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Such was my bumpkinly naivete that my virgin ears weren\u2019t subjected to a \u201cyo mama\u201d joke until shortly after my 19th birthday. The site was the Non-Commissioned Officer\u2019s (NCO) club at Royal Air Force (RAF) Upper Heyford in England. The event was an irreverent ninety-minute show featuring brazen comedian Redd Foxx whose explicit brand of humor both shocked and thrilled the American-culture-starved audience. Foxx\u2019s repertoire included lampooning nearly every ethnic group in the audience, invective-laden raunchiness that would make a stripper blush and a unique take on virtually every social taboo of the time. It was truly the antithesis of political correctness. Still, it was the \u201cyo mama\u201d jokes that shocked me most. As an unabashed mama\u2019s boy, it rankled me that anyone would mock the sacred institution of motherhood.<\/p>\n Subsequent research revealed that \u201cyo mama\u201d jokes have been fashionable almost since time immemorial. Several sources confirm that the oldest \u201cyo mama\u201d joke is approximately 3,500 years old. The progenitor to Redd Foxx was a student in ancient Babylon who inscribed six riddles on a tablet. Although the riddles lose much in translation, one of them certainly poked fun at the promiscuous proclivities of someone\u2019s mother. After Stephen Colbert failed to decipher it, I consulted my friend Schuyler, an amateur anthropologist, for his interpretation. His analysis: \u201cin terms of syntax and clarity it resembles some of Kamala Harris\u2019s \u201c<\/em>word salads.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a \u201cyo mama\u201d joke my friend Carlos shared when recommending a relatively new restaurant in Socorro. He swore Yo Mama was the real thing, as good a restaurant as you\u2019ll find in Socorro county which has in recent years become the domicile of delicious burgers. Yelp<\/a><\/strong> readers gave it mostly four and five (out of five) stars. As for the name, owners Diedra and Jason Vinson believe \u201cthe name just feels good<\/em>,\u201d and that \u201cyou can\u2019t stay angry when you say \u2018Let\u2019s go eat at Yo Mama\u2019s<\/em>.\u201d The Vinsons opened Yo Mama\u2019s Grill in July, 2015, the culmination of nearly two decades working toward the goal of owning their own restaurant.<\/p>\n Situated on heavily-trafficked California Street, Yo Mama\u2019s Grill is just a mile off Interstate 25.\u00a0 Its first instantiation\u00a0 operated out of the Economy Inn.\u00a0 A few years after first opening, Yo Mama\u2019s Grill relocated to another building on California Street.\u00a0 \u00a0Open for lunch and dinner, it features a rather ambitious menu that belies any stereotype you might have about a restaurant named Yo Mama\u2019s. In addition to burgers and sandwiches, the menu offers several steaks, all hand-cut in-house from USDA choice aged beef. A number of seafood and chicken dishes also festoon the menu along with soups, salads and a Mud Pie (Oreo cookie crust, coffee ice cream, and fudge topping topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds) reputed to be worth the drive from Albuquerque.<\/p>\n In 2021, Diedra and Jason Vinson earned the New Mexico Restaurant Association\u2019s (NMRA) coveted \u201cRestaurateur of the Year<\/a>\u201c<\/strong> award.\u00a0 \u00a0The NMRA indicated \u201cAs partners and operators of\u00a0Yo\u00a0Mama\u2019s Grill, this year\u2019s winners\u00a0led their staff and helped their local community.\u00a0The restaurant supports\u00a0many local sports teams, dance troops, medial charities and community arts programs and\u00a0one owner even\u00a0sewed custom masks\u00a0for employees\u00a0and others in need.\u00a0 During the pandemic, their Health and Safety Guidelines were adopted by the mayor and used as a benchmark for all restaurants in the area.\u202fcamaraderie, and caring leadership have served us all<\/em>. \u201d<\/p>\n 20 December 2015<\/strong>: All burgers are served with your choice of housemade potato chips or French fries, and are adorned with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. For a pittance you can add cheese, bacon, green chile, avocado, onions or mushrooms. Constructed with an eight-ounce 1855 Premium black Angus beef patty, they\u2019re the type of burgers that in a short time have made Yo Mama\u2019s Grill a local favorite and in time, perhaps a dining destination. The Harvester Burger <\/em><\/strong>(queso, grilled onions, mushrooms, and bacon) certainly warrants a visit or ten. Though we\u2019ve had mushroom as a topping on many burgers, none have been as suffused with umami, that savory taste sensation that ingratiates itself upon taste buds. In combination with queso, grilled onions and bacon, this is one of the most memorable burgers we shared in 2015.<\/p>\n 10 March 2025<\/strong>:\u00a0 There are five burgers on the menu, including one named for east-facing slope of Socorro Peak, a slope is known as \u201cM Mountain<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Yo Mama\u2019s \u201cM\u201d Mountain Monster, a double-patty behemoth is nearly as tall as the mountain for which it is named.\u00a0 Our server told us her favorite burger is the Yo Mama\u2019s Burger<\/strong><\/em> (barbecue sauce, Cheddar and bacon) on\u00a0 brioche buns.\u00a0 Pile on the ingredients (lettuce, pickles, tomato) and press down and the barbecue sauce will run down your hands (and if you\u2019re not careful, your shirt, too).\u00a0 It\u2019s a Kansas City style barbecue sauce with a tangy sweetness.\u00a0 The beef is prepared to your exacting specifications and is suffused with juiciness and flavor.\u00a0 It\u2019s the antithesis of the smash burgers currently in favor.