Great Barrington – If you happened to motor through Craryville during the past two and a half years, you may have glimpsed plumes of smoke rising like Mohican signals into the skies above Random Harvest and Zinnia’s Dinette, formerly The Dutch Treat. Driving closer, you may then have been drawn to the pothole-pitted parking lot and a few makeshift tents, where eponymous proprietress Loretta “Momma Lo” McClennan and her sons “T” and “Buddha” (Attarilm and Ahmed) were gamely preparing feasts of Tennessee-infused barbecue.
One such passerby was Richard Stanley, impresario of the Triplex Cinema and other businesses in Great Barrington, who stopped there on his way to a golfing expedition. Upon sampling the maximally authentic wares of this roadside pop-up, and fully cognizant of South County’s utter dearth of BBQ options, Stanley exclaimed to Momma Lo that she and her sons ought to be in Great Barrington, offering their artful, hand-crafted food to a wider population, and from more commodious digs. Stanley told The Edge that besides appreciating the quality of the food, he was motivated by a desire to make Great Barrington more inclusive. “I want to create business opportunities here for all kinds of entrepreneurs.”
Flash-forward a year or two, and here they are in the Triplex plaza, standing resplendent in their cheerfully appointed new storefront, formerly home to STEAM, a pan-Asian noodle bar, which moved into the former Tangier site on Main Street.
Momma Lo cooking ribs. Photo by E.M. Marcus
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Momma Lo has been working her whole life to reach this point: a roof on her business, meat-smokers in the yard, and customers lining up with eager bellies.
After leaving behind an abusive relationship in Atlanta, she moved…
