So much for the myth that Kansas City hipsters and their foodie offerings help with "urban renewal" or whatever.
Here's the latest . . .
KICKASS TKC TIPSTERS TELL US THAT MAMA'S 39TH ST. DINER HAS DECIDED TO CLOSE PERMANENTLY AFTER FIRE DAMAGE PROVED TOO COSTLY TO REPAIR AND A NATIONAL BURGER CHAIN MADE A BETTER OFFER!!!
I forget the name of the national burger chain but odds are I'll probably visit it more than the hipster not-so-hot spot and subsequent flaming disaster.
Mama's 39th St. Diner was reportedly going to reopen in 2011 after their repairs started quickly . . . But then stalled.
There's a myth that all things local are great but I liked the old Nichols Lunch spot way more because their wasn't any Midtown poseur-ism involved in getting a chicken sandwich. To be fair, I'm hearing that some biz problems for the family that owned this place also led to the decision to stay closed.
Mainstream media "journalists" will report on the identity of the national chain when they get the presser but the deal is done and already I think it sounds delicious.
Also, for the moment the Chicano barber shop next door is already open and staying put . . . Which should provide a clue that sometimes gully Kansas City businesses can endure if the clientele isn't too trendy and fickle.
Noooooooooooooo!
ReplyDeleteMama's was a legend when on 39th St. However, I believe Mama died of cancer recently and am not sure about her husband. He was also very ill. The son's tried to run it but I don't believe they had the business acumen that their parents did.
ReplyDeleteMama's wasn't there long enough to be a 'legend'. Nichols was a legend. As was Putches. Don't call anything a legend until it spans not less than two generations, imho.
ReplyDeleteAs tot he barbershop, well they don't need high traffic, and I doubt there are that many for the neighborhood oldsters anyway.
I think they should raze that little center and put in a fabulous Taco Cabana!
Nichols was hot because it was all night, was a breakfast haunt for when the bars closed. It was hard to get into except from the north because of those damned left turn rules on SWT. but it was hot. Like the old Chubbies, which could have done much better had the other ones been bigger and there been more parking.
It was hard to get a seat in the tiny Indep Ave one which should have grown and moved north to get away from the hooker crowd. For a long time there was Perkins up north and that's it unless you wanted to eat in a skanky wafflehouse.
I know I never went in to the 39th place after Nichols closed. Broke the habit.
As usual radioman knows not of what he speaks, Mama's 39th Street Diner was featured on Diner's Drivein's and Dive's at the old location on 39th and Waddell near State Line. Quite the legend there.
ReplyDeleteRadioman dis-information, if he does not know or understand it is wrong.
But it moved. I think that changed a great deal. Isn't that the old Nichols? I checked the map, it sure looks like it. Not even CLOSE to State Line! isn't that spot actually very close to 39th & sw trafficway? just a little parallel sidestreet?
ReplyDeleteIf so, that's just not a legend for ME! I never ate there but my dad and I spend lots of time at Nichols for he lived acrosss the street at the old folks high rise.
Both Nichols and Mamas share the same address according to Google. Perhaps "Mamas" was just a rename of the same location and absconding with Nichol's legendary reputation? Dunno.
But don't be so fast to keep pinning me with disinformation. I can be wrong all right, but not always. I saw the mamas photo and said to myself 'oh thats the old Nichols lunch. at about 39th and SWT. I found the sign strange looking because I have learned to stay out of killa city. maybe Nichols was Mama's MAIDEN NAME (grin!)
Oh hell, forget all that. The sign says "Since 1998". Shit, that was just the other day. No such thing as a legend made in just 11 years.
ReplyDeleteNot possible. I went to Nichols in the 60's, and the 90s when I got back to town. There's your two generations. And probably before I was even old enough to drive. Nuff said.
You faggots got that settled yet?
ReplyDeleteRadioman, STHU! Do NOT disrespect MAMA! She was a wonderful woman. I don't care how long it was there, when it was on 39th street, near KU, it was a legend. You CAN be a real ass wipe, sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWonder what will go there.
ReplyDeleteMy Predictions:
1. Jack in the Box
2. Wendy's
3. Hamburger Mary's (Replacing the one in the Crossroads)
If you liked Mama's--and heck, Mama, for that matter--you liked it and that was all there was to it.
ReplyDeleteI know I did and several friends for that matter. You could get virtually anything you wanted on or in your omelet. She had a huge list of options but you could always add or subtract from that, too.
It was a very dependable breakfast. It was a diner. It was local diner and those are rare and disappearing, as this attests.
"Mama" really was (is?, hopefully) great, too. She is/was (whatever is correct) friendly and attentive. There isn't a waitstaff on the planet you can't gripe about but these people ranged from at least good to very good.
They kept the place clean. It was just a terrific neighborhood diner/dive that was fun to go to.
Rest in peace, Mama's. Some of us really will miss you.
P.S. And darn good, dependable coffee, too, for sure.
