My Mother's Restaurant, Phoenix, Arizona - 1977 to hopefully forever


If you've lived in Phoenix since 1977, you have probably driven past My Mother's Restaurant, which is just north of Indian School Road on 19th Avenue. Maybe you've even gone in there. I did, for the first time, yesterday. And wow.

OK, I won't talk about the food (but the open face roast beef sandwich!), I just want to talk about the history. And what amazed me the most is that from the street it looks like absolutely nothing, and when you get inside it goes on, and on, as if by magic it just grows. You would think from the outside that it was tiny, but there's not only a large dining area, there's a banquet room (I peeked in).

I was hanging out with some of my PhDs (Phoenix History Detectives) and of course I wanted to know all about this place, which has been there, like forever. And as amazing as its being there serving that great food continuously since 1977, the restaurant has been there since the 1960s, as Roma Restaurant. Did I mention how great the pizza is?

OK, I don't want to sound like a commercial here. No one is paying me to talk about this place, I'm just glad it's there. And if you go there, take me along! It's a good place to be.

Manager Geodran Guillen in 1991. And yes, it's all about the ovens.

Ad for Roma Restaurant in 1962. It became My Mother's Restaurant in 1977.
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