04/06/07

There's a reason it's hard to get a table

by doublespanshack

All I have to say is- red potatoes for the home fries! They are delicious. I was afraid of the service from reading previous reviews. But my experience was very nice. I ordered an omelet not on the menu-avocado, bacon, cheddar, portabella- and they prepared it great to order with no hassles. I suppose if I had one thing to gripe about it would be thier coffee. Only because I like good gourmet coffee. Theirs is standard diner variety. Not bad, but considering the good food and great atmospere, they should have top notch coffee. They have a cool mural painted around the walls and a rotating art show, of local artists. Now that's cool!!

• Pros: home fries, atmosphere, flexibility,
• Cons: coffee not the best

09/25/09

Great Place

by hothathot

Solid food, good selection, kicks the **** out of Kirbey Lane/Denny's/IHop.

For those worried about the bad reviews concerning service - If you live in austin you should be used to the smug/overeducated waiter by now, so unless you are taking your grandparents and/or parole officer to lunch, go get the best migas in town.

• Pros: Migas, Portabello Melt
• Cons: Can be busy

02/03/09

Good breakfast but not great (by a long shot)

by shaft28

This is a solid 4 star breakfast/lunch place. The food is good and the service good but nothing here is great. I mean the subpar wiat room next to the sometimes stinky bathroom - not to mention the limited parking and the wait...well you expect more.

The specials are definitely where it is at as I feel the are the freshest but I am a fan of the taco breakfast.

Not huge portions and occassionally the wait staff will be smug; what is up with that in Austin? - anyway the wait has never been too long and the food service is quick so you are eating not long after you order.

Wish is was a more well rounded breakfast menu or at least the pancake/french toast was a little better than average.

My wife is a big fan of the the Queso Omelette.

11/29/08

I love this place

by tjreviews

I have eaten here around 10 times and have never been disappointed. The food is great, reasonably priced and they are always open. I enjoy the way the staff remembers what I like and that they are so friendly. I have been working my way around the menu and can recommend the following dishes: love migas, huevos rancheros, corn pancakes (I have had them throw in jalepenos and also blueberries, ginger pancake (I added bananas). I also have tried the specials and had a great stuffed pepper the other night. I also like their sense of humor (the t-shirts read "sorry, we're closed' and also that they sponsor NPR.

08/20/08

One of my favorite restaurants!

by Leelee84

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Austin! The Caspian is the best dish and so is everything on the breakfast menu (breakfast is served 24 hours a day)! If you're going to go for dinner or for breakfast on the weekends, be prepared to wait..but it's worth it!

08/18/08

great food

by bobcabor

Don't spend your money at places like denny's. Go to magnolia cafe. Good service, great food, reasonable prices.

08/16/08

Pancakes so good, you'll faint. Mag Mud equally as impressive.

by alexisjulian

Magnolia's pancake recipe: sugar and spice and everything nice. No, not really. But they must put about a pound of butter and gallon of sugar in each stack. They're absolutely divine. Enough to send you into a comatose state, but, in my opinion, totally worth it.

Mag Mud is equally as delicious and probably carries a nutritional box that is equally as horrifying. But is definitely worth the extra notch in your belt.

Good prices, great atmosphere, totally delicious food - what's not to love? Start up your day with a stack of Magnolia pancakes and round it out with Mag Mud at night. Magnolia can feed you all day - and night - long!

• Pros: Amazing food, Good prices, Several locations to get your fix
• Cons: Too far from me!, Inadequate parking

09/27/07

Austin, yes!

by austingirl112

I love this place. Simply put.

Great food, great hours, fun servers.... My favorite 24 hour joint. ;)

02/04/07

worst service ever!!!!And the food was not worth the $$

by c_monster

I have never knocked a resteraunt online, ecspecially one catering to the sixth street go-ers afterhours, but I cannot let my experience at Magnolia Lake Austin go. After work, two of my coworkers and I went there for food. We were having a conversation and were'nt ready to order when the waiter came to our table, he aggressively told us that we needed to hurry and order because they were getting slammed (which never actually happened, the room was only 2/4 full). Then, he avoided our table , walking past us and averting his eyes, we had to wait another 15 minutes to order. When we finally ordered he told us we were getting too much food, that it was going to take a long time. I tried to place a to-go order with him so he could put the order in all at once, but he said we could worry about that later. He brought our food and the check at the same time so I never even got to order my to go food. And worst of all, some actual rude customers who WERE drunk, came and sat at our table. The waiter told the guy to move his chair out of the aisle, and when my friend told the waiter they were'nt in our party, the waiter yelled at her and said " I don't care he still can't sit in the aisle".He should have asked THEM to leave , but instead WE were treated rudely. Being in the service industry myself I know what it is like to deal with jerks, but I can differentiate between jerks and nice people and the waitstaff at Magnolia obviously no longer takes the time to do that. If you want late night snacks, go to Star seeds, they may have rude waiters too, but at least the musics better and they refill your coffee.

• Pros: The woman who sat us was nice
• Cons: Unfortunately , we did not get seated in her section

02/02/07

best pancakes

by jojobear

I have been eating at the Magnolia for 15 years now. I love going there at all times of day, and have tried items from every part of the menu. Of course some things are a lot better than others. The pancakes are the best in town and you can never go wrong with the Love Veggies. The service can be random but I always feel that at least the staff are trying. This is the kind of restaurant that appears to employ people who actually care about their customer's experience, but at times they seem to be run a little ragged. One of my favorite things about going there is the fact that the restaurant has really managed to maintain that "old Austin" feel. The clientelle spans all age groups and the atmosphere is eclectic. I've noticed a marked change in the past few years in the quality of items on their dinner menu, and highly recommend trying one of the daily board specials. It seems a little weird ordering something here that costs more than ten dollars, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality.

• Pros: cheap tasty food in a casual environment
• Cons: parking can be a problem and sometimes the music is too loud for me