Magnolia Cafes, Austin, TX

Kid Art Show July 2009

2009-07-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Kids draw the funniest, beautiful and intriguing things. Here we present a selection of children's art left at the Magnolia Cafe: inspired and heartfelt.

(Click the picture to be taken to the slideshow.)

Magnolia Cafe now offers online shopping

2009-07-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

In response to customer demand, we now offer selections of our Magnolia-branded merchandise for customers to purchase online using our new Magnolia Cafe Shopping Cart.

To celebrate this grand opening, we have stocked up on some popular designs including the red Magnolia "Sorry We're Open" baseball hat:

You'll find this and many great t-shirts, including flamingo designs on American Apparel sexy girl T's, on our new web site. We ship to any US destination via USPS.

Have you got a homesick Texan? Or a University of Texas graduate? We would be delighted to send them a little piece of home. We hope you find the shopping convenient and easy to use! Bye for now,

Yummmm… at Tony and Paige.com

2009-02-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

We're sending out a 'thanks' to Tony and Paige for writing about their meal at the Magnolia Cafe South.

Tony and I had a delicious Valentine’s dinner at The Magnolia Cafe on SoCo. It was the best restaurant we have been to since we moved to Austin...

Thanks y'all! We hope to serve you many more great meals, and thanks for telling your friends about us. To read the full post, here's the link:
Yummmm… at Tony and Paige.com

Valentine's Day! 2009

2009-02-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

You're looking very beautiful tonight. No, really. I love your hair like that. And you're also looking for a perfect place for a romantic dinner. Well, let's look no further than one of the Magnolia Cafes.

Magnolia Cafe, Lake Austin Blvd., is offering Heart Shaped Ravioli, Thai Chili Shrimp on coconut cilantro rice, Tilapia Florentine topped with spinach and crab meat, and Flat Iron Steak with mushroom gravy and caramelized carrots. For dessert: Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Compote or Gateau Marissa with strawberry icing. Entrees range from $10.95-$11.95.

Magnolia Cafe, South Congress, is offering Peppercorn Encrusted Filet of Beef with goat cheese tamales and asparagus, Asian-Style Halibut with baby bok choy and wasabi rice, Apricot and Lamb Tagine with ginger couscous, and Heart Shaped Ravioli. For dessert: Gateau Marissa with strawberry icing, or Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Entrees range from $12.25-$15.25.

Making memories.

At two locations.
Magnolia Cafe, 2304 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin
Magnolia Cafe South, 1920 South Congress Ave., Austin

A great pic of Magnolia food

2009-01-20T16:23:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by murphelz

A customer has posted this beautiful picture on Flickr. We just want to say - thanks! I think that it's a Flamingo Sandwich with bacon added. It has been a popular vegetarian item (minus the bacon) for a long time. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm.

From the Way Back Machine: Happy New Year 1983

2008-12-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

Should we tell you who this Omelettry West cook was? Since he may have gone on to a career in law or medicine, I think not. Suffice it to say that this cook volunteered to wear the diaper to celebrate the New Year for the wacky calendar that was being invented for 1983.

The calendar was rich with jokes. There were dozens of special commemorative days like the (hypothetical) day that they paved Town Lake, the day that they air conditioned the entire downtown of Austin, and - yes - Doris Day.

Here is a link to our previous blog post about the Omelettry West calendar project.

We send you our joyful wishes for a Happy New Year 2009. Thanks for being part of our community.

We are not Martha: Gingerbread Pancakes

2008-12-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Many people ask us for the Magnolia Cafe's recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes. We have a scaled-down version of the recipe that was once tested by Dweezil Zappa and Lisa Loeb on the Food Network. Two young women from Boston recently decided to mix up a batch for dinner, and here's the link to their story featuring Magnolia's original recipe. They've done a great job adding their own detailed photos and instructions:
We are not Martha: Gingerbread Pancakes

To Two 20-Something Bostonians: Cooking at home can be dangerous. You've acted bravely. Thanks for blogging about our delicious food, and we hope that you'll come dine with us whenever you can get to Austin.

