Meet the Staff

Check out the catches from this year’s Maggie Mae’s Annual Manager’s Retreat!

Meet our Bar Manager:

Q: What’s your name?

A: Sam Haynes

Q: How long have you worked at Maggie Mae’s?

A: Just under six years.

Q: What is your position at Maggie Mae’s?

A: I was recently promoted to Assistant Manager but I still love bartending.

Q: Name something that the average person wouldn’t know about Maggie Mae’s that you would know- since you’ve worked here so long.

A: It’s the oldest bar on the street. In April she will be 34 years old.

Q: What days do you work? When is a good time to say hi?

A: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Mondays. But Sunday and Mondays are the best days to find me. I took over Sunday and Monday nights a few years back when they were slower days. But we got some good bands in. On Sundays we have Alan Haynes, a local blue’s phenomenon, and on Monday’s we have Mike Milligan and the Altar Boyz. They do a Blue’s Jam for the first hour they play and they are a phenomenal band as it is. But from eight to nine you can see them play the jam and all of their buddies show up…. we’ve had four or five Grammy winners show up and play with them. One night the Fabulous Thunderbirds came in and played with them. So yeah, Sunday and Monday nights I’m always here.

Q: What nights are your favorite to hang out at Maggie’s? It sounds like Sundays and Mondays
is where it’s at.

A: Absolutely. If I had to hear two bands over and over again, it would be Alan Haynes and the Altar Boyz. They change it up and there’s always
something different. Alan Haynes- he’s played with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Buddy Guy… I mean, you can’t even name all
the people he’s been on tour with. It took us about a year of negotiating to get him to play for us every Sunday. We have a bunch of regulars for those
days. Some people come to see these guys every week, which is very cool. Especially on a cold, rainy night. You get 50 or 60 regulars in here and
suddenly it’s a lot of fun.

Q: Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of Maggie’s?

A: I like to hunt and fish. We recently had a Sixth Street paintball tournament that I put together. Everyone loved it!

So why is Maggie’s Mae’s different (Delete -than) from other bars? What makes it special?

A: I’ve worked everywhere. I started working downtown Austin when I was 18 as a door guy and I’ve bounced around from ghetto bars on the other side
of Sixth to the [4th Street/Warehouse District]. One thing about Maggie’s is that it’s a huge building. Most bars are genre based. Maggie Mae’s has a
much wider variety of people. We have 60 year olds in here drinking Gray Goose on the rocks down to girls who just turned 21 having their first
cherry vodka sour because they don’t know what else to drink. It’s fun. On a Friday or Saturday night, if you can’t find something you love at Maggie
Mae’s, there’s something wrong. There’s bands there, DJs here, all types of drinks, lots to see. I’ve never met anyone who said to me they didn’t like at least something at Maggie Mae’s.

Q: When you were bartending, what was the most unusual request you have had from a customer?

A: I’ve had a lot of weird requests from customers. Come to the bar and ask me about that sometime.

Q: Do you have a signature drink?

A: Yeah, actually I do. If you go to Tuaca’s Web site-(put their web.site here) I’m on there. About three of four years ago, Tuaca really started hitting
[Sixth] Street. They said if you have a good marketable shot, you could submit the recipe for cash and prizes. My friend did for me. They sent me an
email and said they would name the shot after me, the Toucan Sam. It’s a mix of Touca, cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime. Shaken really hard.
Simple but really good. Kinda tastes like fruit punch. It’s one of those drinks people say, “Is there alcohol in this?” There’s a lot of alcohol in it.
Laughter.

Q: What’s your favorite time of year at Maggie’s?

A: College football season. It’s great to watch the games on the TV’s and big screens all over the club. There’s always a game. Everyone has a good
time.

Q: Is there anything else you want to add about Maggie Mae’s that we didn’t talk about? Anything else special?

A: Besides me? Laughter. Well sure, I’d say the staff is great, but that goes without saying. They’re really great. Look… being here is always an
experience, that’s all I’d have to add really.