Mama Caruso's

Meals you can't refuse
Now that’s a spicy meat-a-ball! From Detroit to Smiley, Doris “Mama” Caruso and family have been offering meals that Smiley folks can’t refuse.
From toasted ravioli to Philly subs to chicken fried steak, Doris, Nick and son Mark Caruso started running restaurants in Detroit before recently moving to Texas and setting up shop in Smiley.
They have quickly garnered the adulation of the community, this time around boasting a more diversified menu that caters to the palette of those fond of American cuisine as well.
In running the aptly-named Mama Caruso’s Cafe & Bakery, the Caruso crew has been serving the Smiley community since May 14, 2012. And over a year-and-a-half later they have made a name for themselves as a culinary commotion in southern Gonzales County.
“We really didn’t come to open a restaurant,” Doris reveals. “We came to retire! My sister and her family live here, but people in town kept asking us to open when they found out we had been in the business. We did open up in Nixon for a year while we finished out our restaurant in Smiley.”
The Carusos moved from Detroit to San Antonio in 1976, and two months later opened in a shopping center on 410 and Evers Road.
“It was called The Godmother,” Doris remembers. “It was just a small pizza place with a few Italian dinners to go only. We were so overwhelmed with customers that they wanted us to have a place to sit and eat, so when the place next door closed down, we rented it and punched a hole in the wall and put in 12 tables and that was the beginning of our first sit down restaurant. Since then we have had nine restaurants from downtown San Antonio, Central Park Mall, and our last one in San Antonio was called Mufulletta’s, in the medical center.
When it comes to comparing the diametrically opposed lifestyles of a place like San Antonio or Detroit to a laid-back rural atmosphere like Smiley, Doris says it’s like a quantum leap.
“That’s a good one,” she replies with a laugh. Culture-wise, Detroit has almost any culture you can mention living there. Come on now, then there’s Motown! All the big car companies are there and its cold, brother! It’s smoky, dreary, cold, and did I mention cold? And those are the good points…”
“Detroit was a great city at one time,” she continues. “A lot of fun and lots to do and Canada right across the river. San Antonio culture is very different, but is more diverse now than it was in the 70s. I’m a native of Boerne, so I’ve seen many changes in San Antonio in 70 some years. Did I say it was hot? If not, then yeah — its hot!”
Doris says Smiley, however, is also in a league of its own.
“It has its own small town flavor with all its characters, steeped and deeply rooted in Texas history, and tradition,” she observes. “As an outsider you have to work hard to earn their respect and trust, but once you are accepted it is a great place to live. We have met and made many wonderful friends and neighbors here.”
In terms of naming a favorite dish to prepare, Doris says it’s an exercise in futility — kind of like trying to decide which of your kids you love the most.
“I don’t think I have a favorite thing to make,” she says. “I like making everything. I am especially enjoying the opportunity to make American food. I never thought I’d be making chicken pot pie or chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.”
However, Doris does share that the Caruso family is especially proud of their pizza and bread.
“Yeah, we sure take pride in our pizza. And our bread is a 100-year-old old recipe from Italy but then all of our recipes are from Italy and over 100 years old. They were given to us by the John and Rose Audia family from Italy. We are eternally grateful to them, they provided us the tools so we could make a good living and an opportunity to meet so many different people from all over the world from all social levels.”
The culinary arts are definitely the mainstay in the Caruso family tradition — a fact evidenced by son Mark and grandson Christian.
“Mark works with us— who is, by the way, a chef,” Doris says proudly. “He went to St. Phillips College. Our grandson Christian is a chef - he went to Cordon Bleu in Austin, working at a large restaurant in San Antonio at the Rim.”
Doris says the locals seem to enjoy the fact that they have a choice of different types of food in their little town and that they get a big kick out of inviting out-of-towners to come and eat great Italian food in Smiley.
“They tell us they like to see the expressions on peoples’ faces when they say great Italian food and Smiley in the same sentence,” she says.
Since Mama’s debut in Smiley, the Carusos have made it in the top five restaurants by Eagle Ford Shale Magazine.
“Then we heard that a newspaper in Falls City named us as number one restaurant in the Eagle Ford Shale area,” she says of the buzz. “I tried to confirm that but was not able to. Sure would like to find out if we were. That would make a great way to end a 37-year career!”
The Caruso family wants it known that they have the utmost appreciation for the invaluable business they get from oilfield workers who pass through the town looking for sustenance after a hard day’s haul.
“All the guys who come in from the oil companies, the truck drivers and all the oil-related companies — they have been the mainstay of our business,” Doris says. “They’re great gentlemen, so respectful and appreciative of the food we serve them. They have made our business and our lives very heartwarming and a lot easier. We so love them and appreciate them.”