Eat Out Seattle!Mama's Cantina
Mama's Cantina
Mama’s originally opened in 1974 when Seattle was the last big town on the way to the Alaskan frontier.
Mike McAlpin showed up on the scene with his cousin and brought their Mama's (technically grandmothers) family recipes to the Emerald City in a converted single room shotgun diner.
The years turned to decades, people hooked up, families started, additional rooms added, Union strikes contemplated, bands formed, books written, art inspired and made, bad behavior tolerated (if not encouraged).
At some point in time the original dive bar was built in the back “party” room.
In 2016, Mike wanted to retire, but didn’t want to leave the scene all the way, so he handed off the joint (while keeping a piece) to Marcus and his crew to figure out a way to maintain Mama’s soul while bringing some new life to it.