Mama Roja Mexican Kitchen

[Stinger]

Anyone been to Mama Rojo Mexican Kitchen in the old Bahama Breeze location? I noticed a "NOW OPEN" sign on Friday.

[OKCTalker]

I attended an event last Monday (2/2/2009): The food was OK - typical Oklahoma Tex-Mex, but nothing to write home about. It underscores that you go to East Wharf restaurants (Louie's, Red Rock and Lakeside/Pearl's) for the view and convenience, but not the food.

[donbroncho]

That disappointing. They have a great location and a great building. Like you said, your paying for the view and not the view. Ill give them a try and hopefully they are better than average...

[onthestrip]

I attended an event last Monday (2/2/2009): The food was OK - typical Oklahoma Tex-Mex, but nothing to write home about. It underscores that you go to East Wharf restaurants (Louie's, Red Rock and Lakeside/Pearl's) for the view and convenience, but not the food.

I agree that the Lakeside restaurant and Louie's are just average but to me Red Rock has always served great food.

[bravofriendly]

The husband and I went Friday night with another couple. We thought the food was great. I'd say that it isn't exactly your "typical Oklahoma Tex-Mex". We started with the layered queso which was actually quite tasty and very different from your run-of-the-mill queso. I also had a chicken enchilada with sour cream sauce with the black beans as the side and thought they were wonderful. I'm looking forward to going back - next time I'm going to try the pork chops which looked promising.

The room that faces the lake/boats had the walls removed and replaced with windowed garagedooresque (anyone who knows the proper term, please fill me in) structures. When the weather is nice, the walls can be raised to turn the room into a covered patio. Trust the Krafts to create a dining experience that combines the perfect atmosphere with delicious food and exceptional service.

[metro]

What is the "layered queso?"

[jbkrems]

I went tonight and it was wonderful... fajita beef enchiladas with chili con carne... and then I tried the "cheesecake" burrito for dessert... and I'm sorry, but it just did not cut it for me, although the strawberry sauce, fresh strawberries and cream was a nice addition to an otherwise bland dessert. However, the entree with rice and beans was TOP NOTCH --- and congratulations on the accomplisment of the Krafts --- the place is well done with many finishing touches that really make the decor a good experience. I will definitely go back and try some other stuff, as well.

[bravofriendly]

What is the "layered queso?"

It is a queso with a little something extra (sour cream maybe?) topped with fresh guacamole, sour cream, sausage (I think), and maybe some tomato/pico stuff. I didn't eat much out of restricting calories, but the couple bites I did make made it very difficult to not go back for more.

[kmf563]

How are the prices? Are they typical oklahoma tex-mex prices or lakeside prices? Anyone know who the GM is?

[danielf1935]

I had lunch there on Tues. the food and service was OK, it's not a place I would drive across town to eat, but if I'm in the area, I go again.

[Stinger]

How are the prices? Are they typical oklahoma tex-mex prices or lakeside prices? Anyone know who the GM is?

$10-13 for the average entree. You have to pay for Queso which is around $6 for a bowl. You get 3 different kinds of salsa.

[jbkrems]

You can also get a side of queso for I think $2.00. Abuelo's does the same sort of thing. You can get up to FOUR kinds of salsa, if you ask for them.

As Stinger says, average entree price is $10-13, some more and some less. You can get whatever you want and the quality is better than Ted's. The GM's name is Kurt, and Sabrah formerly from Lakeside next door is the Assistant GM. Both Kurt and her worked together at Lakeside, and all of their management has prior experience, both inside Hal Smith's company, and in some cases, from outside the company as well. I found the management, service, and food top notch and next to Abuelo's, they are my favorite. Well, Abuelos has Manjar, and they do not. So that is what makes Abuelo's number one. But its really close. Really really close.

[Zoom Zoom]

How are the drinks?

[theilluminatedfirefly]

Anyone know if they have a website yet? I'd like to look at a menu, etc. Googling yields nothing so far.

We ate at Lakeside last night and Mama Rojo's was booming with business.

UPDATE:
I just called Mama Rojo's (405-302-6262) for hours on Sunday (11-9). They said no website yet - it is under construction. They also said salsa is free but queso is $6, fajitas for one is $15, fajitas for two $25.

[tuck]

I have heard sales figures for the first 2 weeks...amazing to say the least!!

[Easy180]

Probably won't make it very long though if they are counting on a lunch crowd...Not exactly convenient for a quick in and out lunch

[jbkrems]

Easy180,

I do NOT think they are counting on a lunch crowd. Sure they will get some from the businesses on East Wharf, esp. the Progressive Insurance people. However, I think their main business will be dinner time crowd, esp. on weekends, and esp. once the weather significantly warms up.

Its a great restaurant. And I cannot wait to return there for my 2nd visit.

[jbrown84]

Who are the Krafts?

How is this different from Ted's?

[jbkrems]

Hank Kraft has an executive role in Hal Smith's organization. He chooses the menu, the decor, etc., for several restaurants owned by Hal Smith. Lakeside, Red Rock, Mama Rojo are all Hank Kraft restaurants. Ted's is owned by Hal Smith, but Hank Kraft is not involved with that.

Mama Rojo is better than Ted's. They use more premium ingredients and the food simply tastes better. Many of their recipes are different, as well, e.g. Ted's has a soupy refried beans, and Mama Rojo has a drier refried beans recipe. The only negative is that Ted's DOES have better tortillas and queso. However, that's not why I go anywhere.

[OKCMallen]

Mama Rojo is NOT better than Ted's. I can't think of one thing I ate last night there that was better than its counterpart at Ted's. That's not to say it's not QUALITY food, because it is. (It is way more spacious, better decorated, and comfortable than Ted's though...)

HOWEVER= it's more than decent (black beans were pretty dang good, although a tad watery), and combining the food with the reasonable prices, enjoyable ambiance, and being on the lake, I think they'll have success.

Had the pollo burrito. Nothing to get excited about.

[bravofriendly]

I don't really think comparing it with Ted's is practical. Teds is more of an unrefined (but delicious) dining experience where I thought Mama Roja's to appeal to a slightly more upscale experience.

[OKCMallen]

I don't really think comparing it with Ted's is practical. Teds is more of an unrefined (but delicious) dining experience where I thought Mama Roja's to appeal to a slightly more upscale experience.

They both serve TexMex. This is the foodcourt.

As I said above, Mama Roja's definitely has the edge when it comes to a more comfortable atmosphere.

[Sooner_Fan]

My wife and I ate their during their first week of opening. The service from a standpoint of keeping drinks refilled, refilling chips, serving and clearing dishes, everbody helping everbody was top notch! Where they failed was getting orders wrong and items on our ticket that were wrong as well.

The food was good and the atmosphere was fantastic. I thought the prices were a little steep for Tex-Mex. I suppose you are paying for service and atmosphere which was very nice. The black beans were good but almost had too much spice (not hot) in them and I like flavor.

My personal opinion is that I would go back for fun with a group of people for an evening out with drinks and dinner. If I truly want tex mex food I can think of many places that do it better and cheaper.

[jbrown84]

I don't really think comparing it with Ted's is practical. Teds is more of an unrefined (but delicious) dining experience where I thought Mama Roja's to appeal to a slightly more upscale experience.

I compared them because they have the same ownership and I wanted to know why they have separate similar concepts.

[asta2]

Has anyone heard that Kurt, the Gm, left this past weekend? I was wondering if anyone knew the circumstances? Just my own morbid curiosity.