Stacked high, served with love at Fatt Mamaa’s Po Boyz and Sandwiches 55

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

April 21, 2025

OSHKOSH – There is a wall inside Fatt Mamaa’s Po Boyz and Sandwiches 55 – a restaurant located at 616 Ohio St. in Oshkosh – with signatures, quotes and comments on it – all of which Shiequane Burks said tell the story of the restaurant she established in late 2022.

“Fantastic food,” “scrumptious,” “great food, better service” and “love, we’ll be back” are among the comments that adorn the wall – feedback which Burks said is a testament to her culinary skills but also the smile with which she serves every order. 

Burks – who got the nickname “Fat Mama” as a chubby baby – said she takes the commentary to heart, particularly as her restaurant is a one-woman show. 

She said it’s just her accommodating the dine-in or carryout orders, from noon to 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays.

“It’s hard to get employees to work when they don’t want to work, so I asked God for the strength to do it myself,” Burks said. 

That wasn’t the first time she said she turned to God for support and strength, as her journey to owning Fatt Mamaa’s has been a long, winding and often difficult journey. 

From poverty to po’ boys

Burks said she grew up in poverty in St. Louis, leaving home at age 13 to move to Milwaukee because her mother couldn’t afford to buy all the things the family needed. 

There, she said she had to begin living on the streets, had her daughter as a young teen and had to make a living selling drugs. 

That lifestyle, she said, would repeatedly land her in prison. 

During what would be her second-to-last incarceration, Burks said she had a particularly meaningful conversation with her mom. 

“She used to tell me, ‘Fat Mama, why don’t you do what you love to do? You love to cook,’” Burks said. “My mom said to me, ‘You took time out of your life being in prison. Why don’t you just cook and take that time and energy and get a restaurant?’” 

When she got out of prison, Burks said she returned to her old life and one last time landed back in prison.

It seemed as though she was on a path to continue to live that cycle – that is, Burks said, until her mom wrote to her in prison and told her she had cancer. 

“Right then and there, I knew I was done (with that life),” she said. “I said, ‘God, don’t let my mom pass away when I am in here,’ and He knew my heart. I was lucky to be out and be there for my mom. She got to see me move to Oshkosh, she saw me get married and she saw me have my third restaurant. She knew I was better than (prison). I changed for her, and I also changed for me.”

In 2009, Burks said she opened Fat Mama’s Soul Food & BBQ near the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus, having settled in Oshkosh after she and her late husband visited friends in the area. 

In 2010, when her mother passed away, Burks said she struggled with grief, leading her to close that first restaurant in 2011. 

Burks said she was able to open Fat Mama’s Soul Food & Sandwiches later in 2011, running that restaurant on Church Street until 2014. 

Then, she said she went to work for her husband’s restaurant – the Foxy Chicken – in Neenah from 2014-16. 

With the desire to run her own restaurant still there, Burks said on Sept. 9, 2022, she opened Fatt Mamaa’s Po Boyz and Sandwiches 55.

Fatt Mamaa’s menu

Though the names of her previous establishments have some overlap, Burks said the restaurants were different. 

The first focused on soul food, such as barbeque chicken, fish, collard greens, cornbread and what she considered “soul comfort food,” while the second restaurant offered some of the same foods but added more on-the-go sandwiches. 

Burks said Fatt Mamaa’s Po Boyz and Sandwiches 55, as the name implies, focuses on po’ boys and sandwiches but also offers a full complement of menu items. 

“Po Boyz,” she said, is a play off po’ boy – short for “poor boy” – a classic Louisiana sandwich, typically featuring a long French bread roll filled with various meats and topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and mayonnaise. 

Fatt Mamaa’s po’ boys, Burks said, feature different meats – pulled pork, brisket, chicken and shrimp – served on a hoagie roll. 

“Po’ boys are the most popular, though I don’t think there’s anything on my menu that doesn’t sell,” she said. “But the po’ boys with shrimp, pork or BBQ are No. 1.”

The Fatt Mamaa’s bacon double sandwich isn’t far behind, Burks said, and the Makhi Burger – named for her grandson – is also “a hit,” made both with ground beef and brisket on top.