Magnolia Cafe to be featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

2008-11-21T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Food Network features Guy Fieri as host for their Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. We are pleased to announce that the Magnolia Cafe South has been filmed and featured for an upcoming edition.

Chef celebrity Guy Fieri was in our kitchen. He made gingerbread pancakes, blackened shrimp and more with our chef.

Then Guy Fieri was in our dining room. He schmoozed the employees and patrons. He was larger than life. It was a blast.

Now you can watch us on TV!

Central Standard Times:
Monday, Nov 24 @ 9 pm
Tuesday, Nov 25 @ 12 midnight
Sunday Dec 7 @ 2 pm

In Austin, this is Time Warner cable channel 32.

It's that time again: The Kid's Art Show October 2008.

2008-10-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

We hope you see your favorite pictures here. Thanks to all of the kids who made contributions!

Twitter, and the recent celebrity sightings at the Magnolia Cafe

2008-10-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Recent days have blessed the Magnolia Cafe with visits from a few celebrities: Kate Walsh, Ellen Page, Bill Murray. Although we respect their privacy and hang back from autographs, the internal silent scream of fan-dom strikes. This is the result of very early training: Elvis, the Beatles. Even if they were just on TV - we screamed.

While some of us, paralyzed with adoration, simply grip our fork and spoon tighter, others send a Tweet to friends and the world wide web. If you don't already know this web-based celebrity, let us introduce Twitter. www.Twitter.com is micro-blogging. It's a wonderful way for people to have conversations - with quick little sentences exchanged and parried - on the web.

So we invite you: When you see a celebrity at the Magnolia, just send a Tweet on Twitter with the words "magnolia cafe" in them. We'll be pulling our Twitter news into the sidebar of this blog to share with the world. It really is better than screaming.

>>> 11/1/08 NOTE: we've revised our process for getting our customers' news onto our blog. You tag on Twitter with "magnolia cafe" or review us on Yelp. We get to read your responses and then we will post the best ones on our site. (Otherwise erroneous data can get out there.) Customer feedback is always appreciated. AND - If you see a celebrity - please let us know. We'll try to get your news up as quickly as possible daily.

It was a pleasure to hear from this customer...

2008-10-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick blog post to say thanks to 'Born Again Bird Watcher' for so eloquently describing his pleasure at discovering the Magnolia Cafe.

He writes:

One of the down-sides of travelling as much as I do is the inability to always eat in a way that is at the same time both healthful and emotionally satisfying. Most all cities and towns across America have at least one restaurant that can provide these twin requisites, (read the full post)

Thanks John! Please come back and say 'hi' when you travel through Austin again.

Veg Out! Austin - Ben's Top 5 Plates of Nachos

2008-08-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

I suggest that Austin vegetarians bookmark this neat web site:
"Veg Out! Austin... where herbivores eat out in Central Texas"

Besides mentioning Magnolia Mud, a recent article by Ben recommends 5 tops picks for vegetarian nachos. You can read all about his top 5 list here.

Just briefly, here are the recommended choices, in no particular order:

Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz, Nacho Libre with grilled tofu

Freebird's World Burrito, Nachos with black beans and queso

Magnolia Cafe, Super Nachos

ZuZu's, Black Bean Nachos

Chuy's, Special Nachos

Good to know!

The sights, tastes and smells of Austin, TX

2008-08-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

The editors at Conde Nast Traveler answer questions and share travel secrets, tips, and dispatches from the road, and apparently Julia Bainbridge (one of their writers) has a soft spot for Austin.

I think that Julia has nicely captured some of our current mystique, and she reminds me of some things that I ought to go enjoy before the summer is through.

She mentioned our Magnolia Cafe in the category of "good coffee." I have to agree with her, after drinking a few cups of what they call American-style coffee in Europe this summer, it's nice to be home.

Here is her lovely article about Austin if you'd like to read it for yourself.

