Mara’s Southern Kitchen is a Southern Barbecue and Cajun restaurant serving scratch made food. Gulf seafood, Cajun and Creole favorites are prepared daily, featuring live crawfish when in season, Crawfish Etouffee, Jambalaya, Po’ boys, and okra gumbos. Comfort foods such as Southern fried chicken, Nashville HOT Chicken, macaroni and cheese and country fried steak are also served. Daily specials, flavorful with a Southern twist are always changing. Mara flies in from Louisiana, fresh Oysters, Crawfish, Crabs and Shrimp. She’s created her own version of Char-grilled Oysters in addition to serving Oysters on the half shell. If you have been to NOLA you’ll love Mara’s. An extensive Bourbon, Whiskey and spirit bar with a wine list are available.
Down-home joint turning out crawfish boils & other Cajun staples plus BBQ in a strip-mall setting. Based on 535 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.4 stars. Price $$
Address:
236 W Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, NY 11791
Phone: (516) 554-5510
Website: http://www.marasouthernkitchen.com/
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Reviews
Eric Jordan Nussbaum
This place ROCKS!!!! Mara’s southern kitchen is Melville’s best kept secret. It’s time that we all recognize the delicious food that comes from their kitchen. Two thumbs up to Mara and her staff who not only know true hospitality, but excellent Louisiana BBQ.
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Tom S
Great food with a warm welcome!
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Benny Gerard
Loved the food and the service was fantastic. They were a little short staffed the night I went but even with that the staff was very friendly and attentive. The bar tender had great wine recommendations for my gf and even gave some good selections on what to sample since we had never been. Try the gator sausage or the water bites, they were amazing. The fried chicken was highly recommended and when it came out it was cooked perfectly. Save room for desert. We had strawberry jalapeno and it was interesting. It was a nice blend of sweet…but with a kick.
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Denise Tura
Always a great meal at Mara’s. My mom loves their soft shell crab, and their char-grilled oysters are my absolute favorite!
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Rayna Portnoy
We were looking for a good Cajun place and came across this place online. We decided to try it even though it was not that close to us because of the good reviews and we also had a birthday to celebrate. It’s not big place but that was great because it was not too loud. The staff was exceptional! The food was among the best we have had for Cajun and BBQ. They have a smoker on location. The ribs, brisket and chicken was amazing. The cheese grits were fantastic. The Cajun stuffed with cheese crawfish was sublime- a meal unto itself! The blackened redfish was delicious. We shared the chili, Aligator legs, Aligator sausages and the deviled egg oysters- all excellent. So good we tried talking the chef into opening another place in our town! This place should be on “ triple D”!
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Eric Candell
Tasty Southern fare and very good cocktails. The platters include an assortment of meats with two very generous sides. Mara came by at the end of the meal and bragged about her pies. I wish I had saved room.
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Claudio Woolley
I have driven by Mara’s Homemade restaurant a few times and never noticed it. It’s on a stretch of road where you exit LIE exit 40 to hit Jericho tpke. and usually doing 55 miles per hour. I will never forget where it is now! The store front in unremarkable and I figured looking at the other stores, they all have similar fronts. You would never think there was a gem of a restaurant hidden behind this facade. Not everyone likes New Orleans , Cajun, NOLA or whatever you like to call it type food. If you dont, you are still missing the boat. The 6 of us sat down at a front table and it was nice and cool but not cold. We were greeted by 2 lovely ladies, Mara herself (did not know this until after appetizers ) and Salyolandra. I probably spelled it wrong, hope I didnt. They were so welcoming. There were not many people there given it was Sunday on 4th of July weekend. The streets were all empty. We ordered some meals. The women wanted spicy foods and ordered full racks of ribs, the men ordered mostly chicken and fish. The catfish were nicely prepared, but before I forget, I had tacked on a few more dishes for is to try. The crawfish stuffed bread is amazing. We devoured it quickly to a point we ordered another one. It is so good and I don’t know how the get the crawfish inside the bread. Mara cut it into 6 pieces for all of us. It dis not take much time for it to disappear. We also ordered the alligator bites, I was not thrilled with it, and we ordered the alligator sausage. The sausage was delicious! The meals come with 2 sides in which you choose. I got corn and fried okra. The corn had a Cajun bite to it, and I liked it. I ordered another corn to go since my dining mates ate the other half of it. Now another big plus with this place is Josh, the bartender. Son of Mara, yes this place is family owned, he has a unique mixture of rum, tequilas, bourbons and ryes. A man after my own heart. I tried the Bones rum. So smooth! I also tried the T1 Tequila, the espoo tequila. All different from each other and very smooth. I did walk out of there with no problems! Almost forgot about the Brussels sprouts with bacon!!!! Finally we ordered dessert. The strawberryjalapeño ice cream was really tasty and good. No not spicy, but delish. Also had the pecan pie, done nicely and peach bourbon ice cream. All the dessert were good!, It’s a must to go to eat there. The menu is extensive and you could keep coming for weeks and they change their menu to accommodate tastes. I highly recommend eating at Mara’s!
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Elizabeth Turk
I always wanted to try true southern cuisine. Mara’s gave me the ability to try several new things; alligator, crawfish, proper collard greens, and strawberry pie. All were good, although the gator did not rally taste like anything different (the spieces in the breading were good though), I was expecting a different flavor profile or texture. The owner Mara (surprise suprise) was very kind and hands on. The pie she made fresh this morning and yes you could definitely tell! I would recommend this place highly, as the menu was amazing with plenty of tasty looking options. All the foods the group ordered looked, smelled, and tasted great. They also have a pretty extensive bar and are nicely set up for a smaller restaurant. Best part was the prices were extremely reasonable and the portions were generous, especially the deserts.
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Nicole S.
I have been here about 4 times now and every time the food is delicious and satisfying. The meat is always smoked to perfection and the natural flavors really shine, especially in the smoked duck and braised beef short ribs that I tried the other night on the side of corn grits and carrots! They have a great selection of gluten free/dairy free items, although at times service has been inconsistent & some staff did not seem as knowledgeable as others, so be mindful of that. All in all, I love to come here and would recommend to any meat or seafood lovers!
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Danny Dombal
Had the taste for good southern fried chicken. Came across this place sat down placed a to go order and was told 20-25 mins. Make it from scratch. Had a shelters from Arkansas, little chit chat, great selection of all food and all spice preference . Inc alligator. Got home broiled 5 mins and was the best ever fried chicken , taste , consistency flavor moist excellent
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