Story and photos by Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

South Delridge’s Nacho Mama’s Fry Bread Cafe (9418 Delridge Way SW) is back after a months-long closure for remodeling, and owner Debra Lecomb is looking forward to welcoming in the community for more than its namesake menu offerings.

The updated space is light and bright, featuring a new tile-faced bar area, new floors, updated decorations and furniture and some kitchen improvements, including a commercial dishwasher. Lecomb also added a raised stage area in the corner for musicians to play. She has Marlee Walker booked to play blues on Friday nights from 5-8.

Nacho Mama’s menu is still largely the same, with fry bread as a featured part of everything from breakfasts to tacos, and sundaes to PB&J sandwiches. There are nachos too, and breakfast served all day. Lecomb learned to make fry bread from her grandmother, a skill that she says isn’t as simple as following a recipe. She prepares all of the dough herself.

Lecomb is invested, not just in the food but in the space itself. She says it took more than a year of working nights after her two day jobs to get the space cleaned up and ready to open initially in 2022. Lecomb says it had been broken into, vandalized and occupied by transients before she took it over. This latest 4-month remodel, partly funded by a city grant, allowed her to make some of the finishing touches that she wasn’t able to do the first time around. She’s in it for the long haul: “To be able to work efficiently and stay here for a long time and be here for the community and give back.”

The only vestige of the former Hoang Kim Vietnamese restaurant that Lecomb kept is a mural by artist Sarah Robbins on the north wall. “There was all kinds of graffiti all over these walls, a dragon going down the wall. The ravens were here — I kept them.” Now they are the backdrop for the stage and anchor a space that Lecomb is really excited about. Plus, she now has some help in the kitchen — a family friend who moved here to lend a hand. “I was doing everything by myself. I was cooking, serving, shopping, prepping. Jacob’s been wonderful to me and I really appreciate him.”

Nacho Mama’s is open 7 days: Monday and Tuesday 11 am-9 pm and the rest of the week from 10 am-8 pm.