Matty Healy Comforts His Crying Mother Outside Restaurant

Matty Healy's mom caught a lot of heat for her recent comments about Taylor Swift ... and, it might be getting to her -- because she was just spotted crying on a city sidewalk.

The singer-songwriter was seen hugging his mother, Denise Welch, outside a high-priced restaurant in West Hollywood on Thursday before sitting on the curb and chatting with her while she dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

The two seem deep in a difficult conversation ... with Healy appearing animated at one point while his mom was shedding tears.

BTW ... it looks like Matty was also taking a smoke break from his date with fiancée Gabbriette Bechtel, along with Mama Healy.

A source with knowledge tells TMZ ... there was a family matter that Matty was consoling his mother about. Sounds like a rough week on top of everything else.

You'll recall, Welch recently pissed off a ton of Swifties when she knocked Taylor on Andy Cohen's hit show "Watch What Happens Live" ... saying she was glad she would never be her mother-in-law.

She tried to walk back the comments on the program ... but, the damage was done -- foot securely lodged in mouth.

Healy and Swift have taken shots at each other in the past years ... multiple songs on "The Tortured Poets Department" are about their short-lived romance -- and, Healy hit out at Taylor by saying he wouldn't write songs about "casual flings."