Not everyone here is a true, wild-eyed weirdo. But to many Austinites, Magnolia Café, with its “Sorry, We’re Open” slogan and 24-hour schedule, is a lingering icon of everything that’s still wacky about the city. Even if you’re tempted to dismiss Magnolia (along with the “Keep Austin Weird” motto) as a contrived attempt to commercialize the slacker fetish, try making that argument after late-night hunger strikes and you find yourself in front of a bowl of irresistible queso. As such, the restaurant is often packed at the most unlikely times, when a queue can trail out the door and into the moonlight. But don’t be discouraged—seating is efficient. Service is fast and quirky, often delivered by a harried waiter passing by in a blur and a twinkle of studs and piercings. But would we have it any other way?

Magnolia’s menu fuses Austin’s diverse culinary traditions: comfort food, Tex-Mex, and pan-vegetarian. Sometimes they try to do it all at once, transporting you right back to the infancy of American fusion in 1988, when something like a “tropical turkey taco”—with smoked turkey, jack cheese, avocado, pico de gallo, and pineapple in a whole-wheat tortilla—still seemed daring. Nowadays, even your mom’s salsa is spicier than Magnolia’s, but the tropical turkey taco is still tasty. So is the unique curried stuffed squash.

Much less successful are Magnolia’s attempts to replicate cuisines like Mexican (timid enchiladas have no south-of-the-border flair) and Italian (pasta dishes are bland and ill conceived). But Magnolia’s queso is deservedly legendary, whether you prefer the comfortable, well-textured plain version or the immensely popular Mag Mud, packed with black beans, avocado, and pico de gallo. After all this eclecticism, though, Magnolia’s greatest strengths lie in its simple, American home cooking, like warm brownies topped with rich vanilla ice cream, and above all, their wonderful pancakes. But maybe that’s only fitting, for home is where the heart is, and sooner or later, in the wee hours of two remarkable decades, many Austinites have left their hearts at Magnolia Café.

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