Great service here last night and the place was humming . I was early but one of the waitresses was super accommodating n got me a table anyways. Our waitress was lovely and friendly. Peanut butter milkshake and curly fries were amazing!

After reading a few reviews I was a bit hesitant to go but we went for lunch on Tuesday and it was lovely. We had a lovely friendly waitress, in fact all the staff were friendly. We were able to sit straight away and order lunch. The buttermilk fried chicken was a melt in your mouth moment and the key lime pie was beautiful. Great kitsch decor and filled with photos of workers and families and fun. Enjoyed lunch. Thanks SMK

Went there for a quick bite on a sunday, the place wasn’t very busy however we were halted to wait for someone to sit us, and while a cool conversation was happening we wait…
I ordered the quesadilla the food was tasty but nothing I couldn’t replicate my milkshake was good but not as good as the one I tried at beach babylon few weeks ago.
In synthesis my experience could’ve been a lot better if the wait staff weren’t that worried about being cool and were more interested in serving maybe some spicy salsas on offer for the quesadillas would’ve got an extra star.

Have eaten here on several occasions. We like the casual atmosphere and funky decor. Service has been a bit slow but they are usually very busy. Waitress was happy to substitute items to meet our GF requests. Swamp dip is amazing. Will definitely be back.

Went to dinner on Sunday night, 10/3/2013, with some friends. Had to wait quite a while to get our orders taken. No ginger beer available. Took our meal order but someone came back and said no fish. Reordered. One meal was cleared away while others were still eating but other plates were left on the table for ages. Bill was brought without being asked, without dessert being suggested and while plates were still there. Meals were generous size and nice tasting but service was poor.

Cramped seating, long waits, no reservations, ridiculous staff, unprofessional and unpleasant. Firstly the food all tastes the same – and if you’re wondering what I mean, get a can of refried beans and some pams salsa and you’re away! Staff are a bunch of pushy hipsters with frightening haircuts, making you feel like you should order more than you would like. Day core makes it feel like cleaning up would be a waste of time.

No need to worry about Michelin stars, because the only thing youre going to get are is a Michelin tire (100 eco friendly, recycled) sized waist, and remember, don’t check your bank balance after, you might just get a fright!!

I have been for breakfast several times and rate the food highly, except for their apparent inability to deliver a fried egg “over easy”. This shortcoming was rectified on the third visit.
The service was absolutely atrocious initially. It took half an hour for them to take our breakfast orders (table of five).
We had two waitresses serve us this visit, the first one was openly hostile and when at the 25 minute mark I tried to attract her attention to take our orders, she looked right at me and walked straight past on her way to sit outside smoking.
The second waitress was far more polite and friendly and obviously much better at providing FOH service than her co-worker.
After this latest experience I won’t be returning and I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place.
Such a shame that this cafe with such potential, great food, good location is let down so badly by such terrible service.
There is a sign above the counter that says “Be nice or leave.”, perhaps some of the waiting staff should take this advice.

Why is this place popular? The food is not very authentic New Orleans so I’ll try to rate Sweet Mother’s Kitchen based on other factors. The service is poor, except for the curly fries, the food is average to below average- when you even get it. I had to send back my pulled pork sandwich because the “chef” forgot to put the pulled pork on it. Seriously?! I have been several times because it’s a popular spot, but next time friends suggest it, I’ll put my foot down. I won’t go back.

I really enjoy coming to this place. The beef nachos are my fav. The staff are really friendly. Not a big review, just worth saying that this is a great Welly haunt. The fish tacos are also pretty tops.

Somewhat grimey hipster hangout. Everything is very average but it is extremely popular, I presume because of the location. The staff all look like they could do with a wash.

We came here for a pre-Hobbit lunch between Christmas and New Year. It was humming, food was delicious – highly recommend the fish po boy – and the staff were fantastic. Only thing they couldn’t do was delay the start of our movie – we definitely needed more time to savour the food, wine and ambience.

