With Mother’s purchase of the building in 1972, she took over the last of the storefronts in the building that she was in on Ponce de Leon. That expansion gave her more seating, more kitchen space and a proper waiting room. Mother’s seating capacity became 375.
A number now that just amazes me because my restaurant, The Farmhouse, seats 65. To imagine that multiplied times 6 just boggles me because my mother seemed to handle it with such ease. On Mother’s Day, we will potentially have 360 guests or more. In the height of Mary Macs popularity in the late 70’s and 80’s, Mother served over 2000 meals a day! That is a lot of turnip greens, corn and green beans. And it was all fresh. Just think about all that corn shucking- like 500-600 ears a day.

When I am in the kitchen every Wednesday prepping with my staff for the week’s menu, we often discuss the amount of vegetables Mother had to have prepared every week. Of course, she had 40 in the kitchen prepping and cooking. But don’t we all just marvel when we find ourselves in a situation or job very similar to one our parents had and remember the grace and beauty in the way they dealt with it. I always had an amazing amount of respect for Mother and the job she did but I have even more now. Especially every Sunday when I am preparing my orders to place for the week ahead. When I call in my produce order for a case of green beans and whatever else, I think of Mother ordering 25 cases of those same beans and bless her for her fortitude and teachings. Love you Mama!