Critic's Review
I slept late and had a busy morning, so no time for breakfast. So I thought about having breakfast late. The best time to go to Mom's is between 11am and 12, but it was already 11:45. I decided to try at 2pm. They close at 3 so it can't be much later than that.
The owner of the place lives in my building; he's a nice dude but I don't suspect that he's involved in the day to day operation of the place.
My experience here started the same as usual, as the hostess lady seated me on bench seating literally right next to a guy talking into his cell phone; as soon as she turned away I picked up my menu and moved to a booth. If you're not a regular you get a bad table; that's something I figured out as the day progressed.
Same table for 3 visits over 5 years. Not much has changed. They have a few more stuffed animals now, and a couple of new items hanging from the ceiling.
I ordered coffee. They have decent sized mugs here, apparently funded by advertising. I'd have to be pretty bored to read ads on my coffee cup.
Music here is downright bizarre, with tunes from the 70s rarely heard since then. When was the last time you heard the Carpenter's "Top of the World"? Diana Ross, England Dan and Kool & the gang. Say what you want about satellite, but there's something for everyone. It's funny, because previously I liked the music; same genre, different tunes. It fits the theme of the place, which is operating like it's still the 1980s. The good news is that so are the prices; $6.75 for 2 eggs, sausage, home fries and toast.
The food was ready in 6 minutes.
Different sausages, maybe a few less potatoes than previously, but still a good value for the price. It does amaze me that home fries could have so little seasoning; didn't we discover that paprika has no taste about 30 years ago? Salt and pepper partially remedied the problem.
One thing that surprised me was that at 2:30 people were still coming in and the place wasn't empty. Usually I'm sitting in a room by myself at this hour. It's an elderly crowd (because who else could tolerate this music?), so probably people having an early dinner.
The big thing about Mom's is the price; breakfast for under $10. So in the last 2 days I've had lunch and dinner for under $20.
So at Mom's, when you pay by Credit Card they take out the tip in cash for the servers, because their circa 1985 cash register can't figure out such things. When the hostess/cashier lady asked what I wanted to leave for the girls, I thought I'd make it easy. "Make it 11 even". She was fumbling with the calculator, I thought I'd help her out". "That's $1.74", I said, practically beating my chest that I could do the math in my head.
George really needs to invest in a POS.
Conclusion
Mom's is an old time diner that operates just as it did many years ago; virtually nothing has changed in the 5 years since I first came here. Aside from having to negotiate to get a comfortable table; Mom's is good food at a good price.
Review 10/16/12
Mom's has a tendency to tick me off, if not purely by accident. I got here at 2:15 one Saturday to find that they close on 2pm on Weekends. The next time I came, they were on vacation. Finally I got there when they were open for business.
Mom's is very busy, so you want to get here off-hours if you don't want to be part of a rat race. 11am-11:45pm and after 2pm seems to be the right time. This is the only place that wouldn't seat me at a table (they directed parties of 1 to the counter when they're busy); I left and went somewhere else. I always have trouble getting seated. Today, with the place 1/2 empty, they sat me at a small table that was half full with napkins and condiments. I asked to move to a booth, since there were 10 booths available and I doubted they'd be getting a big crowd between 2:15 and 3pm.
The decor in the place can best be described as eclectic. They have a counter on the left and maroon vinyl booths throughout, with tiffany style lamps, ceiling fans and model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. There are juke boxes and chairs in the front that seem to serve no purpose.
I had the "mexican" omelet before, but I've been fooled for the last time by diners claiming to make spanish or mexican omelets. Theirs is just chili meat with cheese; the salsa on the side made it Mexican. This time I just ordered my standard breakfast, so see how they compare. Coffee came quickly; they have the metal pitchers rather than the creamer pods. They also now have Splenda, but I only use Splenda in Iced Tea these days.
Surprisingly, Mom's has wireless. They play pretty good music; Billy Joel, Michael Jackson and Sly and the Family Stone. The eggs came out in about 2 minutes.
Busy diners crank up the grill to speed things up, and the eggs here were cooked on a too-hot grill. They give good portions here, and the home fries are good; they slice the potatoes very thin. Even the toaster is too hot at Mom's.
Well done, I'd say. They butter the bread so you'll have to ask if you don't want it.
Once I get seated where I want to sit, Mom's isn't half bad. The service is a bit strange; the servers kind of swirl around. Different servers took my order and refilled my coffee. And you won't get any privacy here; it's one big room and the servers are omnipresent. But the tab for this was $8.69, and you can't beat that. Mom's has decent food at a good price.
Review 5/7/2010
Mom's Kitchen is a busy place. Unfortunately its too busy to be a place I'd want to go.
Mom's is your typical diner setup that just happens to be in a strip mall. There's a counter with circa 1960 chairs and a bunch of booths. Its the first time I can ever recall being told that I had to eat at the counter because I was alone. I don't like to eat breakfast at a counter; I like to read the newspaper and there really isn't enough room. In this place, its particularly bad, because the counter people are overmatched. They were so consumed with putting together a large take-out order that they simply had no time for customers who had bothered to actually come to the restaurant. After steering me to the counter and practically mocking me for asking for a service table, she offered no menu. After 10 minutes at the counter with no sign of any server, I left.
I tried again after 2pm, and they were much less busy. The hostess again seemed annoyed that I wanted a table, and she put me in the corner. I had a big camera and a newspaper so I wasn't sitting at the counter.
The decor in the place can best be described as eclectic. They have a counter on the left and maroon vinyl booths throughout, with tiffany style lamps, ceiling fans and model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. There are juke boxes and chairs in the front that seem to serve no purpose.
It seems that the service isn't much better when the place is empty. I asked for coffee which I received right away, but my server didn't return to take my order. I saw her clearing tables, talking to another waitress, setting up some tables; she never looked in my direction. I had to ask the hostess to fetch her, at which point she lied to me and told me that she couldn't see me behind the juke box. Well I could see HER, so why couldn't she see me? Because she didn't look.
Adding insult to injury: no splenda.
I ordered the mexican omelet, because I'm always looking for a good mexican omelet. The menu says "spicy ground beef, tomatoes, mushrooms onions and cheese", so it sounded promising. The food arrived quickly, and the first impression was that they sure didn't cheat you on portions.
Unfortunately, the omelet missed the mark. I'd call it a tex-mex omelet, or maybe a chili omelet. The meat was cumin flavored and not spicy. All it really needed was some chilis or some cayanne. They gave me some salsa but that wouldn't save it. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't as good as I'd anticipated. The home fries are a bit bland as well.
I find it difficult to recommend Mom's for the poor service, but the large portions and fair prices ($6.95 for the omelet) keep it on the radar for places to get breakfast in the afternoon.
Damn the auto correct again!
spot on review as usual....
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