You might know Carolyn Fikes-Moody from growing up in Benton and Bryant, or you might have seen her managing the KFC restaurant in Benton. Maybe you know her through her two grown kids.
She’s been working at the same KFC since forever because that fried chicken life has been passed down through generations. She went to Hendrix College in Conway for two years, following her sisters there, but whenever she came home to see family and to work at the restaurant, she just wanted to stay.
“After two years I realized I was home more often than school,” said Moody. “I wanted to work in the family business full time.”
Carolyn officially started working in the family restaurant business in 1995, working alongside her parents and sisters. Eventually my sisters took their own paths. I chose to stay close to home and stay in the business.
“It’s in my DNA at this point. My family has been in retail for 100 years in Saline County,” said Moody. “There is nothing else I can imagine doing other than foodservice. There isn’t anything else I want to do.”
Her children are currently the 5th generation to work at the Benton KFC. Carolyn said they are on their own paths, but she leaves the door open for them to return to the business if want to. Her oldest son is in commercial refrigeration and helps in the business when he can. The youngest is in college and working part time with Carolyn.
“I really love my kids. It can be hard to tell, but they are my world. They kept me sane and gave me purpose when my spouse passed suddenly. In fact, I knew their growing up would leave a bit of a hole. I now have a restaurant baby to raise. I could have maybe semi-retired, but all I know is work. It brings me joy and purpose.”
Mama B was Carolyn’s grandmother, Betty Sue Fikes. She was a Saline County resident as well. She and grandpa/Stuart Fikes purchased a KFC franchise and opened it in Benton in 1967. They began to offer her lemon tea recipe in the Benton KFC. This is when Mama B’s Tea was first served in Saline County. Carolyn grew up a few houses down from her “Mama B,” who passed away in 2015. Her tea recipe remains as a tribute and a refreshment.
But you need more than one great tea recipe to open a restaurant. “Over the years I’ve thought about what it might be like to have a cafe, diner, or dairy bar,” said Moody. “A random comment I made about this was met with enthusiasm from my parents. My dad, Mark Fikes, really likes foodservice. We are foodservice nerds. My parents and I began to grow the idea of a new business.”
Carolyn said she chose a drive-thru business model for a smaller footprint restaurant with the chance to serve custom beverages. They got to work in 2021 making the idea come to life.
She wanted to serve specialty tea and coffee and considered opening a franchise, but wanted the restaurant to be custom to Saline County. “We wanted the freedom to choose products and ingredients tailored to the taste of Saline County. I have met a lot of great people in the process of developing our business.
“Saline County native Hannah Lain reached out from Lotus energy. She has been amazing and so very supportive. I have met and established relationships with several tea and coffee suppliers. All are small businesses with a passion for their products. We tried so many teas and tried many recipes until we could try no more! I have been very picky about our products.”
The roasters and tea companies they use at Mama B’s are all FDA-approved facilities with employees having passed food safety courses and examinations. Carolyn said she ended up being “the buzz kill” during several meetings, since her first question was always “how food safe is your facility? What practices are in place and when was your last HACCP analysis performed.” She wanted fresh but safe products, and she wanted them to be ethically sourced products.
The roasters for Mama B’s do ethically source the beans from various ports. They support local farmers and their families. “We currently have an 8 bean espresso. It is a blend of beans from 8 different ports,” said Carolyn. “We recently added a single origin Kenyan Blonde Roast espresso. We have a medium roast Costa Rican, French Roast Mexican, or our light roast Jazzy Java. The Jazzy Java is infused with flavors of rum, butter pecan and cinnamon at the time of roasting.
“We use several kinds of iced teas. All tea comes from the camellia sinensis leaf. Green tea, white tea and black tea are the same leaf. It is how they are dried that makes the difference. Herbal tea is made with herbs but for all intents and purposes, it’s a tea. We start with different iced Tea depending on the drink. We also have a line of sparkling tea including a green tea, yerba mate, hibiscus tea and black tea. Our hot tea line includes earl grey, English breakfast, peppermint, white teas, rooibos and oolong teas. I might be a tea nerd too.”
