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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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