Tony- I'm officially done with your blog. At first it seemed like you wanted to give an alternative, ground level view of what's going on in KC...but lately all you've been is a whiny asshole who just repeats "KC sucks!" over and over (I'm not even going to mention how you once said all white people are racist because they wouldn't move to the Summit Street area...and then later said that the white people moving to that same area are obviously doing so BECAUSE they are racist.). Who wants to read that you hate the Chiefs, City Hall, P&L, the Plaza, KCK, and white people? Just put up the SFW girly pictures and STFU.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that Mama's was a hipster, poseur joint is absolutely laughable. This was a pretty regular diner with good, affordable food for a diverse, mostly middle-class KC crowd. I'm as big an asshole as the next guy, but is there a point to this post, other than gloating over the loss? Why take such pleasure in what is obviously bad news?
ReplyDeleteWhen it was on 39th street and Bell it was great! When it moved to the old Nichols lunch site it went shitty!!!! No service unless you were seated by a "hostess" and the food got shitty also! FUCK THAT!!! Good riddance to shit food and service. Mama's on Bell WAS the legend. RIP Mama.
ReplyDelete4:04, there's no way any of those places would move there especially Hamburger Mary's. HM's has to pay a franchise fee of $6000/month to the national Hamburger Mary's chain and they could never do that and afford the Del Hedgepath rent on that space. Plus it's way to small for them, it has no smoking balcony, and it's right next door to Missie B's.
ReplyDeleteWhy take such pleasure in what is obviously bad news?
ReplyDeleteBecause this is TKC MUTHAFUCKA!
3 posts by radioman to say he ate at Nichols lunch with his dad.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder the news game got rid of this ponderous writing beast.
I thought Radioman was boycotting TKC blog? What happened ? Just couldn't stay away. :)
ReplyDeleteRadioman is full of sht--- "No such thing as a legend made in just 11 years".
ReplyDeleteJames Dean Starred in 6 films started acting in his first major film in 1951 died in 1955.
he's only a legend because he's dead and died before his time. Five years is hardly a career.
ReplyDeleteNext think you know, they'll be calling Heath Ledger, Chris Farley, River Phoenix and so many others as 'legends'.
They were famous, they were doing good work, were cast in innovative roles and their careers ended prematurely. I think people are legends whose talents were never matched.
You spend too much time trashing me personally in here. Get over me. What you seem to usually disagree with me about are differing opinions usually based on slippery definitions--and on things that don't really matter.
Build your case about what YOU believe, rather than what I do. And stick the insults where your mouth usually is.
You checked the map!
ReplyDeleteWTF Radioman?
Tony, as usual, you're late again.
This is old news, just like you and your blo...wait a minute...piece of shit blog.
Yes, because most people just say this restaurant is at 39th & SW Trafficway, even tho it's on a little sidestreet. And nothing about State Line, which isn't really so nearby. But yes, I googled both restaurants and the addresses were the same. Nichols hasn't been closed all that long... for all this to add up. I'm sure Mama's was also a great place, there are lots of small places that stay for a long time.
ReplyDeletePeople love Waids too. Spangles is very hot shit down in Wichita. As was Kings X. And this little allnite joint next to the Eagle Beacon.
I'm fond of talking about Wolfburgers at 83rd & Metcalf next to the old Vickers on the west side of the street... a tiny diner now gone where lots of us Shawnee Mission boys wasted nights under the loving supervision of a motherly waitress for years.
There's a bunch of Italian places that used to be. Certainly Carl's place downtown. And that old place not far from 73th and Wornall were the Geritol for Lunch Bunch'd been going for years. What was the name of that dinner place on the west side of the street? I heard they closed as do so many places when the proprietors get too old to work so hard.
We're all just here a short time! Imagine how Europeans feel when so many homes and buildings are made of stone and brick and not wood. And last generations. Around here, 100 years or less, and it's time for urban renewal.
Rman is right---I was drunk at Nichols through most of the last century on the way home from...
ReplyDeleteNo diss to Mama, I am sure she was great, but Nichols was locally famous in the last century.
Just sayin...
"3 posts by radioman to say he ate at Nichols lunch with his dad."
ReplyDeleteLOL Classic Radioman.
Mama's is a classic Kansas city legend.
ReplyDeleteSee, radioman is unable to comprehend that there were 2 Mama's one at the location, the old Nichols lunch, radioman is fixated on, much like a perseverating autistic child, and the original Mama's at 39th and Bell. This is not a surprise, radioman is unable, probably due to alcohol, to understand and realize the world changes, and all the stuff he writes about are dead and gone, and he will join them soon enough.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Radioman going to boycott this blog?
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the place.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what's a chicano?
Isn't a chicano some stick or something? Who wants to be called a stick?
ReplyDeletePutches ?????
ReplyDeleteMan if that's what you reminiscence about then you missed out on life pal.
yeh right.
ReplyDeleteOik lets set this straight even though I am chiming in so late. SAMPOWERPAK is NOT a owner of Mama's but I AM. So lets set it...Mama's is set to reopen in June of this year. Mama is not dead we were on 39th and State line blah blah blah. Anymore info you need. Thanks to all for your kind words and the rest of you who have no clue learn the facts before you spout off at the mouth.
ReplyDeleteMama's was not and never ever will be a legend. Nichol's Diner however, was.
ReplyDelete