Mary’s Southern Cooking, a Mobile favorite, has relocated

One of Alabama’s favorite meat-and-three/soul food restaurants has quietly reopened in a new location.

Supporters had to know something was up when a distinctive green cinder-block building on Mobile’s Spring Hill Avenue was painted white. Starting in March, social media posts and small signs in the windows advised fans that Mary’s Southern Cooking was moving from the Crichton location it had occupied since Mary Smith and her family opened it in 2011.

In recent days, operators posted that the restaurant was open for business at its new home in the PineBrook Shopping Center at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and McGregor Avenue. A visit on Wednesday found that even though temporary signage was just going up, patrons were having no trouble finding the place. Patrons began flooding in when the doors opened at 11, keeping a steady line for cafeteria-style service over the next hour.

A lot has changed with the shift from a standalone building to a strip-mall storefront. The parking lot at the old place was tight, and so was the interior. The new space is quite a bit larger, with plenty of tables and booths, and there’s acres of parking out front.

What hasn’t changed is the steam-table serving line, which immediately presents visitors with some hard, hard decisions. Entrée options on this particular day included chopped steak with peppers and onions (smothered in gravy and served over rice or potatoes as you like), barbecue chicken, baked chicken, fried chicken, turkey necks in gravy, red beans and smoked sausage, fried pork chops, grilled pork chops with peppers and onions and chicken tetrazzini.

There’s more, in a mouthwatering daily menu rundown posted on Facebook. The clip, punctuated with call-outs to regular customers, also covers the veggie options: Rice, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cabbage, corn, collard greens, candied yams, green beans, field peas and lima beans.

The new space feels like the business is still settling in, a feeling accentuated on Wednesday by the cherry picker that was parked out front, situating a new temporary banner right during the lunch rush. But a look over the serving line had the same effect it has always had at Mary’s: You’re immediately frustrated because you’re there for one lunch but you want to order three.

The chopped steak was better than chopped steak has any right to be, thanks to the level of care taken with the peppers and onions and a medium-weight gravy that was loaded with savory flavor without being overpoweringly heavy. A companion went with the fried chicken and found that it too measured up to high Mary’s standards, crispy on the outside with a light crust, but still juicy and tender inside.

The candied yams were exquisite, and the other sides we sampled – the mac & cheese, greens, sauteed cabbage and limas – all reflected the skill of a chef who knows flavor is something you bring out rather than something you dump in.

Yes, the departure of Mary’s leaves a gap in Crichton, and the fact that the building’s distinctive green paint job has been covered up serves as a pretty strong indication that there’s only going to be one Mary’s. (Efforts to reach Smith were pending as this story was published.) But early indications are that the food has survived the transition.

It also appears that the new location will be an attractive option for people working along the busy Airport Boulevard corridor, both for takeout and dining in. Based on Wednesday’s visit, it looks as if Mary’s hardly needs a big new sign over the entrance. Just wait until it gets one.

Mary’s Southern Cooking is at 3966-C Airport Blvd. in the PineBrook Shopping Center. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. For updates on hours and daily offerings, visit facebook.com/MarysSouthernCooking.