Who is the “Mul” behind Mul’s? Mul’s Diner is a symbol of “the worker,” modestly boasting a long family history of hard work and industrious pioneering, ensuring everyone a place for food and gathering.
Mul’s Diner is that staple—the building coated in wainscot chrome on the corner of W. Broadway and A Street in Southie, otherwise known as Boston’s South End. Caddy corner to Mul’s is the historic Amrheins Restaurant, established in 1890.
The Mulerys bought Amrheins some time ago from the original owners, a German family called the Amrheins. Most of the interior of Amrheins is original, featuring high, tin ceilings to hide the breadth and stealth of the dark banquettes. Mafia comes to mind, but can easily be courted to the bar that holds much of the draw; wood-carved with two dozen stools in serpentine, it invites all manner of socializing. So, while both food and drink menus are enticing, if it’s all a bit off your budget, cross back to Mul’s for some other Americana fare.
You might feel hints of ‘50s nostalgia as you make your way in, but this is your own perspective. There is nothing faux, pretentious or nostalgic about Mul. This is “the diner” as a worker. The front door serves as an entrance to the landless time and timeless class that illustrates Mul: the worker, policemen and politician, child and aging equally.
“86 Meatloaf” (kitchen’s out of this item) is the only one excluded from the not unpleasant hum and buzz of American diners, occasionally interrupted by the a-rhythmic clatter of sturdy, ceramic diner ware. It’s an active buzz, supported also by the simplicity of the common, cream-toned coffee mug.
With the help of your attendant mug, your train of thought or written word will never be at pains to pause. But with your approaching Cobb salad, you are free to behold this classic diner staple, innovatively prepared and loaded into a crisp flour tortilla shell. It is stuffed with all the usual makings of a common Cobb Salad—thin ribbons of romaine, breast of sautéed chicken, cubed hard-boiled egg, ample kernels of corn and more. The traditional ingredients rise up and out of its crispy, flower-shaped bowl; a cornucopia of harvest and productivity that, yet again, bespeaks the themes of work, industry, and the dream of healthy abundance.
Mul’s is a fresh melting pot, filling the dream of a good lunch to the brim. And then, of course, there’s the steady ping of coffee mugs against the table, penetrating the buzz and hum, and urging you back to work.
