Kathleen Phillips hustles around the Donut Chef in Van Alstyne, Texas,
on a pair of bad knees, pouring coffee, taking orders, frying eggs and
manning the register, much like she’s done for the last 38 years. The
hole-in-the-wall joint in this small town north of Dallas has been in
the family since it opened in 1974. She greets customers by name with
her syrupy Texas drawl and pulls three syllables out of the word “yeah.”
When patrons get testy she fires back with her favorite one-liner:
“Kiss my grits.”
Phillips hopes the restaurant will stay in the family for another
four decades. Even if it survives, however, University of Texas
researchers say her Texas accent won’t. Indeed, it may just become
something of a social strategy.
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