Why is this man so popular?

He was the boss who signed their paychecks, but he was more. He was ready to have fun. At the busiest time on a weekend morning, they would stop everything, turn the cafe into a 2 minute party while singing their theme song, and then jump back to their places and keep serving food. Here they are putting on their show...



Imagine 3-part harmony:

Omelettry West is the place you go in Austin, shop shop shoo wah, yum, shoo wah.
Omelettry West is the place you can get lost in... shop shop shoo wah, yum, shoo wah.
You better "ooo" come "ooo" whoever you are, shop shoo wah,
You better "ooo" come "ooo" in your Japanese car,
shop shoo wah,
shop shoo wah,
shop shoo wah, yeah yeah yeah...... yummmmmm.

Peter, 1983

Yes, that is Peter on the left, the Magnolia Cafe South's current GM, back in about 1983.

Let's talk about Love. Justus, on the right, would begin preparing his own lunch by spicing up some fresh butter with fresh peppers and raw garlic. It came to be called "Love Butter" because Justus was the Doctor of Love - plus he bore an uncanny resemblance to Jesus. We loved the effect. Yes - Love Butter is still on the Magnolia's menu today. Thx, Justus!

February Calendar Photo: 1983

Young and beautiful, hearts off for the Omelettry West waitresses. They could take it - and they could dish it out. Sending wishes for a Happy Valentine's Day to 'yall.

Happy New Year 1983

This was the January glamour photo for the one and only 1983 Omelettry West Calendar project. The dishwasher stripped down and took front stage for this one.

A few pictures from the good old Omelettry West: K & P

Just a fun picture of Kent and his first wife Patricia (above pic), hard at work behind the front lines at the Omelettry West. The cafe opened on Jan. 1979. They were open for breakfast and lunch only, closing at 3 pm daily. Patricia and Kent split up a year later (the restaurant business IS hard, it's true) and Patricia went on to create the Kerbey Lane empire. Kent finally bought 100% of the shareholder stock in 1987 and the business was renamed the Magnolia Cafe.

The RCA Victor Dog Mural

Remember the excitement of getting your first color TV? We do. So we decided to preserve a bit of history on South Congress.

If you can drive by, check it out: the "Sam Allred and RCA dog mural" is getting spiffed up. You may recognize the artist, Corn, who is doing the restoration painting.

This is from Wikipedia:

In 1953, RCA's all electronic color-TV technology was adopted as the standard for American color TV...

To read more about RCA on Wikipedia, click here.

Spiffed up for SXSW

Every year, the Magnolia Cafes host some official and unofficial SXSW breakfasts. No RSVP or special invitation is ever required, honest.

But returning visitors to the Magnolia South (1920 South Congress Ave.) will hopefully notice the spiffing up we've done for the event. Though you won't be back in the kitchen to see the completely refreshed floors and fixtures, you will most certainly notice that the dining room is now a beautiful aqua blue, and that the patio has a computer and beverage station to speed up service for you.

Just as we wiped the dust off our jeans and put the cafe back together again, we were introduced to two young men from Minneapolis, John Grider and Mike Fitzsimmons. Their business is called Broken Crow (http://www.brokencrow.com/about), and they came to Austin searching for large bare walls to paint murals on. Our niche of the neighborhood now has stalking lions, roosters, a giraffe, and birds coming out of an old Victrola.

Last, let me mention that the Magnolia Cafes have been included in the SXSW Eat Well Guide (http://maps.eatwellguide.org/maps/homepage/view/113). Between us and the other fine restaurants in Austin, there's no need to go home hungry.

Have a great visit to SXSW 2010. Let us know if we can do anything to make it better.