We can kiss goodbye the visions of sugarplums dancing through our heads and say hello to those long nights sloppily pieced together by one energy drink after another.

Welcome back to the grind. The long haul between winter and spring break is now dawning menacingly, and hopefully you’ve got enough Top ramen and peanut butter crammed into your cupboard to last you the trip.

But you’ve got a hankering you say? For something better, something truly homemade — just like Ma used to make? No matter how distant your home may be, home-style eats are not.

Seattle boasts a hefty slue of home-style, soul-food restaurants that will whip up anything from crab cakes to fried chicken with a wallop of creamy mac ‘n’ cheese and mashed potatoes.

Kingfish Café

Run by the three Coaston sisters, the Kingfish Café resonates with the warm feelings of family, from the pictures of the sisters’ relatives that adorn the walls and the renowned soul food classics that are served up with a pleasant smile.

With a no-reservation policy and hugely sought-after southern classics like grits and succotash, catfish, and giant loaves — yes that’s right — loaves of macaroni studded with onions and mushrooms held together by spicy pepper-jack cheese, the line will be long, but the environment is pleasing, and the food is more than worth it.

“There are other soul food restaurants in Seattle,” said Lesley Coaston, “but we wanted to reach out to a broader segment of the population by providing them with enjoyable dining and atmosphere.”

St. Clouds Foods & Spirits

John Platt, the owner of St. Clouds Foods & Spirits, wanted to create a restaurant that could give big family dinners to those who are far from home.

“We serve home-style comforting food,” said Mike King, executive chef at St. Clouds. “It’s for people who aren’t close enough to their mother to go home for a home-cooked meal. It just makes you feel like home, gives you that good feeling inside.”

This cozy neighborhood hangout provides locals with a menu that you swear they stole from Mom’s recipe book. There are ribs with cornbread, fried chicken on Sundays, herb-roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, and every little thing in between.

“Some of the things we cook here I’ve learned just by coming up the ranks as a chef,” King said. “Most of them I learned from my mother and grandmother. Those big meals with Ma really warm your stomach.”

Wedgewood Broiler

The Wedgwood Broiler is a sweet little piece of Americana. Created in 1965, it was originally called the Sir Wedgwood and hosted a suit of armor in the front entryway.

Inside Wedgwood the dark wood slat interior and smoky glass windows makes the outside world seem miles away from the warmly lit intimate setting.

As the waitress comes up to take your order and calls you “hun,” it’s hard not to laugh — until you realize she’s not kidding at all. You know you’ve come to the right place.

The Wedgwood has most of the original décor, giving it an old-time feel. It continues to satisfy its customers with classic American dishes like broiled steaks, fish, chicken, hamburgers, sandwiches and prime rib on weekend nights.

“We pretty much serve what the original owners liked to eat,” said Bruce Buchwach, manager at the Wedgwood. “It was pretty upscale when it was created, but it’s very old-fashioned and homey feeling now.”

Blue Onion Bistro

A refurbished mobile gas station plays the unlikely host to a little diamond-in-the-rough that’s sure to take you right back to your mom’s kitchen.

The Blue Onion Bistro is known for its chicken-fried-steak and pan-fried omelets, as well as its artful presentation and amazing, intentionally nostalgic atmosphere. Owned and operated by Cora Leitner, the restaurant was created as an outlet for Mr. Leitner’s home cooking.

“My husband and I were always entertaining, so he was always cooking,” Leitner said. “We just decided to share it with everyone in a great family setting.”

Most of the recipes used in the Blue Onion are sure to remind you of Mom’s cooking because, well, they were mostly created by a mom.

“The recipes that we use were passed down from Mr. Leitner’s mom,” Leitner said. “She was originally from Austria but she was raised in the States, so there’s a hint of international flavor as well.”

Hattie’s Hat Restaurant

If all of this ma ‘n’ pa stuff is great, but you’d still like your places of dining to be a little rowdier without sacrificing the tastes of a home-cooked meal, try Hattie’s Hat Restaurant.

The part-bar, part-restaurant actually carries more than 100 years of history. The bar itself was carved in France and shipped across the ocean to be set up in Hattie’s in 1904. With a newly installed 650-gallon saltwater aquarium, Hattie’s is truly a successful hybrid of the old and the new.

Hattie’s signature dish is smoked salmon, which is bought wild and smoked in-house. The restaurant is also known for its chicken-fried chicken and meatloaf. Plus, the bartenders serve renowned stiff drinks.

“Although we’re sometimes thought of as mainly a bar and occasionally a restaurant. We serve exceptional down-home food from and everything in between,” said Meredith Watters, an assistant manager of Hattie’s.

One more suggestion for finding that back-home cooking you miss so much: Call your mom up and get some recipes from her. Most students have access to a stove, and anyone can go shopping, so start learning how to make all of those wonderful dishes that you grew up with.

Reach writer Camden Swita at camdenswita@thedaily.washington.edu