It was a year ago that George...

It was a year ago that George and Michael Rice, father and son, put their money into a place called the Bonanza, a once-popular restaurant, amid the junkyards and gigantic oil refineries along East Anaheim Street in Wilmington. The Bonanza had fallen into disrepair, but the Rices spent a solid month cleaning up. Then they renamed the place: Mama’s Kitchen.

Visually, Mama’s is like a large coffee shop, and the printed menu confirms that feeling. But it’s the chalkboard list of daily specials that sets Mama’s apart. Croatian-born chef Rina Jerinic might make stuffed cabbage rolls with ground beef, bacon, onions, brown rice, fresh garlic and a little sauerkraut ($4.95), or beef tips ($5.35), made with five large, very tender chunks of roast beef on a bed of noodles, accompanied by a variety of vegetables.

She also makes a moussaka-like zucchini pie ($4.95) and beef goulash ($5.25), seasoned with paprika, topped with a dollop of sour cream and served with noodles.

Jerinic’s culinary experiences range from training in Croatia and Germany, to owning her own restaurant and pastry shop in Chicago, to cooking in camps for the workers along the Alaskan pipeline. Her culinary influences include Serbian, German, Hungarian and Greek cooking.

All the specials come with soup and an all-you-can-eat salad bar, which includes sliced red bell peppers and a good German potato salad made with eggs and bacon.

At breakfast, there are biscuits with sausage gravy served with two eggs and fried potatoes ($3.45) and plate-sized pancakes served with eggs and sausage or bacon ($4.45).

Mama’s Kitchen is at 558 E. Anaheim St., Wilmington. (310) 549-8080. Open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Beer and wine served.