Friday, March 7, 2008

What we didn't know about SXSWi

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!"

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Our friends on Flickr enjoy the Sorry sign


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.