The first time we visited this restaurant, we were happy with the experience. Low key, relaxed, a little on the dirty side but reasonable. Waitress was helpful and courteous. The only complaint would have been the key lime pie crust being mushy and watery, like it was frozen and had been over-thawed. However the second visit was disappointing and doesn’t encourage us to return. The service was simply awful. Gumbo was not available. Huh? How can you not have a signature dish available on a Friday night? And why didn’t our waitress tell us when we ordered it? Then the manager starts shouting at a waiter out the back whilst in the middle of the restaurant, making some loud, passive aggressive remark about the waiter doing nothing. Can anyone say…awkward? Then we get our drinks and starter- but then just as we pick up the first piece of our starter- the main meal comes. Why would you serve the starter with the main meal, especially after the waitress was asked to bring the ‘starter’ with our drinks? We skipped dessert and left. Not in a hurry to return. Looking at the other reviews, seems like service is an afterthought for this place.

French toast was awesome, as was my soy cappa.
Enjoyable time! Waitress seemed preoccupied.

But other than that, brilliant experience and price was reasonable

Love Sweet Mothers Kitchen! I usually go for lunch and always order the prawn poboy. It’s always delicious. I recently tried the swamp dip and was happy with that too. So glad to have comfort food so close to home!

Absolutely hopeless, service was delivered like if they were doing you a favour, menu was a weird mix of tex-mex with an Asian flick. Also those handheld are meant to make waiters life easier so they can concentrate more in their customers, not coming back until I see waiters wearing an uniform, no hipster would wear a silly uniform and that would be the sign of the bad service departure.

Stopped in for lunch during our stay this past weekend. We had a shrimp po’ boy, and a fish po’ boy. I much preferred the fish po’ boy as it had more flavour. Loved the sauce that came with the curly fries, too.

Awesome decor, decent service.

I go there all the time – delicious food, and affordable! My favourite is the chicken burrito, but the macaroni and cheese “The Moose” is really flavourful, and the jerk chicken is good too (a bit spicy and sweet). My one disappointment was the chicken taco – it was a bit bland.

For sides, the creamed spinach is good and the curly fries are excellent (so is the spicy aioli).

The staff are friendly and helpful. My one complaint is that you almost always have to wait at least 20 minutes for dinner if you’re more than one person, because they don’t take reservations. Very frustrating!

If I was basing this on just food, a solid four would be given and it would be a five if the portions weren’t often a little mean. The service is just awful and is letting this popular cafe down. Having said that, the food is pretty great! I rarely order anything other than the Prawns Monica and Jambalaya. They’re worth risking surly wait staff for.

Ever since I first visited Sweet Mother’s, I’ve been meaning to go back. The place definitely lives up to the hype, with cheap, amazing, food. I’m hoping to visit some time during the day so I can see the place in the sunshine. Sweet Mother’s is, indeed, pretty sweet.

Locals will tell you that Sweet Mother’s Kitchen is the ultimate spot for homely comfort, hipster vibes and famous curly fries. We’re fans too, particularly of the po boys and apple pie. Can be hard to get a seat, although it is always warm outside. Friendly staff, but there is always room for improvement

My pick of places to go in Wellington when I just feel like a great meal. Been here a hundred times (slight exaggeration) with friends and partner. Great little find – atmosphere is kooky and lot’s of things to look at. Not the kind of place I’d go for an intimate meal as it can get noisy and you might get thrown on a big table with another party but other than that, it’s great.

Awesome selection of food – from smaller sandwich type po-boys to burritos (the pulled pork is AMAZING) to bigger mains like the fried fish (another favourite) and ribs. The mushrooms on the brunch menu and the potato hash are also unforgettable as is the swamp dip – a spinach and cheese dip served with baguettes.

The best with SMC comes last – all be it the mains are hard to beat. The key lime pie has to be almost better than the genuine key lime pies I tasted whilst holidaying in Miami and The Keys. Not sure what the recipe is but they certainly have it perfected. The peanut butter cheesecake type offering is also incredible – grab the two and share if you have room left.

Didn’t quite give it the 5 starts because sometimes the service particularly if they are busy leaves a little to be desired. If you have to wait for a long period of time thats fine – but I have experienced only a handful of times, that we could of been spoken to a little friendlier!

I dined here with my sister on Easter Sunday for a late lunch at about 2pm. The place gets a point for being open on a holiday. A lot of Wellington places shut for the entire weekend.

We shared a bowl of curly fries, and a peanut butter milkshake. The milkshake was delicious, the curly fries nice but not amazing.

