“Sorry, we’re open” became “Sorry, we’re closed” but Magnolia Cafe’s memories live on

December 3, 2020

Kent Cole had two rules. The name had to have the word “cafe” and egg puns weren’t allowed.

The Magnolia Cafe, which would become an Austin staple for more than 30 years, became another victim of COVID-19 in April.

The cafe started with a naming contest. Co-owners Cole and his wife Diana Prechter had customers write suggestions for the cafe’s name on the back of guest checks. But of the 686 submissions, more than half had egg puns and most forgot to use the word “cafe.”

Cole and Prechter turned to a favorite cafe in New Orleans for inspiration instead: The Camellia Grill, an old-fashioned, white-picket fenced restaurant famous for its chocolate-pecan pie.

When Cole was a teenager, he competed at Tulane for his swim team and took the trolley often to eat at the cafe. As a suburban kid who grew up on McDonalds and trips to the local drugstore, it had the perfect balance of quality service and a welcoming atmosphere.

Mistaking the name of the cafe for a different flower, the magnolia, Cole and Prechter went to the courthouse with their perfect name: Magnolia Cafe.

Since 1987, Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin Boulevard has been a rest stop where families and friendships were built. First dates, job interviews and family reunions have all happened under its roof.

The cafe’s eclectic art, leather booths and tables decorated with prints of music notes and flowers are part of its humble charm. Open 24 hours, the blaring neon sign, “Sorry we’re open,” became a quintessential symbol of Magnolia Cafe.

The cafe expanded to a second location on South Congress in 1988. Cole comes from a line of self-employed people and his mom always told him how important it was to have a second source of income.

But when COVID-19 was declared a statewide emergency in March, the pandemic exacerbated the existing profit losses from restricted parking at Magnolia’s Lake Austin location.

“It used to be that those streets could hold dozens and dozens of parked cars,” Cole said.

The city had restricted public-street parking behind the cafe for residents only. Out of 1,500 businesses that closed down during the pandemic in the Austin-Round Rock area between March 1 and June 15, 155 were restaurants, according to a report from Yelp.

“We knew four or five years ago, we would have to close or rebrand the West store,” Cole said. “Then the virus hit. We needed cash to float the other store through an unknown length of time during a pandemic.”

On April 16, Magnolia Cafe announced the closure of its Lake Austin location. After hearing the news, customers weren’t just sad about losing a food spot, but of the memories they had made there.

Rebecca Mendoza said she remembers going to Magnolia Cafe for her first date in December 2017 with her current boyfriend. It was cold and her boyfriend wore his bright, neon-orange beanie.

She had just decided to go vegetarian a month before and felt intimidated eating out. But her boyfriend’s brother had given him a gift card to the cafe, which had vegetarian options.

Mendoza ordered a hot chocolate and said the lighting was perfect, with plants decorating the room. She said the first date felt “shiny.”

“I really hope (Magnolia Cafe) knows how much it means to me,” Mendoza said. “Whenever there were friends that were coming in from out of town, we always wanted to take them there. I got that good luck from Magnolia.”

Mendoza said losing the location of such a treasured moment is what made her so sad.

“I’m always going to love that memory,” Mendoza said. “If people knew that Magnolia was going to close, I feel like a lot of people would have gone out there and ordered food or even dined in.”

Magnolia Cafe also holds a special place for Andrew Sansom, former executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Sansom lives across Lake Austin in West Lake Hills and would pass by what he calls the “Mag” on his daily commute to work. He said it became a quaint and convenient place to meet people.

“I wasn’t the only regular,” Sansom said. “Even though I never really got to know some of (the other customers) very well, we recognized and greeted each other because that was our hangout.”

An invitation to Magnolia Cafe by Sansom meant good or bad news. It was where he offered someone a job or fired them. Every member of his family, from Wisconsin to Boston, also came to Magnolia Cafe when they visited Austin.

Throughout the 30 years Sansom ate at Magnolia Cafe, his orders chronicle his changing life. In the 80s, he ordered blueberry pancakes. As he got older, he switched to oatmeal and an egg-white omelet. In the last several years, he said he has eaten a bowl of fresh blueberries.

But more than his go-to order, Sansom became familiar with the waitstaff at Magnolia Cafe. He said a waitress there named Rebecca had “a huge smile and loving disposition,” who would greet him every morning with a hug as soon as he walked through the door.

“I used to tell people that the waitstaff at the Magnolida were going to be the pallbearers at my funeral,” Sansom said.

When Sansom drove up to the cafe for a breakfast meeting and saw it was closed, he said he felt depressed at how such a large part of his life no longer existed.

“It was an institution in my family as well as in my working life,” Sansom said.

Joy Miller, program manager of the Small Business Program in Austin, said the pandemic can be overwhelming for business owners whose livelihoods are already being diminished.

“It’s going to be a big blow if we have to go to any further restrictions,” Miller said. “We had hoped that we were on a trajectory back to health.”

Miller said knowledge on best business practices and COVID-19 guidelines is key for small businesses like Magnolia Cafe. The Small Business Program is working on funding grants to help keep businesses open until operations can return to 100%.

“You have to wear all the hats,” Miller said. “You have to be the one to find what the city is telling you. You have to be the one that talks to your employees and customers. You have to be the one that changes the lightbulb.”

Cole said the difference between running a small, family-owned business and a chain restaurant is the lack of support, investors, board of advisors or guidelines. Although it’s been easier for him to focus his efforts on one store, Cole said he worries about the worsening conditions of the pandemic.

“The wolf is at the door,” Cole said. “You just can’t see it.”

Despite the “great void” the Lake Austin location once was for Cole, the memories that were shared beneath its roof live on.

“(My favorite memory is) Diana and I sitting with the kids when they were little, playing a little game we called Four Corners using the crayons and the back of four kids menus,” Cole said.

For Cole, eating out at restaurants is a shared experience and said he loves witnessing his customers’ kids grow up and have kids of their own.

“Smiles. Laughter. Families. People talk and talk and don’t stop talking,” Cole said. “At any distance, any restaurant is a non-stop dance of positive human behavior.”