Spreading the Love: The Food Trailer Culture in Austin

2008-07-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

Rich from Plano recently visited Austin, and he has a couple of good tips for visitors. Who knew that you could stay at the Barton Creek Resort at an incredible price through Expedia? As for dining,

We hit Magnolia Cafe, Chuy's Tex-Mex, County Line BBQ, and tried a new place Gumbo's. Along the way, there might have been a Shiner or two. You can read his blog post here.

But this was his "pièce de résistance" - Hey Cupcake.

We'd like to tell you more about Austin's trailer culture. The city is enjoying an unusual phenomenon these days: micro-restaurants serving absolutely delicious food out of mobile trailers. Hey Cupcake is located on S. Congress Ave, about 2 blocks north of Magnolia Cafe South. They've become a big attraction for both residents and tourists in our SoCo neighborhood.

So, if you've visiting Austin, you should definitely come visit us at the Magnolia Cafe. But you should also try to fit in a meal or dessert with one of our friends in the trailers. They're an Austin experience.

Hey Cupcake on South Congress Ave.

LuLu B's Thai Sandwiches on South Lamar

Flip Happy Crepes, near Zilker Park

From the Way Back Machine: the waitresses with Kent Cole, 1982

2008-06-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Back story: the Omelettry West was the first incarnation of today's Magnolia Cafe. Kent and his wife Patricia were asked to help open a new location for the Omelettry. K & P were quickly made part-owners of the new venture and went to work. Kent only learned to cook the day before the official opening.

A year later, Kent found himself single again. Perhaps that explains the gorgeous look of the waitresses in this picture.

The photo was taken by Jack Rheem for a special project: a 13-month calendar to be sold to customers (the extra month was called "Thermidor" which explains the extra long Texas summer between July and August). Each month featured a beautiful B/W photo of the early staff and cafe environment. It is the ultimate collector's item for Magnolia Cafe followers.

I'll eventually post all of the pictures to this blog. Thanks for your interest.

dP

The Kid Art Show, recent contributions by talented customers.

2008-06-12T20:21:00.001-07:00

YouTube introduction to the Annual ROT Biker Rally, Austin, TX

2008-06-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's here! It's time for the motorcycles to engulf downtown Austin and the Travis County Expo Center. We've got a video from YouTube to help you get excited:

The official rally takes place over three days, June 14-16, at the Expo Center.

FREE PARADE & CONCERT on June 13th:
Congress Ave (from 2nd to 11th and 1 block on each side) will be closed for the parade from 4pm Friday to 2am Sat. The parade will happen at about 7:30pm and the concert should end around Midnight.

Magnolia Cafes, at two locations near downtown, will be welcoming visitors and locals with excellent home-cooked food 24 hours.

www.rotrally.com For road closure, concert and parade info, visit the City of Austin's web site.

Neon Sign of the Magnolia Cafe - Austin, Texas - "Sorry, We're Open"

2008-04-21T17:10:00.001-07:00

Neon Sign of the Magnolia Cafe - Austin, Texas - "Sorry, We're Open"
Originally uploaded by JIMWICh

This beautiful picture of our sign was posted by a fan on Flickr. The owner of the picture has suggested this music as well. What an interesting combination! Please feel free to play this podcast to enjoy the sounds of Texas (?)

Says Meg of Minnesota: Every person deserves their own Magnolia Cafe

2008-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

Meg writes a blog to share her Top Five lists.

We're please to make it into her Top Five Restaurant list. She writes: "What makes food so great is the rest of the experience."

5. Magnolia Cafe, Austin, Texas
I had dropped out of high school and was waiting to find out whether I got into college or not the summer my sister came home from her freshman year at UCLA. A little after midnight, Sarah and I wanted to find a cup of coffee, so we went cruising around South Austin. That's when we found Magnolia, the digs I can't go without patronizing every time I visit Austin. I bring everyone there, and all the food is delicious. Every town deserves a 24-hour greasy spoon. Every person deserves their own Magnolia Cafe.

Click here to read her full blog post. Thanks Meg!

