In a June 5 Facebook post, Taylor thanked the founder of the restaurant, Charles Mayes, who opened Café Josie in 1997 and ran the restaurant before Taylor took over in 2013.
“I never know I could be so connected to something and then for it to be gone,” Taylor said.
Mayes is a longtime restaurant industry staple in Austin; he owned Mother’s Cafe in Hyde Park before selling it to its current owners, Anne Daniels, Cameron Alexander and John Silberberg.
In a 2019 interview with Community Impact Newspaper, Jack Gilmore of Jack Allen’s Kitchen credited Mayes as one of the chefs who built Austin’s dining scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, along with peers such as Alan Lazarus at Vespaio, David Garrido at Jeffrey’s and Tyson Cole at Uchi.
In his own Facebook post, Mayes bid farewell to the neighborhood staple on West Sixth.
“Café Josie’s success was built by hands-on hard work, a commitment to quality, and a sense of place and community. Loved but not forgotten,” Mayes said.
Taylor, a Texas State University graduate, owns the San Marcos restaurant Industry with Harlan Scott.
