Dixie Is Excited To Welcome Customers At Sweet Mamas
A ribbon cutting was held Tuesday morning for Sweet Mamas as owner Dixie Grimes cut the ribbon. Other employees pictured are Evelyn Turner, Bernadette Crow, Ryan Crow, Danielle Tidwell and Jaime Harker, along with Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. Sweet Mamas is located at 205 North Main Street.
WATER VALLEY – After months of anticipation Water Valley chef Dixie Grimes opened her new restaurant, Sweet Mamas, on May 22. She reported the first two weeks of business have been extremely busy.
“It has been wild, but that is a good problem to have,” Grimes said, adding that opening the restaurant means everything to her.
“I am doing this to pay respect to the people who came before, namely my grandmother, Vetra Stephens,” Grimes said.
Grimes also explained that she wants Sweet Mamas to be a locals joint.
“I want to say thank you to all of the people during my career who helped me. There were a lot of people who let me sleep on their floors, there were a lot of people who taught me how to cook peas. There were a lot of people who loved me in general,” Grimes said.
For Grimes, Sweet Mamas is all of these things combined.
“This is a very special project to me, it means everything to me,” she continued.
Grimes said the Sweet Mama Burger with the Mother Sauce has been a hot item since opening. She also reported that Evelyn Turner is doing all of the plate lunches.
“That has also been a hot ticket, because Ms. Evelyn knows how to cook. She was at the Early Bird, if people remember that. I feel like Wesley Vanlandingham and the good Lord are who sent me Ms. Evelyn.”
Grimes said getting the doors open to serve Water Valley has been exciting.
“I have missed Water Valley, this community means everything to me. One of the things that I do is food through community,” she explained
Grimes brings 37 years experience to her new venture.
“She started when she was 12 years-old,” Mayor Tommy Reynolds joked.
Sweet Mamas is located on Main Street in the former Trusty Diner building at 205 North Main. The restaurant is open Wednesday thru Friday, from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Saturdays for breakfast brunch from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.
“As we get going, we are going to expand the hours some,” Grimes said. “Opening a restaurant takes every bit of time that you have, every penny that you have and a lot of fortitude. I knew I had a goal to do this, I knew I wanted to do it and I just kept pushing through because there were a lot of hurdles to get open.”
