Mama♥s on Washington Square

"Today, Father, is Father's Day,
And we're giving you a tie.
It's not much, we know.
It is just our way of showing you,
We think you’re a regular guy.

You say that it was nice of us to bother,
But it really was a pleasure to fuss.
For according to our mother, you're our father,
And that's good enough for us.
Yes, that's good enough for us."
~ Harry Ruby

http://www.mamas-sf.com/


Place: Mama♥s on Washington Square
Location: 1701 Stockton Street (on the corner of Filbert Street)
Hours: open Tuesday through Sunday at 8:00am
Meal: Papa's Favorite M♥Omelette ~ roasted Ortega peppers, tomatoes, and Fontina cheese, served open faced, with Mama♥s Grilled Potatoes and your choice of toast: White, Whole Grain, Rye, English Muffin, or Sourdough Baguette; a large glass of (freshly-squeezed) orange juice; and, afterward, for a breakfastary dessert, un doppio Espresso e un nutella® bombolone at Caffè Trieste

http://caffetrieste.com/index.htm

(Because there really is a lack of good Father's Day songs ~ How many times can one listen to "Cat's in the Cradle", seriously? ~ I am just going with a few Maria McKee EweToobular songs this morning. Besides, I am sure that most dads would much rather listen to her than any ol' Harry Chapin song.)


I went back to Mama♥s on Washington Square
(see last 'blog-entry from October 6th, 2013) for breakfast this morning. I can't believe that it's been almost two years since I last ate there. 

I had arrived to Washington Square around 7:20am this morning and figured I'd have at least ten to fifteen minutes to kill walking around the area before I needed to get in line and start waiting with all of the other diners. However, I noticed that a small line was already forming that early, so I decided I should probably get in line, too, before it got much longer. As it was, there were only about ten people ahead of me, and I was assured a seating in the first wave of breakfasteers. By the time they had finally opened, there must have been at least fifty to sixty more people behind me.

One of the main problems with eating at Mama♥s is that there is always a pretty decent selection from which to choose and I can only eat one meal at a time. In addition to a long and tasty list of M♥Omelettes, they offer a great selection of other breakfast dishes: scrambles, Benedicts, French toast, pancakes, etc. Some of the other ideas I was thinking about today were: Apple Pan Dore (French toast) (slices of sourdough baguette with sautéed apples in lemon-butter sauce; I am pretty sure that I have never had this particular version of French toast, and I really have to try it one of these days; I just can't figure out why the dish is named for a cartoon fish portrayed by Ellen DeGeneres); (off the weekend/weekly specials board) French Toast Sampler (a trio of Orange-Cranberry, Swedish Cinnamon, and Banana Walnut slices; this is a great way to try a few different versions of their French toast); or Scrambled Florentine (baby spinach, bacon, red onions, and white Cheddar cheese; which I would have always ordered without the porky junk, of course).

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

While waiting in line, I only saw two Wild Parrots flying overhead towards Coit Tower this morning. I wonder what the diminutive of "pandemonium" is called. 

Today's choice was predicated mainly on the made-up holiday this third Sunday of June. I really liked this one (I have yet to have a bad meal there, anyway); I am pretty sure I have had it in the past before, too. I liked that it was served open-faced. I went with sourdough baguette for my toast choice (which really should be the only choice offered, as this goes great with most meals and this is North Beach, after all).

For condimentary supplements, Mama♥s has Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce. I used a little (well, a lot, actually; I like to use this stuff like ketchup) of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Amys and Brian!) on the potatoes and just a little (and, believe me, this one I measured out judiciously at only five to six drops) Blair's After Death® sauce with Liquid Fire (Thanks, Sean!) on the M♥Omelette. And especially not to be missed, they make their own homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jams. Today's offering was a nice tart raspberry jam. It went very well on the toasted sourdough baguette slices (and despite what Mr. Thomas claims, sourdough's nooks and crannies more than beat out about his faux English crumpets). I even talked the couple at the next table into trying some on their French toast. They agreed that it was a great addition (even I have maple syrup in my refrigerator).

I was informed by Vince at the door (I think he is one of the owners of the place and one of Mama♥s sons) that they are going to be opening a second restaurant in North Beach; it is going to be called Li♥l Mama♥s. This will be just a few blocks away on the corner of Vallejo and Columbus Streets. As can be seen from the above photo, the new place (while called "Li♥l") will be about twice the size of the original restaurant. They will also have a small store area where they will be selling not only their homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) jams, but their fresh-baked loaves (like Cranberry-Orange Walnut, Banana Walnut, and Kugelhopf Brioche) and other fresh-baked goods (Poppyseed Bundt Cake, Carrot Cake, etcake).

I was still a little hungry after breakfast (and there is always room for Coffee and doughnuts ~ even when it is Caffè e bomboloni), and Caffè Trieste is just in the next block across Columbus Street from where Li♥l Mama♥s is going to be located. (Wasn't it John Fitzgerald Mussolini that once said: "Ich bin ein Bombolone!"?)

(Sure, I could  have taken a photo of mio doppio Espresso e nutella® bombolone, but I figured most everyone already knows what a cuppa and a doughnut look like.)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Papa's Favorite M♥Omelette ~ 6.7; fresh, tart raspberry jam ~ 6.8; doppio Espresso e nutella® bombolone ~ 6.5