'Everything Is Special' at Big Momma's

June 29, 2007 — -- This restaurant review begins not in a restaurant, but in a pot of collard greens simmering on the stove of Mattie Jones' kitchen. Our "Nightline" team -- yours truly and ABC legal correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg-- was in Louisville, Ky., reporting a segment about the Supreme Court's landmark decision banning the use of race in determining which schools students can attend.

Mattie Jones is a lifelong civil rights activist whose children, and grandchildren, all rode school buses across town from predominantly African-American west Louisville to the eastern suburbs.

Yet, all the time we were taping our interviews, the smell of the simmering greens wafting through the house kept reminding us we hadn't eaten all day. By the time we were ready to leave, Mattie's grandchildren had happily devoured every bite.

So Jan -- who was born and raised in rural Alabama -- finally asked Mattie, "Where can we get some good food to eat?"

"What are you hungry for?" Mattie asked. Eyeing the empty pot on the stove, Jan blurted out, "Greens!"

"Turn right at the corner and another right on West Broadway," she instructed. "Go down Broadway 'til it ends and you'll see Big Momma's on your left." That's where we also found 7-year-old Michael Sloan, who became our restaurant guide, because, as he happily explained, "I know Big Momma. She goes to my church."

Michael and his playmates, 6-year-old Adriana Banks and 10-year-old Makesha Williams, all agreed that the cornbread was a real treat.

"It tastes like cake," Makesha explained. All three also recommended the chicken, both baked and fried, but especially highly touted was the macaroni and cheese.

"Who makes better mac and cheese," I asked Michael. "Your grandmother or Big Momma?"

"Who do you think?" he replied, dismissing the question with a roll of his eyes as he led us to Big Momma's door, all the while providing a constant patter of endorsement. "This restaurant is the best. They got everything. Everything is special. Big Momma's is the only restaurant I would like to stay in. I would like to work here."