Mama Kim Cooks

Mama Kim catered my wedding and the food was AMAZING! Everyone complimented on how great it tasted and the fact that it was unique and not «boring wedding food.» That is exactly what we were going for and Mama Kim delivered!

They charge 30 an hr per employee working the event and a 15 to 20 percent gratuity plus the cost of food and the restaurant profit. Then they pay the employees 10 an hour and only 40 bucks of 1500 gratuity. Oh and you have to hunt them. down to get paid. They do not care about the employee it’s all about them. I’ll never use them. or eat there nor will I ever work for them again.

This review is for Mama Kims Cooks (their catering service). I just got married about 2 weeks ago, and used their services for my brunch wedding. Overall I was extremely satisfied with their services. The one thing that I think some other reviewers mentioned is that their communication via email can be quite slow, but I found that I was always able to call Annie via phone and reach her with no problems.
Annie was my go-​to person and she is genuinely very sweet. I felt very comfortable talking with her and we went through the estimated bill together and were able to rent items through their restaurant, rather than a party rental company and save some money. Their pricing was quite reasonable and they also built me a custom menu to fit my needs, as my husband’s family is mostly vegetarian/​vegan. I had two appetizers, and about 5 dishes for a brunch wedding, as well as beverages including coffee, tea, lemonade for about ~$ 24/​person. The day of the wedding went very smoothly, they came and set up around the back of the venue and brunch was ready to start right on time. I don’t recall any issues the entire day, except that there were not labels for each food item. For me this was not a big deal, but we did have one dish that had meat in it, so that is important to keep in mind for vegetarians/​vegans.
I would use them again in a hearbeat for my next catering event.

Mama Kim catered our wedding this past October and we couldn’t have been happier with choosing them as our caterer.
After a terrible experience with a different vendor whom we had to fire, Mama Kim stepped up and worked with us to create the menu and experience we wanted for our guests and all within an extremely reasonable budget.
We are food lovers and serving our guests good food at our wedding was tantamount. They worked with us to serve the menu we had envisioned, integrating vegetables and herbs from our own garden and recipes we loved. The food was of exceptional quality and our guests still can’t stop talking about how delicious their meals were (who ever says that about a wedding!?)
We planned and executed the wedding without a planner and Annie went above and beyond to not only provide delicious food, but also to help with wedding logistics even when we had general event planning questions. The staff even stayed later than we had originally scheduled them to accommodate the lengthy dinner and party.
The only criticism I will give is that Annie took longer than I had hoped to get back to me with responses to questions. That said, she always came through and executed as promised.
Look no more if you seek a fabulous wedding caterer.