Our waiter seemed as though he didn’t want to be at work and did not listen properly to our order. I ordered the pulled pork po boy sandwich and what came out was a prawn po boy. I didn’t realise until I started eating it. The waitress I told was very apologetic and she fast-tracked the pork po boy through the kitchen (she was good at her job). Once I got my correct meal, I enjoyed it. My sister had the beef taco and enjoyed her meal. We were impressed that the beef was real chunks of beef, not mince.

Overall, we were not particularly impressed with the service, although the food is cheap and quite tasty for the cost. Will not be in a rush to return though.

Just ok gumbo and curly fries – sorry, not too much to write home about.

Just wasn’t worth the wait for the dirty table.

Great food at reasonable prices. The gumbo was yummy and only $14!!! Obviously a popular place and generally don’t take bookings so I suppose not a place to go if time is important. Laid back atmosphere and I found the waiter helpful and pleasant. Nice atmosphere and groovy decoration!

This has been my go to restaurant for the last five or so years in Wellington, being a lover of all things Tex Mex, but I just can’t do it any more. The service is far too lacklustre. The last time I went, my partner and I waited 25 minutes to be served, and only when we tried to order a pork burrito and a fish taco were we told there was no pork or fish. The time before this, I was given the wrong type of burrito and not given a discount. The staff are rude and don’t seem to care at all – it’s a shame because the baja fish taco is freaking delicious. I won’t be going back – I’ll be spending my money at Viva Mexico instead.

Brilliant – great food, good atmosphere, good prices – highly recommend Sweet Mother’s Kitchen. Especially some of the mexican specialties. Very impressed that they txt you when a table is available so yo can go off to a bar for a drink while you wait.

Love going to get my eat on.

Don’t go if your in a rush and want your own table. Go there relaxed with lots of time to chill with the other significant you have gone with. Chat, eat some southern comfort, and drink some spirits.

The service is was it is, I don’t rush them, they don’t rush me. It is pretty damn popular and a small place to cater for all of us coming at the same time. Instead of expecting them to have a table waiting for you, maybe ring everyone in Wellington who has decided to go there at the same time and tell them to buggar off! Otherwise wait the wait.

A good Wellington fav for me. Finish it off with some drinks at Motel,Library,Matterhorn or Havana and a late night coffee at Fidels.

If your wanting more, and feel intimidated by the feel of SMK and want better service, maybe pay more for what your wanting at Boulcott Street Bistro or Logan Brown or Shed 5! You will pay 6 times the price and you may be shocked to see the the service or the wait may not be all that different.

Reality check! SMKs prices are pretty damn good.

Have been here a couple of times and I love it, but my husband is ‘meh’ about it and gets a bit rashy about the hipster vibe which I find funny because he is one. Have had a bit of a mixed bag experience with the staff, they could definitely do to hire a few more long-term staff with good waiting skills to back up the travellers, casuals who might have rockin clothes but stink attitudes cos they can’t seem to cope when its busy. Anyway, good food is good food and I’m totally into the fish tacos and peanut butter milkshake. Breakfast beignets with black coffee is wicked and everything is reasonable prices. So, all in all, if you can see its busy, don’t bother but if you can go mid week or something, its a great place.

My daughter and I were down from Auckland for a short break and tried Sweet Mothers Kitchen. The service was excellent I found the waiter was very helpful helping me decide which meal I would enjoy the most as I could not decide between two of them, he made the right choice for me. The food was great and the curly fries were out of this world (how do they do that) Overall lunch was excellent and we came away feeling full and very happy we had decided to go there.

I used to like SMK but twice in a row we got really bad service, and the last one was the last straw for us. It was busy, so we waited at the bar, we were seated not long after. Then it was a long wait to get our orders taken, one of the waitress walked pass so I asked her, but she rudely said “Yea I be there in a minute” in a very annoyed tone. When she took our orders I asked if it could be slightly modified to meet my dietary requirement, and her response was “Uh… oh… I’ll ask if we can do it” (honestly, it wasn’t that hard!). After she asked the chef she came back, slammed the menu on our table and said “The chef is too busy”. It wasn’t much of a big deal if they can’t do it, as I had my supplements with me, but it would be nice if I could have something that I can eat without having to take the supplements, and the waitress’ attitude was just horrible. We still ordered, got our meal and after we paid we decided that we won’t go back there. It was very crap service and the food I ordered was average. And not to mentioned that they’ve put the price up and the portion has gotten smaller.