The drink names have been a group effort, coming from family and friends. Carolyn’s sister asked a group of moms at a swim practice for ideas. A long-time employee at KFC asked her fiancé. “They named two of our coffee drinks. Mama B’s team members have brainstormed many names. Once we had chosen specialty tea for our iced tea, We started in my kitchen with flavor combinations we really enjoyed. My family, friends and employees tried so many combinations and different recipes of those combinations until we found what we thought was the drink. I always like cream in my tea. Hot or iced. Before long, we were adding it in our house made lemonade and sparkling tea. The difference is the products. We were determined to start with high quality tea and coffee we could find.”
And there are choices for food to go along with your drink. Have a breakfast or lunch sandwich all day. Choose a New York style bagel or buttered croissant. There’s sausage & egg or bacon & egg for breakfast. For lunch, there’s corned beef, turkey or ham, with cheddar, Swiss or pepperjack. Add tomato, purple onion and lettuce. Try the house made spicy ranch sauce on your sandwich or on the side. There’s also mayo, cream cheese, and mustard. Add bag of Lay’s regular or BBQ potato chips for $1.
There are bakery items too. Muffins, coffee cake, brownies and for a limited time pumpkin spice loaf. “We use local honey in our recipes. I personally like a bagel, cream cheese and some Richard’s Honey. My son is a honey snob. Richards is the only honey he eats. We also sell Richard’s by the bottle. Saline county honey. I use locally sourced (Arkansas) pasteurized dairy products when available.”
Speaking of snobs – You don’t have to know the coffee terms to get what you want. And you don’t have to order the “fancy” coffee or tea drinks. “We do more than that. If you want to use coffee terms, great, if you don’t know what to call it, tell us what’s in it or how you like it, and we will make it. If coffee and tea are not your thing, we have Coca-Cola.”
They have been making “dirty sodas” and Carolyn says people love them. “Coke Zero and rum flavor is a hit! Mocktail of course. We also have smoothies with the option to add protein, collagen or greens powder. We carry over 25 sugar free flavors.
“One of my newest friends in the beverage industry has created a drink add-on called a Happy Vibe and Chill Vibe. Both have ingredients to either boost mood or calm you. We add those to teas, sodas, coffee or smoothies. We have frappes and frozen lattes. It’s a varied menu. It isn’t just for the coffee drinker or tea drinker. I have several customers that want a black cup of coffee, nothing more. We really want to offer something everyone in your group will like!”
It’s very apparent that Carolyn loves what she does. Whether their employees stay for a season, or want to make it a career. “I do want everyone that chooses to be a part of our journey, to come away with a sense of accomplishment in a job well done. I want them to be proud of the products we serve. Our purpose is to serve our customer. Learning to see things through someone else’s perspective helps our world. If we can do that with our tea and coffee shop, then maybe we’ve helped make things a little better.
“Our team learned that in a few minutes we can make someone’s day better with a good drink, good food and genuine desire to make the customer happy. It is important to me for everyone that clocks in to know it is their choice to be at work. A job is a responsibility, and it is their responsibility. I do understand the need for families with children to have mom off work by 3pm, or basketball practice lasts until 4:30pm. I want a parent to know there won’t be drugs used or talk of drug use in the workplace. There won’t be sexual harassment or personal questions asked of their child or of an adult. I think it takes a variety of people to make this world go round.”
Carolyn has a goal for customers, employees and even travelers, to think of Mama B’s and feel good about their experience. They want people to know we genuinely care about their day, and they really, really want to make a drink, sandwich or soda that was just for them the way they like it. “Large corporations give tag lines and appropriate greetings. I ask that whatever our barista says, it is genuine. Even if it’s ‘Hi how can I help you today,’ I want them to feel comfortable and confident in their position and understand professionalism and kindness are essential.”
Mama B’s is open Monday-Friday 6:30-6, and Saturday 7:30-4:30. They’re thinking of extending it now that summer is over. The address is 1880 Landers Rd Benton. Visit the website at mamabsteaandcoffee.com You can order online on the website or through the Mama B’s Tea and Coffee Facebook page.