As you read this review please keep in mind this is about their catering business, as I see many of these reviews are not, even though that’s the Mama Kim Cooks business. Mama Kim Cooks catered my wedding this past October. I don’t even know where to start with how upsetting the entire experience was. Please note that this is my ONLY ‘bad review’ I have ever given on Unilocal.I do not believe in bad mouthing businesses. Please also note that this review comes after hearing NOTHING back from the staff here after my mom and I wrote a letter giving them ample time to make right what they did, but a month has passed and we have heard nothing and I feel this is the only way for me to feel I have some power left in this situation.
First I’ll state what everyone else has, the food is excellent. And that was a reason we ignored some of the ‘red flags’ in the beginning because we really loved their food. Some of the red flags was poor communication as their coordinator Annie would take WEEKS to answer our emails or my questions, whereas all my other vendors would respond within days. That’s fine, in the beginning, but as your wedding gets closer, trust me you will want questions answered more quickly. For example THE DAY OF MY WEDDING Annie emailed me ‘explaining’ why they would be increasing the total bill (500 $) as my wedding venue told them they could absolutely NOT arrive the time of the wedding to start. Excuse me but why would a catering company think it was ever okay to arrive when the guests did? All my friends in the restaurant business told me that is unheard of. So I talk to my parents (yep the DAY OF MY WEDDING I’m discussing this because they are the most unorganized company I have ever seen) We decide to just let it go and not waste our precious time on worrying about something we feel we can’t control. Okay fine,
Now it’s dinner time. We had a buffet and paid for 150 people to eat dinner, which included my DJ, two photographers, and all guests of course. We paid for 150 people to have chicken, pork, veggies, cornbread (which we paid extra PER person for), cheese tortellini, and salad, which all tasted great. But 18 of our guests only had a dinner consisting of ONE slice of pork, corn bread and tortellini because they ran out of food. EIGHTEEN OF MY GUESTS. Not one or two people. The BEST part is when my mother went to pay her and asked if they could compensate us for the EIGHTEEN people (THREE FULL TABLES) that did not get the full meals we paid for, she was so rude, it still infuriates me weeks later. Blaming my guests for going back for seconds or taking too big of portions, AS IF MY GUESTS SHOULD KNOW HOW MUCH FOOD THERE IS? Is this lady insane? and by lady I am speaking of Mama Kim herself who was the one who was incredibly rude to my parents. I have read other reviews on here about her demeanor and this lady is horrible. She is lucky her food is so good because she would never survive in business with her poor customer service skills.
So not only did we pay an additional 500 $ (as we were informed that day), 18 of our guests didn’t get the meal we paid for them to have.
Now let’s talk about bartenders. I enjoy bars often actually, and a great bartender is the best. These two people, YELLED at my MOH for asking for champagne for her and I before the wedding, mind you all the alcohol was bought privately by my husband and I and Mama Kim’s did not supply a drop. After the wedding several of my friends told me the bartenders were incredibly rude and looked miserable to be there. I hate that my guests, who are people my husband and I hold so close to our hearts, were treated like this. Maybe these bartenders knew and hated us in a past life, because they freely gave away all our alcohol when the wedding was over. As one of my best friends recalled their words specifically were, ‘Once we are done, it’s free to take’. Who the HELL do you people think you are? My husband and I didn’t get any of the left over wedding wine or champagne. Thankfully many of our guests who did take some in the moment, brought it to us the next day, but how embarrassing. I feel like I paid 6,500 $ for a bunch of street thugs who possess no manners or common sense, to cater our wedding. I hope no bride goes through what we went through with these people! Lot’s of places have great food. It’s not worth it!

We came here for Sunday brunch and wasn’t too impressed. When you first walk into the restaurant it’s like one huge room. We got here when they first opened so we did get seated right away with brunch reservations.
I had the crab Benedict and my HB had an omelette. The food was mediocre. We thought it was too overpriced. I believe my HB was still hungry when we left. I definitely didn’t have any leftovers.
It was a bit of a disappointment as I wanted to like it but didn’t. I have eaten food from their food truck and that has been amazing. Maybe bc I prefer restaurants that have more private booth seating rather than one huge auditorium. And food was meh.
We unfortunately won’t be back.

I was very disappointed, they were dis-​organized plus the food came out late.
This is my first review but I think people need to know the experience I had.

Great food, great ambiance! Friendly staff! The fried green tomatoes were the best I’ve ever had! Reasonably priced, yet they don’t short you on portions! Loved it!

This is a hidden gem! I wished no one was looking so that I may eat all the crumbs on my plate. I love the dessert. There’s so much flavor in each bite.

My Fiancé and I recently stopped by to do food tasting as we were looking for a catering company to cater out wedding reception. We Instantly fell in love with the place. Annie was great in setting up an appointment for us to come in and Kim who I think is the owner was great in explaining what sort of food they offer and she was a great host.
After leaving we immediately decided that even if we don’t decide to have them cater our reception we will definitely be coming back for some food soon.

