It Was One Year Ago...

...that Mama's closed.  Yes, there's another incarnation in its place, but it doesn't compare.  The old place was relaxed, cheap and welcoming.  The new place is the opposite of all that.  I paid a commemorative visit last Friday and found the food to be improved over the last time, but alas, the service was surly and indifferent.  And just to keep beating this dead horse - I had to pay the mandatory 20% gratuity for that.  I always feel ripped off.  Every time I go in there, it seems that the entire wait staff is new.  Again, the opposite was true with the old place.  The same people worked there for years.  If somebody quit, it was a big deal.  I had lunch at El Tapatio in Snohomish today, and this is what it looked like:

Yeah, inauthentic as all get-out, but delicious and satisfying.  Plus, check out that plate!  I miss Mama's.