I get it that they got their reputation by word of mouth and the fact that they’ve been around for ages, but it doesn’t mean that they can relax and stop caring. And now that another Cajun/Creole place has opened in town and their service and food was MUCH better, I’d be going there instead.

OK so I use to rave about the food at Sweet Mama’s as we called it…
But recently I went and had such a bad experience… Ive never found the service there that great but the food always made up for it, but this time there was no food to go with the extremely bad service..
When w arrived it was busy but there were a few tables empty so we go a table straight away and were given menus, it took about 10mins for someone to come over and take our orders. after about 30mins we noticed that the two tables that were seated after us had got their meals, we asked the waitress who then responded “do you have deadline? are you in a hurry, because if you are I can tell the chef”. I was so shocked by her response, I politely said that we had been waiting over 30min and it seemed the tale next to us that came 15mins after us got there meals before us, she then walked of with no response, she came back saying they wont be long.
after 30 more mins she said a she walk past “not to long now” with a sight smirk on her face.
The table next to u were getting as pissed off as we were and suggested we go ask for the manager, at this stage I was so hungry and over it I walked up to the counter and told them we had been waiting over an hour for our meals and were getting extremely bad service and were going to leave, the waitress I was talking to looked at us and walked off without saying a word to us.
I was so shocked, we left and felt so disappointed, I wrote an email explaining what happened and got a reply saying more or less “sorry we have had a huge staff turnover”.
WTF!!!! I was so disappointed, I worked in the restaurant business for over 12yrs and have never received such amazingly bad service!! We use to go to Sweet Mama’s all the time but haven’t been back since, and most of my friends refuse to go there as well… So disappointed, I thought I was onto a good thing but I was so wrong!

I used to really like this place, but the portions have gotten smaller and the atmosphere almost unbearable. It’s disappointing as it used to be great.

Popular place with yuppies and hipsters alike, and anyone who has to be *seen* dining, i was really turned off by this place for years due to that, and the fact i always see people eating fries there (classy!). Anyway, it’s only last year i actually finally was roped into going there. They have a couple of decent beers there (no selection really – compared with the great beer bars which now populate the city), but a few great cocktails. My most recent visit consisted of a decent puulled pork sandwich, which was topped off with some sauces – and i added to with the decent hot sauce on the table, coupled with a jug of sangria i shared with friends, and some fried wedge like, potato concoctions. It wasn’t to bad of a session of drinks and ets, and the place was busy (as always), rather cramped and “cozy” inside. The menu looks to have some decent stuff and the staff were pretty decent. Probably worth a try…

I arrive in my vintage ray bans, crochet cardigan, floral print dress and distressed leather boots… I am greeted as soon as I swing open the door. In my hand I hold cigarettes and a scruffy boy… I am seated immediately at one of the booths. I order a long black double shot and peanut butter pie…the staff fawn all over me and give me quirky grins from behind their giant fake glasses. I leave on my old bicyle complete with basket and am told to come again.


I arrive straight from work in my flats, black A-line skirt and conservative pearls… I queue to get in the door. In my hand I hold my car keys and movie tickets to the latest rom com at Reading Cinemas… I am seated after 45 minutes drinking Monkey Bay chardonnay at the bar. I order the chicken breast and an orange juice… The food arrives cold and late with no smiles or manners.I leave in my BMW which took me years to save for while working in advertisement. I will never go back again.

Sweet Mothers Kithcen is an incredible cafe……. When you play by their rules.

delicious food, great service and price!!

would definitely recommend!

I love going to this place everytime I am back in welly. Get the Ribs with curly fries and colslaw, so yum!! My girlfriend always has yummy things too.

always been busy on past visits, food and service ok, coffee as above average.
Very big meals, value for money

Was ok.
Liked the menu but the staff were just ambivalent.
Keen to try more on the menu as we asked the table next to us who seemed like ‘regulars’ what was best.
Will go back & hopefully the staff have picked up their smiles & pace & the new dishes we try are as good as todays

Came for a light snack after a movie. Ordered the curly fries and a drink. The fries came in such a small portions. There were 7 whole fries max and a couple of broken pieces, could not believe I paid $6.50 for that. Anywhere else and I could get at least double the amount of chips for that price. I also expected them to be a lot more crisp/crunchy, which they were not. Looked around and their portions are very small for the price you are playing. The deco is interesting though, kinda like a flat of a messy, bookish music/art student, which I could just go over to a friends flat to admire deco for free. Staff were also not very attentive. We were waiting in front of counter to be served for quite a while before the staff (who were talking amongst themselves) to notice us.