Please note, this is a review based on Mama Kim’s catering customer service, and not reflective of the quality of their food.
After reading great reviews on Unilocal about the quality of Mama Kim’s food and catering services, I was excited to reach out to them to potentially hire them to cater my wedding reception.
I sent Mama Kim’s my initial inquiry via their website on January 9^th, and received a prompt reply the same day. From January 10^th to January 13^th, I exchanged emails back and forth with Mama Kim’s containing detailed information about the number of guests, menu ideas, and budget.
After the 13^th, I did not hear back from Mama Kim’s for two and a half weeks. I sent a follow-​up email to check if my inquiry was still being considered on January 29^th. In reply, I was asked to resubmit all of the detailed information from the previous emails that had previously been exchanged over two weeks ago.
I resubmitted the requested information, and followed up with a quick phone call to their catering services representative to double-​check and make sure my inquiry was acceptable within any minimal requirements Mama Kim’s may have. The catering representative assured me my inquiry looked good, and told me she would get back to me with a quote once their head chef created a custom menu. My last correspondence with Mama Kim’s was on January 30^th, and I never received a follow-​up menu or quote.
I am not positive why communication broke down as it did. The representative I communicated with was not Steve, who has been mentioned previously. I’m not sure if the change in the staff handling catering requests had an impact, but I am disappointed that I did not have the chance to consider Mama Kim’s as an option for my reception.

I feel so conflicted about this review.
SMH.
Been here twice now. The first time was 5-​star all-​around. We had a large brunch party (13ish ladies + one *ahem*adorable*ahem* infant that may or may not be related to me) and they accomodated our party without a hitch. Food was on point. Service, too. (Server wasn’t bad to look at either. I’m just saying.)
Second time, not so much. My dish (baked french toast) wasn’t cooked completely. I was only able to eat a few bites of it. Service not so hot either. Infant still cute as hell tho.
Saving grace? The band. Oh my, the band. For a music whore like myself this could save probably ANY meal (except for that Yard House steak that one time…*shivers*…). Just three guys: a guitarist, an amazing pianist who plays blind better than I EVER could with full sight, and Phillip, the restaurant co-​owner slash trio’s lead vocalist.
There’s something about enjoying a mimosa to a jazzy live rendition of Dock Of The Bay that just sets your soul (and tummy) to feeling right.
Go. Eat. Drink. Tap your toes. Sing along.
See you there.

This is a review of their catering service. We used them for our June 15^th wedding. I must say I am a bit of an organized, control freak and I LOVE food. So choosing the food was the most important thing to me, after my dress! I could not be any happier with my choice to go with Mama Kim’s. They were recommended to me by a friend who used them at her wedding a couple years prior, as well as a client of mine who uses them for any family event.
The food was delicious!!! 10 out of 10. Everyone complimented us on the food, and there was nothing left.
But Steve, the coordinator was AMAZING! He is what sealed the deal for us!
He was my favorite vendor to work with. He was very easy to communicate with, he always answered my emails or phone calls quickly and was always there to help.
We met with him at their restaurant where we were treated to a dinner to try their cuisine and we loved almost everything. We decided right then and there to book them for our wedding. We just clicked with Steve, and we felt he completely understand what we were going for.
Steve went over menu options with us that fit the style of our wedding, our taste and our budget. He also coordinated all of our rentals for us as our venue provided nothing — we needed tables, linens, place setting, silverware, chairs, umbrellas, etc… Steve ordered everything; his staff set it all up and broke it down the day of our wedding.
You can easily tell he was very experienced and gave us great advice on our wedding in general. He also took the time to come to our venue with me, as he had never worked an event there, to see the layout and setup. He was also great about communicating with our venue and other vendors to ensure everyone was on the same page and everything would flow smoothly.
We provided our own alcohol and hired their bartender, he was a tremendous help in letting us know how much we should purchase and what would pair best with the food they were preparing. He was even there himself on the day of our wedding, working the carving station. It was so nice to see him there! I knew that everything would be taken care of, as if I were doing it myself.
I would HIGHLY recommend Mama Kim Cooks and Steve to anyone and everyone looking for catering. Everything from the planning, the service and the food were top notch!
On a side note: we loved the vibe and food at the restaurant as well when we went for our tasting. We can’t wait to go back for brunch or dinner and relive the delicious food of our wedding, and hopefully see Steve!

Horrible service, horrible food. Ordered rack of pork and got sliced pork because they ran out. Seriously?

