{"id":8535,"date":"2025-11-21T08:18:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T14:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omahanebraska.com\/blog\/?p=8535"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:18:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T14:18:03","slug":"omaha-interview-gladys-harrison-of-big-mamas-kitchen-catering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omahanebraska.com\/blog\/omaha-interview-gladys-harrison-of-big-mamas-kitchen-catering\/","title":{"rendered":"Omaha Interview: Gladys Harrison of Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen & Catering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feeding Community, Preserving Legacy: An Interview with Gladys Harrison of Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen & Catering<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few restaurants in Omaha carry a legacy as rich\u2014or as rooted in love\u2014as Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen & Catering. Since opening its doors in 2007, Big Mama\u2019s has become a destination for soul food, community connection, and generational entrepreneurship. We sat down with Gladys Harrison, owner of Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen, to talk about her family\u2019s history, the evolution of the business, and the vision driving its future.<\/p>\n

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Gladys Harrison<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Growing Up in Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

My name is Gladys Harrison, and I\u2019m the owner of Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen and Catering.<\/p>\n

Gladys laughs when she says she \u201cstarted working at the restaurant basically at birth.\u201d Before Big Mama\u2019s was a brick-and-mortar restaurant, it was an in-home catering service run by her mother, Patricia \u201cBig Mama\u201d Barron, for over 40 years. Everyone in the family had a job\u2014including the little ones.<\/p>\n

As a child, Gladys washed dishes, helped fill piping bags, traced wax-paper liners for cakes, and even learned to make icing roses by hand. \u201cI was licking the cake batter off the spoon too,\u201d she adds. \u201cFood and family were always intertwined.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Big Mama began catering outside the home, the whole family pitched in\u2014prepping, loading, delivering, and setting up events. Later, when weekend food sales began out of Big Mama\u2019s home kitchen, Gladys became the designated emailer, flyer-maker, and menu creator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born into Big Mama\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d she says.
\nAnd by the time the family opened their first official restaurant in 2007, Gladys and her sisters were already seasoned veterans.<\/p>\n

Finding Their First Location: A Leap of Faith<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the mid-2000s, conversations about revitalizing North Omaha were gaining momentum. Gladys and her mother attended community meetings hosted by organizations like the Empowerment Network, eager to be part of rebuilding the neighborhood Big Mama had grown up in.<\/p>\n

During one meeting, they met Gail Ross, director of Turning Point, an organization housed on the former campus of the Nebraska School for the Deaf. Gail heard they were looking for a restaurant space and repeatedly encouraged them to consider a cafeteria space on the campus.<\/p>\n

Big Mama refused\u2014three times.<\/p>\n

The fenced-in campus looked too much like an old school, and the dining room still smelled like 1960s cafeteria food. But after prayer, reflection, and much persistence from Gail, Big Mama agreed to take a look. Once they stepped into the enormous, fully equipped production kitchen\u2014complete with walk-ins, a tilt skillet, ovens, and the beloved pellet-ice machine\u2014the vision finally clicked.<\/p>\n

Gladys remembers: \u201cMy sisters and I said, \u2018Mom, this is it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They stripped out the cafeteria furniture, repainted, brought d\u00e9cor from Big Mama\u2019s home, and created a warm, kitchen-table atmosphere. Big Mama\u2019s love of yellow and leopard print made its way into the dining room, because\u2014as she always said\u2014\u201cleopard is not just a print, it\u2019s an attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

They opened on December 4, 2007, and held their grand opening on February 4, 2008\u2014Big Mama\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

Overcoming Challenges and Gaining National Attention<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Financing the restaurant was a battle. Banks told Big Mama she was \u201ctoo old\u201d and that her daughters didn\u2019t know enough to run a restaurant. But with help from the Omaha Small Business Network, a small loan, retirement funds, and credit cards, the family opened their doors.<\/p>\n

Then came the surprise that changed everything:
\n“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad it not been for that show, we wouldn\u2019t be here today,\u201d Gladys says. \u201cIt brought people then, and it still brings people now. Every single day, someone walks in because they saw us on Triple D.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, Big Mama\u2019s was invited to join the new 75 North development, a mixed-income, community-focused neighborhood on 30th Street. The new restaurant\u2014a bright, modern, window-lined space\u2014was designed to be part of a food-hall environment. Big Mama participated in the design, though she passed away before the new space opened in January 2020.<\/p>\n

A few months later, COVID-19 arrived.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everything changed. Large gatherings vanished. Full-service catering disappeared overnight. Customers wanted individually boxed meals. The team had to reinvent processes\u2014again and again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve pivoted more in the last five years than at any point in our history,\u201d Gladys says. \u201cBut we\u2019re still here. The food is still made the way Big Mama taught us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Vision for the Future: Feeding the World, Creating Opportunity<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Big Mama\u2019s dream was clear:
\nFeed people all over the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gladys doesn\u2019t envision franchising\u2014not when the food is real, hand-seasoned, and handcrafted. Instead, she and her sisters expanded in a different direction:<\/p>\n

The Seasoning Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

The signature fried chicken seasoning\u2014passed down from Gladys\u2019s great-grandmother\u2014was once blended in-house by hand. Now it\u2019s professionally produced, labeled, and ready for retail nationwide.<\/p>\n

The line includes:<\/p>\n