What we didn't know about SXSWi

2008-03-07T10:27:00.001-08:00

The Magnolia Cafe is part of the "inner circle" of SXSW Interactive intelligentsia. We discovered this blog post about us by a fan:

SXSW Interactive (day 1)
Posted by Nick Finck public@digital-web.com
March 7, 2008

...I myself have been busy hammering away the details on my presentation for Saturday only to take a break for a midnight dinner at the notorious Magnolia Cafe were geek ideas for the next killer apps are discussed and new companies are formed seemingly overnight. Tonight there were few from the web industry at the cafe, my guess is because most of them are still stuck in Dallas. Tomorrow should be pretty exciting and we are hoping for a more insightful blog post summary that goes beyond the weather and travel.

We'd like to remind our visitors to Austin that we're open 24/8. We hope that you can stop by, grab a meal, form a new internet company and blog about us.

For a recent review of Magnolia Cafe, please visit this updated page on CitySearch. We're so happy that they recognized the Real Us at "Four and 1/2 Stars!"

Our friends on Flickr enjoy the Sorry sign

2008-03-04T12:47:00.001-08:00

sorry (reposted)
Originally uploaded by mofo

It's amazing how this marketing message got started. Let me be clear to say that I wasn't there, but I saw the original sign in the window at the Omelettry West (which later became the Magnolia Cafe under the new ownership by the former sweat equity manager, who later became my husband, Kent Cole).

If you can imagine the intensity of starting your own restaurant AND having to be one of the cooks in the kitchen from opening to closing -- well, this sign is a result of post-traumatic-cook-syndrome.

The sign was prophetic: only years later did we become a 24 hour eatery. Maybe because, when you turned the sign over, it said Come In, We're Closed.

I'll be blogging a bit about our creative marketing choices from 1980-1995 or so. You might enjoy staying in touch with us and seeing the eccentric charm of Kent Cole in print advertising. Thanks for your generous time and curiosity about the Magnola Cafe.

d.p.

Kudos to Magnolia Cafe from Rare Magazine

2008-02-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

We've got the scoop from Rare Magazine that Magnolia Cafe will be featured in the upcoming May issue. Rare Magazine has taken a cue from the venerable Austin Chronicle's "Best" list, and they've put together their own "Rarest of the Rare."

The Magnolia Cafe has been chosen in some category, but we don't want to spoil the suspense. We'd just like to thank the two customers who volunteered to eat their lunch in front of the Rare Magazine photographer - thanks to Stacey and Sarah!

Stay tuned to the May issue, and find out who else got a Rare mention for something special.

This, from the Rare Magazine web site:

What is Rare Magazine?

Rare is a monthly magazine based in Austin, Texas -- the coolest city in the world. We represent the best of Austin -- from boutiques to restaurants to artists to realtors and everything in-between. We give our readers a taste of what's local, fun and interesting.

Valentine's Day! 2008

2008-02-07T21:31:00.001-08:00

The Magnolia Cafe 2008 calendars are available

2007-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

The Magnolia Cafes have enjoyed a long history of eclectic marketing efforts. Every year we run a short edition of the Magnolia Cafes annual wall calendar, printed in Mexico. You'll see eight of the designs in the picture above.

The price is only $1.00 each, and the selection of images will surely allow you to find one that matches your decor or holiday gift list.

Available while supplies last, at either Magnolia location:

Magnolia Cafe (original)
2304 Lake Austin Blvd. Google Map

Magnolia Cafe South
1920 S. Congress Ave. Google Map

To order by phone, please call: 512-447-7636
(If you miss us, you can leave a message and we'll call you back.)

Magnolia joins 'Eat Local Week' 12/8-12/15

2007-12-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

As part of Austin’s Eat Local Week, both Magnolia Cafes will be serving Chipotle Barbecue Bison Burgers from Saturday, Dec 8 through Friday, Dec 15, 2007. The Texas grass-fed buffalo are raised running free at the Thunder Heart Bison ranches in South Texas. For more info go to thunderheartbison.com

The cafes will donate a part of their proceeds for this week to Urban Roots, which uses sustainable agriculture to help kids learn life and job skills. Urban Roots is part of YouthLaunch, which provides empowering service experiences for young people. For more info go to youthlaunch.org.