Enjoyed Sunday brunch. Crab eggs Benedict with spinach. Sauce was delicious. Served with fried green tomatoes. Also, chicken and waffles. Finished with bananas foster, butterscotch pudding and pecan pie. Split with 3 people. Everything was delicious and the freshness of the ingredients was a highlight.
Service was outstanding (Lelani). Fast and friendly. I liked the use of the ipad to show pictures of the entrees-​a great talking point.
Restaurant was full and upbeat. Live blues music added a great vibe.
Drove up from elk grove and will gladly drive back again. Thanks Mama Kim!

Originally, I thought Mama Kim’s was a korean food truck. But it’s not. Don’t I feel unfoodtrucksavvy. Tooold me!
Tri Tip Sandwich — the bun is huge, definitely not for no-​carb dieters. Tri tip was tender and moist. For someone who can’t tear food with my teeth, I was actually able to bite thru the meat. Points! I didn’t realize how good the tri tip was until I visited O’Connor’s BBQ (ew!) and had something to compare with.
Chips — I believe they were sweet potato chips? Crunchy, salty sweet, not oily.
Good flavors, nice portion size, meat done right. Fish tacos look awesome. Can’t wait to have those. Inner fat girl, Proceed!

I am a huge fan of Mama Kim on the Go. My husband and I try and have lunch at their trunk on Thursdays when they are parked on 12^th and Ost. Today we had a box lunch for $ 10. The box included the cheddar and chive biscuit with carved turkey, brie and arugula; asparagus soup with chipotle cream; Arnold palmer; and a peanut butter ball (hubs had the chocolate covered strawberry). That is a great deal! Especially since the other trucks (Drewskies) sandwiches run $ 7.50– not to mention i was shorted on my tots and iced tea.
I hope to have Mama Kims once a week! The tri tip sandos are also great. Bonus: Food options are healthier than the other food trucks!

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while…
I got the pork sandwich with jalapenos and sweet potatoes chips… Eh/​The chips were so greasy and the sandwich was nothing to write home about. The people working the cart were not friendly, and really $ 10 for a sanwich the size of a hamburger and a child-​size handful of chips!!! how silly.
Want a good sandwich? Go to the other three great trucks in the area; Mini-​Burger, Drewskies, and Wicked. The food, serivce and prices are much more appealing.

When I’ve managed to head to the food truck gathering, it’s always the same thing: the bigger name trucks have big lines, and the others have no lines at all.
Mama Kim On-​The-​Go is the latter. And if you’re looking for good, solid food, you’re making a mistake by walking on by. Don’t sleep on this one!
I’ve tried quite a few sandwiches from Mama Kim, including a tuna with a wasabi aioli, and their BBQ tri-​tip. Everything here is well above average, and the sweet potato chips served with them are awesome. You can tell they’re freshly done by the taste and the texture, and they might be worth the visit on their own.
Also, don’t shy away from their sushi! One of the very first things I had from here was a spicy tuna roll. I was expecting something a bit outside the norm from what I’d had at other trucks, but it ended up being a simply done but sit-​down-​restaurant-​quality roll. Can’t go wrong with that!

Thanks to the Sacramento Food Truck Alliance Weekly Festival, I was able to try Mama Kim.
I loved their BBQ Tri-​Tip Sandwich ($ 8)!!! One of the best sandwiches I’ve had lately!!! (Am I using enough exclamation marks to show you how excited I am about this sandwich?)
The sandwich consisted of tri-​tip topped w/​slaw on what I believe is a ciabatta bun. It seems simple but everything was so tasty. The tri tip consisted of thick, tender and juicy pieces of meat with BBQ sauce. There was a good amount of meat in every bite. The slaw was creamy while the bun held the sandwich nicely together. I should have paced myself, because the sandwich was gone before I knew it.
It came with a side of sweet potato chips. The chips were thinly sliced and tasted much healthier than fries. Less carbs!
I think this is my favorite food truck! It is one truck that is definitely worth tracking down!
*Review featured on The Weekly Unilocal– Just The Tip of Tri (September 7, 2011)*