\u00a0 Every other restaurant should take a lesson from Yo Mama\u2019s and serve burgers on brioche buns that stand up against the weight and moistness of ingredients.\u00a0 It\u2019s a special experience when buns don\u2019t disintegrate.<\/p>\n 20 December 2015<\/strong>: My Kim will opt for a patty melt <\/em><\/strong>over a burger seven times out of ten, but that\u2019s about the ratio of her disappointment with the patty melts she\u2019s ordered. Yo mama\u2019s version stacks up with the best she\u2019s had in New Mexico. This patty melt (hamburger, saut\u00e9ed onions, mushrooms, bacon, and Swiss cheese served on toasted rye bread) doesn\u2019t just leave well enough alone. With the addition of mushrooms and bacon, it takes a standard patty melt and elevates it to rarefied status. The lightly toasted light rye bread is the perfect canvas for a genuinely terrific patty melt. The housemade potato chips are a wonderful accompaniment, much better than fries.<\/p>\n 10 March 2025<\/strong>:\u00a0 Ten starters adorn the menu.\u00a0 All too often we order appetizers (such as salsa and chips) my Kim can\u2019t enjoy because of her sensitivity to piquant foods.\u00a0 She\u2019s pretty selfless and doesn\u2019t mind that I enjoy such appetizers so much.\u00a0 I do mind and want my bride to share in that enjoyment.\u00a0 Yo Mama\u2019s BBQ wonton nachos<\/strong><\/em> (fried wonton chips topped with diced chicken, grilled onions, Cheddar and Jack cheeses, barbecue sauce and ranch dressing) are an appetizer we both liked.\u00a0 Though crisp and delicate, the wonton stood up to the weight and volume of ingredients with which it was topped.\u00a0 Toppings were excellent and the melted cheese blend held them in place.\u00a0 The fusion of flavors works well\u2026so well that the ranch dressing was rendered redundant.<\/p>\n 10 March 2025<\/strong>:\u00a0 Socorro county is probably the Land of Enchantment\u2019s most renowned practitioner of the time-honored art of creating and serving green chile cheeseburgers.\u00a0 No other county in the state can boast of the caliber of Socorro county\u2019s many artisinal purveyors of our sacrosanct burger.\u00a0 What isn\u2019t as well known is that in Socorro county, you can also find some of the best steak in the state.\u00a0 The very same restaurant that offers some of the state\u2019s best burgers is also home to a wide range of steaks\u2013ranging from chicken fried steak to ribeye<\/strong><\/em> and top sirloin.<\/p>\n Yo Mama\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0steaks are hand cut in-house and are 100% 1855 Premium Black Angus beef.\u00a0 \u00a0Steaks are served with house or Caesar salad and your choice of baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes, steak fries, house made potato chips, rice pilaf, grilled veggie kabob, or broccoli.\u00a0 As if that\u2019s not enough, you can add an extra side for $3.00.\u00a0 If the ribeye my Kim ordered is any indication, steaks are prepared to your exacting specification.\u00a0 Moreover, they\u2019re replete with an impressive grilled flavor and are seasoned to perfection.\u00a0 Though I\u2019m pretty indifferent when it comes to steak, this is one steak I\u2019d order for myself though I\u2019d probably ask for it to be topped with Lemitar green chile.\u00a0 \u00a0For her side, my Kim had the loaded baked potato (butter, sour cream chives, bacon bits, cheese blend).<\/p>\n 10 March 2025<\/strong>: When our server delivered the mud pie (Oreo cookie crust, coffee ice cream, and fudge topping topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds), I had to ask where the rapelling equipment was so we could climb it.\u00a0 Seriously, this is a very generous slab of deliciousness.\u00a0 Beyond awing us with its sheer size, it enthralled us with its coffee flavor.\u00a0 On a Monday morning in which I didn\u2019t have my morning barrel of coffee, the ice cream really hit the spot.\u00a0 This may well be the best mud pie<\/strong><\/em> I\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n Redd Foxx would probably not have found anything disparaging to say about Yo Mama\u2019s Grill. He would have been too busy enjoying his meal.<\/p>\n Yo Mama\u2019s Grill<\/strong> Yo Mama in Downtown Socorro Such was my bumpkinly naivete that my virgin ears weren\u2019t subjected to a \u201cyo mama\u201d joke until shortly after my 19th birthday. The site was the Non-Commissioned Officer\u2019s (NCO) club at Royal Air Force (RAF) Upper Heyford in England. The event was an irreverent ninety-minute show featuring brazen comedian Redd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[55879,55880,55881,11756,55882,55883,41826,15504,55884,55885,51838,55886,15202,55888,55887],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-127901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-burger","tag-bbq-wonton-nachos","tag-california-street","tag-diedra-and-jason-vinson","tag-grill","tag-harvester-burger","tag-loaded-baked-potato","tag-mamas","tag-mexico","tag-mud-pie","tag-nmra-restaurateur-of-the-year","tag-patty-melt","tag-potato-chips","tag-ribeye","tag-socorro","tag-yo-mama-burger"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nmgastronome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/YoMama05-scaled.jpeg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
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400 California Street
Socorro, New Mexico<\/strong>
(575) 838-3962
Web Site<\/strong><\/a> | Facebook Page<\/strong><\/a>
LATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 10 March 2025
1st VISIT<\/strong>: 20 December 2015
# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 2
RATING<\/strong>: 23
COST<\/strong>: $$
BEST BET<\/strong>: Harvester Burger, Patty Melt, Potato Chips, Mud Pie, Yo Mama\u2019s Burger, Ribeye Steak, Loaded Baked Potato, Caesar Salad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"