
Not surprisingly, Congress Avenue, infrequently called a Main Street of Texas, depends some-more coffee shops than any other 12-block widen of a city.
Before we dive into a internal outfits, though, we should note that Starbucks operates during slightest 6 arguable coffee outlets within easy walking stretch of Congress Avenue.
So a margin is doubly crowded.

Japanese solidified and iced coffee drinks during Houndstooth. Michael Barnes/American-Statesman
Houndstooth. 401 Congress Ave. 512-394-6051. houndstoothcoffee.com. Paid parking in area garages; really small on a street. Decaf (Americano), teas, chai. Unobtrusive music, copiousness of still spots.
The final time we met a crony during this high downtown coffee emporium on a belligerent building of a Frost Tower, he systematic a Japanese solidified coffee cocktail, while we had an iced decaf Americano yet a spirit of a grainy, musky qualities that infrequently dawdle in an Americano. This tabernacle to coffee, a second in a Houndstooth family, blossoms in Scandinavian red tile and blond wood. The roof soars above a churned throng sitting during counters and tables on winding stools, yet it frequency sounds too loud. The espresso and other coffee drinks are superb. The break and choice libation options are minimal. Bags of beans wait your inspection. The outward tables are charming in a morning, reduction so in a afternoon.

Caffe Medici operates dual coffee spots on Congress Avenue. This is a daddy shop. Michael Barnes/American-Statesman
Caffe Medici. 200 Congress Ave. 512-827-2770. caffemedici.com. Paid parking in area garages; really small travel parking. Decaf, teas, chai. Modish music. Quiet upstairs.
It was something of a startle when Caffe Medici, that operated a low-key, high-quality coffee emporium in an aged residence on a limit between Clarksville and Old West Austin, went into an wholly opposite instruction with emporium no. 2. Located in a mountainous Austonian downtown, this book blended complicated and contemporary styles with artistic taste. A few tables are sparse on a path for people watching, while dual vast patron areas wait inside. Upstairs is a still work area; downstairs includes mixed amicable and lounging options. One orders during a opposite during a back, afterwards espresso drinks are picked adult during a nightclub-like island well. During large festivals, I’ve watched some visitors who confused “caffe” with “cafe” and design some-more to eat. Locals know better. On their own, a drinks contest with a best on a avenue. Bonus: There’s a baby Caffe Medici that opens to a path with thriving outside seating in a 900 retard of Congress.

The Hideout has survived as a opening venue, coffee emporium and hangout for longer than most. Michael Barnes/American-Statesman
The Hideout. 617 Congress Ave. 512-443-3688. hideouttheatre.com. Paid parking in garages; really small travel parking. Decafe, teas, chai. Mellow music. Performance venues in a behind and upstairs.
The solitary survivor from a Middle Period of downtown Austin coffee houses, a Hideout is doubly famous as a opening venue that has hosted artists and audiences in a slightest 4 of it interior spaces. A knowledgable barista tells us that usually dual are now in use. The vibe here his creative, musty and authentic, yet that doesn’t meant a food and splash use has slacked off. In fact, by my estimates, it has softened enormously. Workers behind a streamlined opposite fetch espresso drinks, beer, wine, libation novelties, pizza, pastries, tacos, snacks, extract and water, usually to get we started. A dozen list and a high opposite reason a brew of meeters and laptoppers within dimly aflame embellished section walls. During a past few visits, a staff has proven unusually warning and helpful.

Cafe Aragona started as a Lavazza authorization outlet. Michael Barnes/American-Statesman
Caffe Aragona. 914 Congress Ave. 512-505-8784. caffearagona.com. 7 .am.-6 p.m. Mon-Fri., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., sealed Sun. Paid parking in circuitously garages, really small travel parking. Decaf, teas, chai. Minimal song during all. Outdoor seating underneath European umbrellas.
What started out as a authorization opening of a aged Italian coffee sequence is now locally owned Caffe Aragona. The Lavazza branding stays everywhere, yet a initial thing we beheld is that a food offerings seem some-more estimable than we had remembered. Sure, one can still sequence pastries, panini and gelato, yet now a importance seems to be on robust transport such a Chicken Bacon Ciabata, Sausage Roasted Pepper Pizza, Italian Baguette, Salmon Salad and such. The shop’s hours are further embellished to offer downtown workers, not wandering tourists or clubbers. Like clockwork, a lunch masses rush in around noon. Some are Capitol forms attired in suits, yet a rest simulate a common Austin infrequent look. They dawdle among stylish brightly pigmented chairs, tables and counters. Recall that Little City, that launched a complicated civic coffee emporium transformation in Austin, once thrived in a mark right door. It sealed in 2011.
Slake Cafe. 120 E. Seventh St. 512-476-0060. slakecafe.com. 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Paid parking in circuitously garages, really small travel parking. Decaf, teas, chai. Fairly shrill song during lunch.
We like a cafeteria that’s critical about coffee. Slake is such a one. The L-shaped room starts off with a briskly run opposite use that includes a full breakfast and lunch menu as good as piles of juicy pastries and a crowd of splash selections. Customers mostly use a high island opposite circuitously as a watchful hire for take-out orders. Around a dilemma are a dozen or some-more well-spaced tables and a full bar, that we assume gets some-more some-more use as a hours yield by. This is a place for eating and drinking, though, not working. Rare is a laptop. If we don’t live or labor downtown, it’s easy to forget this mark usually to a easterly of a Stephen F. Austin Hotel. But if this is your hood, we stop by here as mostly as possible.
Brian’s Brew Coffee. 515 Congress Ave. 512-738-7713. briansbrew.com. 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Parking in area garages, probably no circuitously travel parking. Decaf, teas, chai. No song during a visit. No apparent place to sit.
Imagine handling a coffee kiosk not most bigger than an old-fashined phone booth, if we can remember what those were. You’d need usually a right celebrity to fill it and Brian’s Brew gets that. Our barista on a usually revisit was alert, means and funny. While portion me, he kept adult a sprightly discuss with a member of a bureau tower’s engineering staff, who had remade one of those giant, old, costly espresso machines, yet not a slimmer, newer models like a one here — that indispensable some amatory care. One can find accessible spots like this one all over bureau buildings in incomparable cities, yet it’s not that common a steer in Austin. A useful sandwich house out on a path points a visitor in a right direction, yet one contingency try a bit over a conveyor run to find opposite with an extraordinary array of edibles and drinkables for such a parsimonious fit. As we left, a barista asked if my iced decaf Americano was usually right. To be honest, it seemed a bit stout, yet he was so kind, we replied: “Exactly.”
Floyd’s. 301 Congress Ave. 512-330-4044. floyds301.com. 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Fri. Parking in area garages, probably no circuitously travel parking. Decaf. Fairly quiet.
“Hard to find. Easy to love.” That’s a sign for Floyd’s, formed low inside a belligerent building of an 1980s-era bureau building that has undergone some spiffy renovations lately. The emporium seems streamlined to fit accurately a tastes of those business who can find it, in other words, white-collar workers in a hurry. The categorical libation menu is separate among classics, specialities and chocolate drinks. Breakfast transport includes bagels, tacos, sandwiches and breakfast bowls. Lunch goes a approach of presses, wraps and build-your-own sandwiches. The place is light and ethereal for a room yet extraneous windows; a tables and chairs are utilitarian. No bitch was done about it, yet my coffee splash strike a spot.
MORE AUSTIN COFFEE SHOPS
Near South Congress Avenue
Near Upper South Lamar
Near Lower South Lamar
Near South First Street
Near North Lamar
Near Burnet Road
Original 10,000 Coffee Shops array from 2007.
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