Fabulous Restaurants

Chapel Hill: Mama Dip's

Mama Dip's, a popular Chapel Hill restaurant, serves the kind of country food that Mildred Council (aka Mama Dip) grew up cooking. She calls her style of cooking "dump cooking" because she scoops up ingredients without measuring and "dumps" them in the bowl or pan.

Her restaurant serves three meals a day, seven days a week. Breakfast items offer a reminder of the time when the breakfast table was spread for a hearty meal to start the day: crispy fried fish, grandpa’s chicken, grilled country ham, fried salmon patties, fresh stewed apples, fried green tomatoes, grits, grilled potatoes and hot homemade biscuits.

Lunch and dinner offer Mama’s special bar-b-que chicken, ribs or pork, battered and fried chicken or chops, or grilled fish along with all the appropriate southern-style vegetable choices.

There’s also an extensive take-home menu, including whole pies and cakes, plus three varieties of picnic dinner baskets.

Mildred Council’s first job was as a family cook in Chapel Hill. She then moved on to work at Carolina Coffee Shop, Kappa Sigma fraternity and St. Andrews Hall. In 1957 she worked with her mother-in-law in a tiny take-out restaurant where she began to hone her business skills.

On a Sunday in November 1976 Mama Dip opened her own restaurant with $64, $40 dollars went toward food and $24 was used to make change. The morning's take was used to fund the lunch meal and lunch to fund the dinner. At the end of the day Mama Dip took home $135, and the rest is history.

Over the years, Mama Dip has published cookbooks, offering recipes that are simple and delicious.

Mama Dip’s Kitchen
A wonderful collection of straightforward, simple, southern American foods in chapters devoted to "Breads and Breakfast Dishes," "Poultry, Fish, and Seafood Dishes," "Beef, Pork and Lamb Dishes," "Vegetablesand Salad," and "Desserts, Beverages, and Party Dishes."

Mama Dip’s Family Cookbook
A follow-up to the popular "Mama Dip's Family Kitchen," Mama Dip's Family Cookbook is a treasury of more than three hundred recipes for savory, home-style Southern cooking, from traditional meals to festive party foods and dishes ideal for community gatherings. Dishes such as Spoon Bread, Chicken Noodle Pie, Apple-Nut Squares, and Candied Carrots are presented with easy-to-follow instructions. Mama Dip's Family Cookbook is a superb cookbook for creating meals and festive trays with down-home Southern flavor.

Mama Dip's
408 W. Rosemary Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 942-5837

Hours
8am – 9:30pm Monday through Saturday, 8am – 9pm Sunday

added: December 15, 2008

updated: January 3, 2009