Mama's Vegatarian

[Carlson1105]

New falafel place on 20th St. btw Chestnut & Market where the old Pad Thai Shack was. One of the best falafels I've had. $4.50 gets you a large sandwich with about 6 good size balls, hummus, and fresh veggies. They make their own pita bread which is very tasty. You can get a Mama's platter too, with 4 salads, hummus, falafel balls, and a pita. I've been twice and highly recommend it.

[arice]

I went here for lunch today. I have to agree with your assessment, really tasty stuff. The pita was really good. They also have fried eggplant that you can get on the sandwich and a nice cabbage salad -- everything is very fresh.

In addition, that have latkes that you can get as a pita sandwich as well. Will have to try this combo next time.

-arice

[mrbigjas]

stopped by mama's vegetarian for a late lunch yesterday, and i have to admit: their falafel beats philly falafel's. it's lighter, crisper, moister and generally tasty as hell. interesting salad bar along with it, which includes the sourest pickled celery i've ever had and fried jalapenos, along with the usual carrot, radish, olive, pepper selection. mango nectar in the fridge; a falafel sandwich and salads with mango nectar is about all i need for lunch on a day off of work... SOLID.

[Andrew Fenton]

Mama's now has a branch on the 600 block of South Street (in the space formerly occupied by Tommy Gunn's BBQ.) I've never managed to make it to the Rittenhouse location, but I've been to the South Street store a couple of times, and it really is terrific.

They've also brought in a shwarma machine, so I guess the vegetarian thing has gone out the window. I haven't tried that, but the falafel is definitely first-rate: fluffy, well-seasoned and with a great crunch.

[Alcibiades]

Mama's Veg. is the best falafel around, hands down. Unfortunately they're closed today and tomorrow for the holiday (a fact I forgot this afternoon).

I could be mistaken about this but I don't think the Mama's on South St. is the same ownership. I believe the South St. guys have a familial connection to the 20th street store but it's not the same operation. Again, not sure. Anyone know?

[mrbigjas]

what i know is this: i heard that it was opening and was related. then after a while, at mama's they put a sign in the window saying MAMA'S VEGETARIAN IS NOT RELATED TO MAMA'S GRILL. then they took the sign down, but the logo is the same.

last time i was at mama's grill, the fries really sucked and in general it seemed half-assed. but it was a sunday at like noon, south street was pretty much deserted, and we were the only people there, so i can't say i consider it really representative of whether they suck or rule.

[simply_perfect]

The location on south St. is actually owned by the son of Mama’ s owner. There was a little bit of a conflict when he left, however it’s all good now (to the best of my knowledge). The vegetarian thing is still going strong on 20th St. having grown up in Israel I can tell you first hand, this is as close as you can get to eating Falafel in Tel Aviv.

Edited September 14, 2007 by simply_perfect (log)

[KatieLoeb]

The Mama's at 6th & South is right around the corner from me at Chick's, and is quite often my late lunch/early dinner of choice before my shift starts.

Bad, bad non-observant Jew that I am, I went over there this afternoon in the hopes of scoring a shwarma sandwich for lunch and was disappointed, but not surprised, to find them closed for Rosh Hashana. My bad.

Happy Holiday to those of you that are celebrating. Mama's will be back after Yom Kippur. And I'll be there for sure...

[Andrew Fenton]

last time i was at mama's grill, the fries really sucked and in general it seemed half-assed.

No, I think that the fries do, in fact, suck; at least they did the time I had them.