It’s been more than a year since Ean Camperlengo and Ross Winecoff announced plans to turn their popular fried chicken pop-up Mother’s Best into a brick-and-mortar.
In the interim, Camperlengo opened a brick-and-mortar location of his other pop-up, Smileys Burger Club, in the former BBQ Cafe space in Decatur, across the street from Kimball House.
But he and Winecoff continued to plug away at opening Mother’s Best. Now, the restaurant is ready to make its debut Dec. 6 at 406 Church St. in the former Calle Latina space on the Decatur Square.
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
The pair, who met while they were both working at a butcher shop in Virginia, came up with Mother’s Best “while we were talking about what’s missing in the Atlanta scene, and how to fill the void for something fun and unique,” said Caperlengo, who previously worked at Atlanta eateries and bars including Parish, Restaurant Eugene and SOS Tiki Bar.
He launched his first pop-up, a Caribbean barbecue venture called Sweetie’s, followed by hot dog pop-up Go Dog. “Each one of those concepts was successful in its own right, but I wanted to do more to see what was going to be the thing that stuck.”
Camperlengo’s experience making condiments for the hot dogs that Go Dog sold stoked in him a desire to create an adjacent concept that would remind diners of the types of food they grew up eating.
“Nostalgia is a vessel for food,” he said. “That’s where I really wanted to strike. I have memories of eating Popeye’s or Publix fried chicken, Ross remembers places in Virginia. Everybody I talked to about it had that story, that iconic, ‘This is what I ate as a kid’.”
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Mother’s Best — the name is a reference to an old flour brand, and a tribute to Camperlengo’s mother — made its first appearance as a pop-up in July 2021 at Sceptre Brewing Arts in Decatur, where they befriended co-owners Armando Celentano and Donald Durant, who became partners in Mother’s Best.
“It was a long, very hard road to get to where we are now,” said Camperlengo, a Louisiana native who grew up watching his professional chef father work in kitchens in Florida and New Orleans. “It was two years of beating our heads against the wall and not understanding things like why the breading was falling off, or why we had black speckles in it. There were so many hurdles for us to jump through.”
The long process of perfecting the Mother’s Best recipe involved using techniques and ingredients not often associated with fast food-style chicken, including sous vide, a homemade spice blend and what Camperlengo calls “an ambitious brine.”
“A lot of the processes and techniques that we’re using are in-depth to the point where you might think, ‘Is this a fine dining restaurant?’” Camperlengo said.
He describes the chicken as “flavor-forward, not spicy, but spiceful,” brined and given a heavy shake of a blend of 14 spices (one more than KFC, Camperlengo is quick to point out). The meat is also dredged in a buttermilk and hot sauce blend and seasoned flour, and seasoned again after it comes out of the fryer.
“We take every opportunity we can to impart as much depth of flavor as we can,” he said.
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Camperlengo and Winecoff watched YouTube videos and looked at what popular fast food chains were doing to batch cook chicken and “hot hold” to make sure the meat retained its freshness and crispiness, even when a lot was cooked at once. That, coupled with the fine dining techniques and attention to detail is what Camperlengo said sets Mother’s Best apart from its predecessors and contemporaries.
“The food is fantastic,” he said. “But the level of service is really where we’re going to make sure people know the difference.”
The highlight of the menu is buckets of bone-in fried chicken with two, four, six or eight pieces served with Mom’s Sauce, an homage to sauces at spots including Chick-fil-A and Raising Canes, and white bread from Norcross-based Engelman’s Bakery. Other offerings include chicken sandwiches and tenders and sides including mashed potatoes with gravy; spice rice, Mother’s Best’s answer to dirty rice; collard green coleslaw; and red beans.
Camperlengo said he and Winecoff are working on a fried cauliflower dish and vegan wings and a gluten-free batter to accommodate those with dietary restrictions.
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
On the beverage side, Mother’s Best has a full bar and will serve a handful of frozen and nonfrozen cocktails, including a frozen Baja Blast called the Brickey Blast, a nod to Brickey the Chicky, the Mother’s Best mascot. Other alcoholic offerings include a frozen Irish coffee; a twisted tea and lemonade; and Brickey Beer, an American-style lager brewed for the restaurant by Sceptre.
The 1,200-square-foot Mother’s Best space leans into the feelings of nostalgia created by the food. Guests order at the counter and can grab a seat at the bar or a red chrome-plated booth salvaged from an old Huddle House in Augusta, with checkerboard tabletops sourced from a former Pizza Hut.
The design features vintage fixtures and tchotchkes and photos of celebrities and fictional characters on the wall, as well as shrines to Hank Williams and Hank Aaron from local artist Jeramy Muxworthy and a couple of appearances by Brickey.
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Credit: Courtesy of Mother's Best
Patrons at the bar can play vintage games on an N64 system while they wait for their drinks, and guests on the go can order their food and drinks at a side window.
“It plays into the idea that this is all tongue-in-cheek and fun,” Camperlengo said. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously. All the seriousness is behind the scenes.”
Camperlengo said that while opening two brick-and-mortar restaurants in less than a year (and welcoming his first child over the summer) is a bit daunting, he’s relishing the process.
“We’re having a lot of fun doing it,” Camperlengo said. “We’re having a blast. Yes, we’re racking our brains behind the scenes to make sure everything is as effective and efficient as possible. But the product that comes out feels joyful.”
Mother’s Best is open 11 a.m.-midnight Wednesdays-Sundays.
406 Church St., Decatur. instagram.com/mothers.best
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