XL 2004 Dining Guide

Honesty is the main policy at Gene's Po' Boys and Deli

Photos by Ricardo B. Brazziell/AA-S Claudia and Gene Tumbs have a special relationship with their customers, and Gene makes all the dishes from scratch, such as the Thursday special: smothered pork chop, collard greens, sweet potatoes and corn bread, below.

When diners finish a meal at Gene's Po' Boys & Deli, they walk up to the cash register and tell the proprietor what they had.

There's no check from the servers detailing the dishes and drinks, and there's nothing other than a customer's honesty to assure that payment covers the full meal.

But that's how Gene Tumbs operates: with complete faith in his patrons.

"That's the way I am," Gene says. "I feel you ought to be honest by me. If you're not, you won't be blessed."

Consequently, Gene is certain he hasn't been ripped off in the four years the rustic, New Orleans-style restaurant has been open on East 11th Street in East Austin.

Instead, he often gets calls from panicked customers apologizing for their absent-mindedness and vowing to return immediately to take care of the oversight of leaving without paying.

It's that special relationship with customers that makes the hard work of running a small business so fulfilling for Gene and his wife, Claudia.

"I think they feel our souls, they feel our hearts," Claudia says.

A native of Arkansas, Gene began cooking by default: His mother considered him too young to work in the fields nearly 50 years ago, so she assigned him the task of preparing lunch.

That led to a lifelong career in the food industry, including stints running a meat market, a fried chicken restaurant and a grocery.

Then he met Claudia at a party in New Orleans on New Year's Eve of 1996. He was smitten, and she convinced him to move to Austin.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," she says with a smile.

Gene worked in another restaurant here while he and Claudia saved money to open a place of their own.

At Gene's, Gene makes everything from scratch, building a reputation for his daily, soul-food lunch specials, such as Thursday's smothered pork chops. His New Orleans-style po' boys, particularly the fried oyster, also have a loyal following.

To him, good cooking is simply an extension of customer relations.

"I enjoy meeting people. I enjoy serving people," he says. "Their response is what I wait for. I hope it's a good response."
-- Dale Rice