'Take care of other people': Former Magnolia Cafe West staff hold emotion-packed reunions

You remember that time when you worked at the fun place.

Where everyone who punched the clock was a bit quirky. Some of them might have appeared out of place at first, but everyone eventually fit in.

True, a fair share of dramas ensued. Some people misbehaved. Yet the job got done. And people flocked to the spot because of the undeniable energy.

Magnolia Cafe West, a 24-hour diner squeezed behind a small parking lot on Lake Austin Boulevard across from the Deep Eddy Cabaret, was one of those places.

Founded as the Omelettry West in 1979, it was a 24-hour diner with a delightful counterculture vibe.

Serving guests, some of them still carousing from the previous evening out, was never enough. The staff formed bands and made home movies. They sang theme songs, pulled practical jokes, broke up fights, and forged long-lasting relationships.

This particular spot was rechristened Magnolia Cafe West after Kent Cole and family bought out partner Ken Carpenter, who owned the original Omelettry on Burnet Road.

During a year of many losses, Cole closed Magnolia Cafe West permanently in 2020 as the pandemic slowed dining out to a halt. The South Congress Magnolia Cafe, which was founded in 1988, survives, but is no longer open 24 hours.

“Magnolia Cafe Lake Austin had a great 41 years offering our fare, our style and, most importantly, a place for people from the neighborhood and from all over the world to come together and do what people do best — have a meal and talk to each other,” restaurant management posted on Facebook. “And we, our family and all the staff and management through the years got to do what makes people their best — take care of other people.”

Putting together two Magnolia reunions

These days, Magnolia Cafe West employees have not forgotten that slice of magic at the "Mag." On July 5, some gathered at Donn's Depot, then on July 6, several dozen of them held a more expansive reunion at Meanwhile Brewing.

"It was a good time filled with a bunch of catching up and conversation," said Adam Daigle, one of the organizers. "In some ways, it truly felt like we were out having a drink after a shift rather than seeing each other again after all these years.

"Saturday's event at Meanwhile Brewing was larger, and the count I saw being thrown around was upwards of 65 people. At that one, we had the old sign from our Lake Austin store propped up inside — along with the wooden pterodactyl that was hanging in the patio — so people could take pictures with that as the backdrop."

As a journalist who has attended more than my share of going-away parties and reunions recently, I'm grateful that some of the cafe crowd were kind enough to share their memories of what had been the "fun place to work" for more than 40 years.

Cris Fierro: 'What defined my twenties in Austin'

Being in Austin in your twenties was magical: Riding bikes around town, going to shows at Liberty Lunch, going to the Ritz, and working the late night shift at the "Mag" was what defined my twenties in Austin.

After working at Katz’s for about a year, I got fired for “gently” throwing a customer’s change towards them at about 1 a.m. Thankfully, the folks at the Mag hired me and I quickly worked myself back into late night shifts.

I had made good friends at Katz’s, but I met family at the Mag. Thirty years later, many of the people I met way back in 1995 I still consider family today.

I worked at the Mag on and off from 1995 to about 2002-ish. I waited tables and took a turn as a shift manager before eventually moving on to pursuits outside of the restaurant industry.

I was saddened to hear that the building I called a second home would be gone, but I am grateful for the family I was able to meet.

Imani Simmons: Tales of trouble and love

I worked at Magnolia cafe from 2004 to 2014 at both the West and South stores, but the West store was my home. Slinging pancakes and bacon paid my rent, put me through college twice, led to me having my son and finding my husband. Here are a few of my favorite stories:

• On the patio side of Magnolia, things could get pretty rowdy after the bars let out. We had two regulars, one who used to be a bodyguard for NWA and his other big bodyguard-looking friend. At one point, a table of frat boys became really rowdy and rude and may have even insulted one of our waitresses. They stood up and began to threaten another table that had had enough of their obnoxious behavior. Jeff, the former NWA bodyguard stood up and said, “Anybody who wants to fight, form a line here.” The group of rowdy frat boys all shut up and sat down within a matter of seconds.
• After the late night rush, when all of our chores were done, many of us — who had planned ahead of time — would take frozen pancakes out into the parking lot and play pancake frisbee.
• At one point at Magnolia, there was a hilarious host named Chris. His favorite thing to do was to pull practical jokes on our manager, Blake. Multiple times, he went into the bathrooms and he would create thought bubbles and then write things like “why am I such a dork” and “how come nobody will ever love me?” He would then ask Blake to go check his side work, which was the bathrooms, and Blake would find himself standing in front of those bubbles contemplating the concepts that Chris had chosen for him.
• One night, when Chris had a little bit too much time on his hand, he snuck into the ceiling with a bucket full of spaghetti and waited until Blake was in the bathroom, poured all the spaghetti on his Blake’s head. Blake was pretty upset, and Chris was smart enough to be hidden right after his epic prank.
• Speaking of Blake, one of our cooks Rick noticed that Blake wore the same outfit, scowled and always came in with a Monster energy drink. For Halloween, Rick showed up wearing the same shirt Blake always wore, scowled and walked around with a Monster drink all night long. The best part was seeing Blake try not to smile.
• My personal favorite thing about Magnolia was that on late nights you could play anything you wanted. Because of this I was exposed to French metal, old country music, and a lot of old hip-hop. There were two albums that, no matter what, the entire restaurant would sing along to. Those albums were Queen‘s "Greatest Hits" and Snoop Dogg‘s "Doggy Style." Nothing brings me as much happiness as hearing either of those artists and remembering an entire restaurant, of extremely different people, singing and joyfully loving where they were at that moment.

Esau Milenthal: 'An incubator of sorts'

It was an iconic restaurant but it was the figurative family — and literal families — it created that make it really special. People worked there for 5 to 20 years creating lifelong bonds. Dozens of marriages, business partnerships, amazing impactful future careers and future businesses were born from this. I would go as far as to call it an incubator of sorts.

Adam Daigle: 11 years as cook and manager

Though brunches were busier, weekend late nights were close, plus most of the clientele was wasted. It took a special breed of person to hack it working all night and sleeping during the day while their friends and loved ones were out and about. Though sleeping during the heat of an Austin summer ain’t too bad.

After our shifts we’d often gather at someone’s place, usually someone who didn’t have roommates, or had roommates who went to work early. If we got all our side work done early, and the morning shift person came in on time, we’d get off work too early to buy some after-shift beers, and we’d have to wait outside the convenience store until 7 a.m.

Of course, during those late night shifts we encountered some colorful and entertaining guests. The highlights of that were when celebrities came in late after shows, or generally visiting Austin. I’ve fed people from ZZ Top and Michael Moore to Woody Harrelson and Alex Jones.

I ended up having a conversation at the counter with Lily Taylor while she was picking up an order, and had a delightful conversation, not knowing it was her until after she’d left. The best famous people who came in were the ones who weren’t looking to be recognized and just wanted to eat some good food in peace.

We also had some less than exemplary guests, usually those who were drunk and rambunctious. The worst of that kind were the frat bros who struck out at the clubs and treated the restaurant as a last-ditch effort to hit on women.

I was managing a late night shift once when a group of four guys were lewdly and relentlessly hitting on a four-top of young women. I politely asked them to keep to themselves the first time. A good trick is to give that kind of instruction to the least-drunk person in the group and hope that they manage their friends, which usually works.

I was more stern on my second pass by, and then very stern on the last attempt. Being embarrassed by a scrawny restaurant worker with dreads ruffled their egos and one of them puffed up his chest and asked me if I wanted to take it outside while I was telling them to pay their bill and get out.

Knowing we had an eight-top of DPS officers in the patio dining room, I took the frat bros up on their offer and headed out to the porch. As I stepped out on the porch I popped my head into the patio dining room and said to the cops, who were regulars, “Hey guys, I’m gonna need some help real quick.”

As I turned back to the porch these four large drunk guys came flowing out. As the biggest one started to open his mouth to talk trash to me, the whole squad of DPS officers — one we nicknamed Supercop — came streaming out the other door. The look on the unruly guys’ faces was priceless and is something that’s burned into my memory. The cops told the guys to go back in, pay their check and tip 50%, and get out.

This kind of thing happened all the time. There are stories of attempted domestic abuse in the parking lot where a server shouted back to the kitchen that they needed backup. And the entire line came out to help, some cooks not bothering to — or choosing not to — put down their knives and spatulas.

Jenivieve Nugent: 'We truly miss those days'

When I started working at Magnolia at the age of 17, the staff showed me what friendship and family looked like (and) felt like. I never had many friends growing up but somehow managed to make life-long friendships there.

It seems many people did. The culture was inviting and accepting no matter what your background was.

Magnolia ultimately brought me my own family. I met the father of my child there. The establishment really touched and changed so many people’s lives.

We truly miss those days when we were part of the Magnolia crew.