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Frying the perfect chicken wing is difficult. Frying the perfect chicken wing after denting your skull and shattering your scapula is a feat of courage. For Jeff Chow, owner of Mama Chow’s Kitchen (3757 SE Hawthorne Blvd., instagram.com/mamachowskitchen), it’s also a labor of love.
In October, Chow fell 10 feet while hiking in the Columbia Gorge and broke five ribs, his scapula and his skull. He shut down his business for four months, and fans of his food cart kept him afloat through a GoFundMe campaign. When he went back to work in late February, he cooked through the pain of recovery, focusing on keeping his left arm healthy enough to sauté—the same arm where his mom’s name is tattooed in honor of the real Mama Chow.
Through his cooking, Chow wants to give back to the community that helped him recover from what could have been a lethal injury.
“My goal is to make magic to brighten someone’s day,” he says.
If you’ve ever been to Mama Chow’s, you’re familiar with the magic he’s talking about. The cart is known for superb Chinese street food, with standouts like wontons ($13) and barbecue pork garlic noodles ($16). The lollipop chicken ($12) leaves the impression of having spent a brief but transformative stint in the fryer (falling-off-the-bone meat inside, autumn leaf–level crispiness outside). Accompanied by steamed baby bok choi and jasmine rice ($15 with rice), it’s an all-encompassing sensory experience. Mama Chow’s is one of a small handful of Portland restaurants that offers the dish, simply because it’s a ton of work. (“Imagine being a chiropractor for chicken,” Chow says.)
After five months back in the kitchen, Chow still cooks through the pain, but he’s grateful to be cracking chicken bones, instead of his own.
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2025 here!