Wow, talk about violating your senses when you walk in. If you have never known what it is like to have multiple personality disorder then you could give this place a go for something of an idea – music playing in the background was everything from Dylan to some country music, a bit of Acid Jazz and some Latin hip-hop thrown in the mix too. The decor is cluttered and sometimes clumsy. In spite of that, you can sit down and feel “alternative” because you’re dining here.

We just wanted a snack because we were fending off any sense of hunger before a 2hr movie. Ordered the curly fries and the chicken wings – but there was a lot of tempting looking bits and pieces on the menu.

Service was pretty good. The woman behind the counter was pretty attentive and we were seated quickly. Given there wasn’t a huge amount of food ordered, it’s hard to say much about it … but I enjoyed it. The curly fries were … curly and came with a really nice dipping sauce. The chicken wings weren’t overly spicy and they were tasty, but incredibly oily. In fact they came in a plastic bowl thingy with holes, the bottom of which is lined with baking paper. This meant the oil just oozed onto the table, making for a messy experience.

Can’t say the food was absolutely divine, but would happily try it again if only because the rest of the menu looked tempting.

A popular place amongst locals, this can be it’s downfall. There is often a long wait to get a table, but the food is good and reasonably priced. The staff are well-informed and friendly. The Chipotle Chicken and curly fries (shared between two) was a good portion size. The place has a lively atmosphere and it is easy to see why this place is so busy all the time!

I love this place – their chilli wings and chowder, crab and cheese dip …. coffee mm mm very very good informal, shared trestle table dining makes this a great place and touches like the range of pies, tea cosies on the pots are tres cute

One word. Po’boy. Is that one word? Who cares go get one.

Service counts so much towards an experience.
Funny “Curly Fries” but am lukewarm on the make-up of the venue and also unimpressed with the lack of communication from the staff.
Won’t return

Some friends of ours had popped in earlier to try and get a table booked but it was busy so we went off to another bar and they gave us a call when the table was free.

I ordered the Boom Boom BBQ Chicken, it was delicious! the size was just right and they have a good range of sides to choose from.

The food came out quickly and the place was buzzing with people, all in all it was a really good night.

This place is always busy! They food is Southern American food and it is really good.

One American lady next to me was concerned if it was good gumbo. She was not disappointed. It was good gumbo!

The food surely is delicious and I like to take people there who are visiting Wellington.

If it wasn’t packed with smokers in the outside dining area, it would be a lot more pleasant on a hot day.

The staff are always busy too. But polite and you can usually hail a waitress/ waiter down if you need something.

When you arrive, you wait to be seated and pay before you leave. I have had a friend who had to run back in because he had forgotten to pay.

Recommended: An enjoyable meal!

Here on Sun for lunch; they are pretty full so we were lucky to get a table even tho it was 2pm. They have a mixture of breakfast items, mexican and creole food. For breakfast, you do get heaps of food for $15. Their service is average, they seem to be quite friendly with other tables but just ok with us. The curly fries were good and again you get quite a bit for one serving. But on the other hand, the Fried Chicken for ~$16 was then average portion (compared to the others). There was a bit of a wait even after having received Beignets (dessert) first by mistake. Our friend said their chocolate milkshake was excellent. Might go back again to try different food.

They have a good, interesting menu and I love that you can get food here at anytime of the day. Only down side is the coffee isn’t that great or an acquired taste and the service can sometime be a little “too cool”.

All I had was a coffee and a piece of cheese cake. average at best.

