And nothing of value was lost….

Lawrence has sent me a long list of restaurant closings (which he promises to blog soon) but he doesn’t give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut about this one. On the other hand, I find the closing of Mother’s Cafe slightly interesting.

I ate at Mother’s a few times with friends who wanted to eat there: at the time, I valued their company more than the food. And I feel sorry for the people who are losing their jobs. But even those friends stopped eating there eventually. It seemed like the food kept going downhill, and as Austin grew, there were other better vegan/vegetarian options popping up.

I’m not alone in that feeling, if this Reddit thread is any indication: the general consensus seems to be that, in addition to the food steadily declining, Mother’s didn’t grow or change with the times. What might have been a great place to go 40 years ago when Austin was a small town got superseded by newer offerings with more variety. Even non-vegan restaurants started offering vegan entrees, while Mother’s (as one poster put it) was stuck in the Moosewood cookbook era.

It’s old-school, first-wave vegetarian food. AKA casseroles, black beans, sweet potatoes, and cheese. I used to work with a former cook from Mother’s who left because management wouldn’t let them do anything interesting or help the menu evolve. We worked somewhere where he could whip up the most delicious vegan recipes. I get that the long-term customers are valuable, but clientele changes, and the food scene is just a little bit more competitive here now than it was in 1980.

On the other hand, it does look like you can still get your windows tinted.