Mater's Restaurant and Catering Jackson, Alabama-A Review

Small towns in south Alabama are not expected to be centers of gastronomic glory past the basic repertoire of meat and three vegetables, nonetheless, it is disappointing to leave a restaurant with grave concern that the kitchen staff would likely screw that up as well. Mater's, for all its pretensions, is simply the most mediocre dining establishment in Jackson.

Perhaps I expect too much, but when I am faced with a menu littered with spelling and grammar errors, misuse of culinary terms (braised in olive oil and steamed in wine, really?), and dish descriptions that make me wonder whether the "chef" has ever tasted piccata before attempting to cook it, I really have to ask if it's worth the 17.99 price tag. For half that I can buy frozen dinners that will at least taste like the dishes I associate with the names "chicken marsala" and "seafood alfredo." t

I must concede that the "italian" food they are serving is an improvement over their hamburgers (which seem beyond the abilities of the "chef") and french fries (soggy and brown). Though the "chef" should be ashamed of himself for leaving his diners with the impression that his food is what any of those dishes are actually supposed to taste like. The service, at least, is slightly better than it used to be.

I wouldn't be so upset if there were not several small changes that would so dramatically improve the food. A little decoration (the tables look like a cafeteria), frozen french fries (hand cut should be better than the ones at Burger King, not vastly inferior), someone who knows what the word "medium" means, a basic italian cookbook, a proof reader, and completely new staff, and Mater's would become the nice establishment it's pretending to be.