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen is popular, so arrive early on busy nights as they don’t take bookings. However, they offered to call us in half an hour once a table became available. We ordered ‘Boom Boom’ BBQ Chicken and Three Fish with sides of curly fries (yummy!), mushrooms and mesclun salad. A short time after we ordered, I was informed that the fish of the day (snapper) had run out and would be replaced with grouper. Our main meals were absolutely delicious; the fish was tenderly cooked in olive oil and butter and came with generous servings of side dishes. The home-style sweet pies lined up along the counter look incredibly tempting. We opted for peach and blueberry pie, which was quite wet and left the pastry rather soggy. Where the furnishings are starting to look tired and shabby in places, the casually friendly service and eclectic range of kitsch decorations adorning the walls and bar simply adds to the charm.

Firstly, assigning a website ‘tag’ of Mexican is not supposed to make this a Mexican place (a response to others comments). The restaurant does not claim itself as Mexican so quit complaining about nothing. Yes they say they serve some Mexican side dishes (which they do).

As for the service, my experience was awesome. The place was packed, and they took a reservation for us (which they don’t do) and let us go drink at another bar until they called our mobile phone when a table became open.

As for the food…all I can say is ‘Thank You’. As an American living in NZ it is very difficult to find authentic Mexican (as it is also hard to find in America, Taco Bell is not authentic, nor are many other Mexican places through out the world).

To elaborate about the food. It was awesome Cajun food (as the restaurant claims to be). The ribs were great, the wings were great, the dessert was great. My lady had the jambalaya and also agreed. Portions were more than we could handle. Timing was great. Service was great for a place that was SO SO VERY PACKED….which added to the environment they are catering for….

I would HIGHLY recommend this place and can’t wait to return to Wellington to go again.

One of my favourite places to dine whenever I’m in Wellington. Cheap, cheerful and fun. Love the food (yes rich but it doesn’t pretend to be anything else). Would call it Southern American as opposed Mexican so don’t know what the fuss is all about. The service is very friendly, if a little slow on occasions. Will always go back.

Mexican Restaurant!!! I’ve lived in the US for over 8 years and have visited mexico several times. Have had Mexican on a weekly basic. This is NOT Mexican food. Sorry wellington. Was there this morning for brunch. Food took over and hour to be served. We were not keep informed of what was going on with our food. Tables that arrived before us finished their food and left. my toast bread was so dry that i had to chew on it. eggs were over pouched. No apology for the delayed food. I am debating if i should give them one more try. Maybe they had a bad day in the kitchen. But either way servers should always keep the customers informed on what is going on.

I had lunch at Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, the service was efficient and on time, especially when you only have an hours’ lunch. the food was good and the customer service is the best i have had in a while. I would definitely recommend it.

I was a customer in this restaurant and find the staff are friendly and professional in their service. I love the food, the portion is good and delicious all the flavours are well blended. I know because I have been to many restaurants around the world. This is the best restaurant I have came across in Wellington. Keep up the good work guys and keep smiling.

I think people can see the kitchen if walk through the side ( Mothers Kitchen shouldn’t look like that). Pictures tells all.

Terrible food, drinks, and service!!! Not real Mexican food…or even close for that matter. The margaritas were terrible and overpriced. Their “four glasses” of margaritas barely filled three small cups. The server was rude and when I asked for another drink it never came. When I went to pay they had charged me for it anyway and seemed unbelieving when I told them I never received it. Have (unfortunately) been there twice and would not go back again. Much better options and prices at other places in Wellington.

I adored Sweet Mother’s Kitchen. Atmosphere very upbeat, service was very friendly and energetic. Food was particularly good, very tasty and not overwhelming spices used like other Mexican restaurants in Wellington. Would definitely recommend and return!

Great atmosphere… would recommend it for coffee or a drink with friends. BUT the service is terrible (extremely rude staff) and the food is actually really expensive for what it is. My side dishes reminded me of my Gran’s retirement home food!

Great food and service – and even though one of the menu items gave me a bad case of the hershey squirts for a couple of days, I’d still have no reservations about recommending this place to anyone.

Interesting menu choices, our table got a range of most things. Delicious but very fatty cooking methods, traditional curly fries & cream sauces left me with an oily taste in my mouth & felt bit queesy next couple days – can’t be good for you to do too often, but ok for special occasion!
Colorful atmos & friendly staff.

Great mexican-styled well-priced food in a relaxed and funky atmosphere, excellent range of mexican beers to boot. Best mexican food I’ve had in NZ.