![]() ![]() I will say that Katie Lacona was personally watching all of the tables and staff the entire night. I am sure that they had a lot of extra help hired to assist with serving. Given that this was a special event evening I will pass on writing about the service. The cooks were working very hard and seemed to be getting the job done. The layout reminds me of the old Mondo’s in Clive with the grill and kitchen right there where you can see the action. We got there before 7:00 just as the first round of diners were leaving. It appears that management did a good job of requiring reservations and timing the flow properly. Not surprising for a major holiday, the restaurant was very busy but I saw no mob of people waiting for seats. Also helping the new location is the fact that Mama Lacona’s has now hired a professional manager to run the place. I hope that grease trap that forced them to close the other location was already in place. Mama Lacona’s found the recently closed Maverick Grill and probably saved the landlord (and the restaurant) a bundle on having to do a complete build-out. One side benefit (I’m being charitable here) of the recession is that there are fairly new restaurant leases ready for new tenants. But after closing down their 86th Street location they have reopened in a new spot in Urbandale in a nicer “clocktower-style” strip mall just west of the Pilot Truck Stop off of Douglas Avenue. Still, it has a loyal and vocal following, not unlike the aging population of “Greatest Generation” folk that sing the praises of Noah’s Ark Restaurant and Lounge (and won’t quit going on and on about Babe’s). I had dropped it off my list of restaurants about a decade ago. You can Google them to see some pretty scary reviews over the years. Mama Lacona’s has had its share of trouble over the years keeping up with the growth and maturation of the Des Moines restaurant business and it is good to see that an icon of the Des Moines restuarant landscape has its act together. Our party of four spent New Year’s Eve at Mama Lacona’s in Urbandale and had a surprisingly nice supper. ![]()
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