On the Clock at Joe’s Bakery with Austin’s Most Beloved Waitress | Bon Appétit
"Opened in 1962 on East Seventh Street, this East Austin neighborhood bakery has become a community institution centered on hot coffee, breakfast tacos, and pan dulce. Maggie Flores, who has waited tables there for 48 years, starts her shift at 5:15 a.m., brewing coffee "two pounds at a time" and performing ritual tasks—pouring the first cup with four creams and one Sweet ’N Low, filling salsa thimbles for carryout, and tending an early-morning hush until the first ticket at 5:57 signals the rush. By midmorning the kitchen pass is crowded and lively, with a competitive scramble for plates, jukebox tunes that spark dancing, and a steady stream of regulars and dignitaries (from Cesar Chavez to local politicians and architects) who praise Flores’s calm efficiency, uncanny memory for orders, and warm, family-making presence. Founded by Joe and Paula Avila during a period of deep segregation, the place has long been a welcoming anchor for the neighborhood, and Flores—now nearing 70—remains a five-days-a-week fixture, resilient after a 2011 knee surgery and sustained by a power nap and the occasional canned Miller Lite; a framed 2007 profile captures her longevity as "15 percent of forever." - ByMike Sutter