She said Jackie’s Gigantic Burger is another top seller, featuring “all the meats” with a homemade “bam sauce.”

Burks said other best sellers include the Oink Fries (fries covered with any meat, jalapeno peppers, green onions, barbeque sauce and nacho cheese) and Fatt Mamaa’s Italian Beef.

“That’s a top seller, as people tell me they can’t find good Chicago Italian beef around here,” she said. “Some people even tell me it’s better than Chicago’s.”

The menu also features wingettes, other sandwiches and catfish on the weekends.

“When I do catfish, it goes,” Burks said of the dish’s popularity. 

She said she credits her mother for every one of her recipes, as she watched her mom make the same po’ boys and sandwiches that she later saw a need for in Oshkosh, while adding her own spin.

“Everybody makes po’ boys, but I used to think that when I opened up something, I’d make mine different,” Burks said. “I do mine with coleslaw, French fries and barbeque sauce on top of a hoagie bun.”

She said the bam sauce, other sauces, coleslaw and potato salad are all made from scratch.

Burks also said she seasons the meats with her own blend of seasonings.

Growth, gratitude, grandchildren

Growing up, Burks said she watched her mother cook breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for eight children. 

Looking back, she said she’s amazed at how her mother took whatever she had on hand and made a meal out of it. 

“It was a creation – and it was good, on top of it,” she said. “Watching her, I thought, ‘Wow – I want to cook.’”

One day when she was 10, Burks said her mom told her and her siblings they could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

Burks said she knew something wasn’t right, and sure enough, that day, her mom was sick. 

That, she said, prompted her to make something for her mother, so she went into the kitchen, thinly chopped some potatoes and put them in a skillet on the stove with some onions and lard. Burks said she put her finished product on a plate with some bread and took it to her mom, who was resting on the couch.

“When I took it to her, her eyes were so big,” she said. “Ever since then, I’ve wanted to cook. That’s just what I wanted to be doing.”

And people, Burks said, have wanted to be eating the results since – whether it’s Fatt Mamaa’s regulars or people traveling up to an hour away to dine in the restaurant. 

“Every day, I get new people in because someone told them about the place,” she said. “And every time they Google me, I come up with a 4.9- or 5-star rating, which people tell me they like. I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘With reviews like that, we have to go there.’”

Burks said she is adamant she delivers a great dining experience, and she works hard so customers aren’t disappointed.

“When I’m back (in the kitchen) making their food, I make sure to put love in it,” she said. “I come out and talk to them, laugh with them and take pictures with them. I want them to feel comfortable and at home when they’re here.”

Burks said more guests opt to dine in than take out, though there are regulars who pick up meals on a break or lunch hour. 

“I’ve had people say they like the feel of it, the warmth of it and they feel comfortable here,” she said of the atmosphere at Fatt Mamaa’s. “That, and I serve free Kool-Aid. So, people come in, watch TV, listen to music, get their free Kool-Aid and enjoy a meal.”

When Burks initially established her restaurant, she said she wasn’t sure if she liked the location, but Burks said it’s proven viable as “people are willing to travel for good food, at good prices, served with good customer service.” 

Though she said she wishes Fatt Mamaa’s had a bigger parking area, the nearby locksmith allows her customers to park there when his business is closed. 

“I’m so thankful for that,” she said. 

Burks said she’s seeing growth for her business, slowly but steadily, and anticipates her next big thing will be investing in a food truck, when time and money allow. 

When she first established Fatt Mamaa’s, Burks said she worked 15-to-16-hour days, taking on overtime on top of 12-hour shifts to make enough money to open the restaurant without taking out a loan.

“I didn’t have any loans when I opened my restaurant,” she said. “I want people to know that, and let them know that if you work hard, you can get what you want.”

Burks said she loves sharing her love of cooking with her grandchildren – nine-year-old Makhi and 15-year-old Sariyah – who come into the restaurant. 

“They are a big part of me opening this restaurant,” she said, “and they love to cook, too.”

Visit fatmamasboyz.com for more information.