Bella Biagio

Bella Biagio's been slinging tacos and tequilas at Mama's Mexican Kitchen going on nine years now. Where has the time gone? "I thought I'd been here about four years, but then somebody told me I'd worked here eight!" says the 47-year-old server in her bold but amused tell-on-yourself kind of way. Biagio's the sort of server loyal customers look for when they take a table at "Seattle's oldest Mexican restaurant." Efficient, quick, friendly. Black glasses, wife-beater tee and a pompadour. From her taut, tattooed arms ("Dream Girl" on the left, "Tom Boy" on the right) lava fields of nachos and burritos the size of dachshunds hit the table. She zips through Mama's tight hallways and tiny rooms, wisecracking her way through the night.

Q: How many jobs have you had?

A: Many. I used to repair exercise equipment, and I had to go on the Trident submarine because I was the smallest one; I had to go down in there to fix the exercise bikes. My first job was making doughnuts at Winchell's; I got fired because my doughnuts were too big. In the '80s I was an aerobics instructor equipped with leg warmers. I worked for the state; I was counting lottery tickets in a warehouse.

Q: Hey, you're buff. You work out and stuff?

A: I'm obsessive-compulsive about taking care of myself. I am always trying to find the perfect workout. I boxed for a while, but not anymore. I got hit in the head so many times that I thought this is not such a good thing. I always wanted to be able to remember my name when I was older.

Q: Got any kids?

A: I'm such a proud mama! I got this 3 ½-month-old half-American, half-French bulldog. His name is Tough Guy Tony La Facia Biagio. I have three cats and a dog, and I'm nuts.

Q: Is that what keeps you busy when you're not working?

A: The other thing I'm known for is "What did you build today, Bella?" I will take my house apart, and it's not even my house. And I work on my car: I have a '68 Dodge Coronet.

Q: Did you know that some customers come in just to see you?

A: It's almost like they're signing up to be abused. It's a fun thing because I like to participate with them. Mama's is like having a performance every night. It's a petri dish of information and personalities and characters. I want to do a one-woman show. That's why I've worked at Mama's so long.

Q: To call you a waitress, is them fightin' words?

A: It's only fightin' words because other people have judgments about it. It's an art, and I think every human being should have to wait tables. I was never a patient person, but I know now I really, truly am.