Small Kitchen With a Big Heart

Big Momma’s Kitchen delivers more than just good food
By Kara Hackett

Every week, Pastor Chris Freeman of City Church in Fort Wayne drives past Big Momma’s Kitchen on Oxford Street as he takes his daughter to and from school at Irwin Elementary.
But after the protests against the murder of George Floyd and broader racial injustice in Fort Wayne, Freeman and three of his church staff decided to stop for lunch at the street-side walkup window and get their first taste of Big Momma’s BBQ rib tips.

“Our church is on the southside of Fort Wayne, and in yesterday’s service was about the need to do more than just talk about changes that need to take place in the city,” Freeman says. “When we saw the list of Black-owned restaurants that Visit Fort Wayne published, we thought one thing we can do is promote that list, support local businesses, and start to build relationships with these organizations in our neighborhood.”
On this sunny Monday afternoon, Freeman's team is not alone in line.

Behind them, three regulars at Big Momma’s bump fists with Gregg Jewels, the grill master, as he delivers rib tips from the smoking grill into the small window on the side of the restaurant. They’re young missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints—Elders Flacus, Riddle, and Funk—and they say they only come to the restaurant about once or twice a week now. They used to come every single day when they first discovered the spot early into their placement about 12 weeks ago. But they’ve had to cut back to spare their diets.

“Big Momma’s is not the best for your diet,” Flacus says. “Everything on the menu is good.”
As they wait in line, they rave about Big Momma's turkey tips and its signature “gold sauce” -- a secret recipe.
While Big Momma’s usually has a full menu of items, specializing in its highly coveted beef brisket nachos and tacos, its menu has been reduced to rib tips today during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Derek Taylor, the restaurant’s founder and co-owner, says meat prices have gone through the roof during the pandemic -- a case of meat rising from $175 to $500. So he’s finding ways to improvise with his co-owner, Kyle Squier, and Grill Master Jewels.

Big Momma’s is technically a Black- and white-owned business, since Squier is white, Taylor notes. Even so, it has strong roots in Fort Wayne’s Black community, named after his late-grandmother, who taught him to cook alongside his mom.

Taylor sees the protests in Fort Wayne as events that have been a long time coming in the city. His own son died as a result of local violence, so he’s inspired by the way he sees other young, Black residents rising up to take responsibility for their futures and fighting for change.

As a person of faith, he has hope for a better future, too.
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe there’s a certain type of people who will stand up for the rights of dogs, but don’t stand up for human rights,” Taylor says. “Jesus Christ didn’t die on the cross for just one type of person. He sacrificed for all of us, and we need to get conscious of that.”
In a way, Big Momma’s Kitchen is a manifestation of changes Taylor has made in his own life. For as long as he can remember, he’s been motivated by the prospect of earning money any way he can, inspiring a series of business ventures and a few wrong turns.

Over the years, he’s owned everything from car washes to landscaping companies to street stands. But he feels that he has finally found his niche in the food business.

Since Big Momma’s opened only nine months ago, the small restaurant has given back to its neighborhood in multiple ways. Behind the scenes, Taylor has hosted bookbag drives, handing out more than 1,000 book bags to local students. He’s also partnered with other Southeast organizations to cook food for ongoing events, like a series of free Curbside BBQs in Southeast Fort Wayne during COVID-19, providing residents with food, support, and pandemic supplies.

Ultimately, it’s about supporting the Southeast side of Fort Wayne and creating a better future there.
“That was my mission from the gate,” Taylor says.
Kara Hackett is the editor of Input Fort Wayne. This is reprinted with permission.