed a bit dry and needed a sauce. The lime slices helped a little bit. Overall a good meal and a needed stop! Highly recommend a stop if you are passing through the area and suddenly need food, stop here at...

Went for a half day road trip from Ft Worth to explore Texas. We decided as our first stop to explore Italy, TX and in searching found Mama's Place as a place that was not a chain restaurant. Got there and found that it is a small unassuming place with simple good food and great service. In the attached photo you can see, my wife got a burrito(they have many breakfast and lunch burrito options). I chose the Huevos Rancheros plate with corn tortillas. The eggs, salsa, refried beans and potatoes were great! I used the tortillas to sop up the last few bites as I cleaned the plate and I was VERY happy with the food. I would highly recommend stopping in here to eat or get food to take with you the next time you...