Category Archives: Austin Institutions

I will forever hold Magnolia’s Cafe in my heart. I have had too many good times and too much bacon there to ever forget. However, as far as diner food goes, I do love Kerbey Lane.

Most definitely Magnolia’s 24-hour rival, Kerbey Lane also has two locations on the South side of town and on West Campus. Perhaps their ambience isn’t as wacky and “Keep Austin Weird” as Mags – especially in the wee hours of the morning – but Kerbey is definitely still a good place to hang out.

Besides the cool interior and ever-friendly waiters, Kerbey Lane boasts “Homegrown Austin Food” and backs it up. I have made the journey past Magnolia’s South to Kerbey Lane South a number of times at different parts of the day and have found myself surprised each time with how good their food was.

The many menus (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, seasonal) always have something that’s either delicious, intriguing, and most often both. I have had the best experiences with their pumpkin pancakes, eggs italia, eggplant tartine, and enchiladas. In my opinion, their food honors the diner tradition and the Texas environment, but is so good that it stands on its own as a regular and respectable restaurant.

They also get major points in my book for having a seasonal menu that both acknowledges holidays and never fails to feature new foods that I always want to try. It’s so good I find myself wondering what new specials they will come up with.

And call me a Northerner, but I like my Migas best at Kerbey Lane. Everything about migas – tortilla chips, tomatoes, onions – comes through in full flavor in their eggs. I don’t know where Kerbey Lane gets their eggs or what secret magic they used to cook them, but I wish everyone would do the same.

I’m going to be honest. In large part for me, Magnolia’s isn’t really about the food. They’ve got some delicious breakfast plates and reasonably well-inspired and well-cooked traditional diner meals, but that’s not really the draw.

People come to Magnolia’s 24-hours a day 8-days a week to celebrate the perpetually awesome life of an Austinite. Magnolia exists and flourishes because people need to go do crazy fun things or see crazy cool bands and know they can continue their awesome night/day with a visit to an Austin institution – specifically one that embraces the quirky, offers breakfast tacos and other slightly greasy comfort foods, and has the kind of welcoming environment that will let the good times keep rolling.

For that, I praise Magnolia’s and respect its place as a fixture within Austin’s culture.

With that being said, I have been to Magnolia’s a million times and know their menu like the back of my hand. First off, stay away from their dinner tacos. There are a million better tacos to be had in Austin. Their breakfast tacos, on the other hand, are musts. Either the flaco taco (bacon, avocado, eggs) or the three alarm taco (three different salsas, eggs, and cheese) are sure to please at any time of night. Their pancakes are also divine and come huge and in different flavors, including gingerbread. If you are to make it past the always tempting breakfast menu, Magnolia’s boasts a surprisingly good specials menu. Their steak salad, crawfish etoufee, and stuffed squash are definitely worth trying if featured.