good bye mama's food shop

When Kylie and I used to live in the East Village, one of my favorite places to grab dinner was Mama's Food Shop down the block from our apartment. They are closing their doors, and seem to be placing the blame on the rising rents and a "professional demographic" that has moved in and displaced their happy crowd of artsy lunch time and daytime customers. Also, according to Jeremiah Clancy, the owner, nymag is partly to blame because they started writing about newer restaurants in the east village that were “basically the same exact thing as Mama’s – fried chicken and a side – but it’s served to you by some hipster dude who has long hair and is 27 and has Steely Dan on the radio.” It sounds to me like Mr. Clancy has been chewing on some sour grapes.

Now, I loved Mama's when I lived in the neighborhood, and I agree that the East Village is a hollow shell of its former self, but I take issue with the blame game that seems to be part of this story. For one, Mama's itself was full of hipster dudes with long hair, and none of them invented the idea of fried chicken being served with a side. For another, they were almost always out of the side or meat that I was in the mood for. To top it off, the Williamsburg location that opened at the end of last year closed a few months ago without much fanfare. It sounds like there were more problems than just the neighborhood.

Keep your eyes on the road, Mama. I'm going to miss the meatloaf and mac n cheese. source source source source