Where to drink the best Coffee in Austin, Texas

The best coffee in Austin Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Where to drink the best Coffee in Austin, Texas

It’s amazing to live in such a great coffee town. The question is who has the best coffee in Austin? Since there are so many locally roasted, owned and operated coffee joints in Austin, the options can be overwhelming.

But first a little background, Austin is known as The Live Music Capital of the World® an eclectic music scene centred on the country, blues and rock. It is home to unique attractions and world-class museums, Texas’ capital city has a soundtrack all its own.

Home to the University of Texas flagship campus, Austin is known for its many parks and lakes that are popular for hiking, biking, swimming and boating. South of the city, Formula One’s Circuit of the Americas raceway has hosted the United States Grand Prix

Discover Austin attractions. Spend a day exploring sculpture gardens and historic homes, zipline through the Hill Country or give the kids a hands-on experience at a number of STEM museums.

Coffee is the fundamental fuel that Austinites run on. It’s necessary for work, study, and play.

To cap it all the java juice at the local coffee shops tastes so much better than what you’ll find at the big chains and their beans are a lot cleaner and more fairly traded, too.

Need your coffee fix? Here is where to drink the best coffee in Austin, Texas.

1. Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden

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Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden is one of South Austin’s caffeinated pride and joy.

Situated near Alpine Pond, this impressively beautiful coffee and beer garden is the perfect place to get your morning started or wind down during the evening.

Stop in and take in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sight of their rainwater fed pond. Rarely are coffee spots so nature-filled and refreshing.

Speciality coffee, food trucks, cocktails, locally brewed draft beer, sustainable garden and live music.

2.  Houndstooth Coffee

Coffee in Austin Photo by Quang Anh Ha Nguyen from Pexels

Houndstooth makes some of the best coffee in Austin, and you’ll find the downtown location hidden in the base of the Frost Bank Tower.

You can tell this place pays attention to the details – like the slick decoration of the space, and exactly how loud to blast old-school hip hop so that you can still talk to the baristas about the pros and cons of oat milk.

This Houndstooth Coffee shop is growing quickly as the fourth city cafe up in the Rock Rose district in the Domain Northside.

Much like its East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard cafe, the Rock Rose location serves coffee, espresso drinks, as well as cocktails (including kegged ones), beers and wines.

3. Radio Coffee & Beer

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Radio Coffee and Beer is one of the highly-rated shops in South Austin when it comes to coffee and beer. Fresh and delicious food is served as well as cold and clean beer.

When it comes to their coffee, if it doesn’t meet their standards, then it will be remade. The service is also exceptional. These are some aspects that make Radio a one-of-a-kind coffee shop in Austin.

Radio has an open space that caters to the best parts of your local South Austin coffee shop and beer garden.

A great atmosphere and nice oak trees surround the place. Plenty of seating is available indoors and outdoors. There is also live music in the area which makes it pretty cool.

4. Mañana

Coffee roasting in Austin. Photo by ANTONI SHKRABA from Pexels

Chic cafe in South Congress Hotel, offering thoughtfully sourced coffee, juice & house-made pastries.

The uber-hip South Congress Hotel’s new craft coffee shop is the kind of café that will make your friends and Instagram followers swoon. But what makes this spot great is so much more than aesthetics.

Pair your morning joe with the everything kolache or sweeten it up with a latte and a vegan banana bread cookie from the hotel’s executive pastry chef.

5.  Greater Good Coffee Co.

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Greater Goods offers a carefully curated selection of speciality coffees from around the world.  The modern, architectural interior is bright and airy and filled with the energy of an upscale coffee shop that anchors East Austin’s reformation and growth.

Speciality coffee… with a splash of kindness. They source high-grade beans from all over the world and carefully roast them to bring out their best characteristics.

The skilled baristas (seriously, they’re awesome) can talk your ear off about brewing theory, extraction percentages and tasting notes, all while pulling you a mean espresso. They donate a portion of coffee sales to select Austin area charities.

6. Barrett’s Coffee

Cofee and meeting in Austin. Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

The Crestview coffee shop and roastery serve up an array of espresso drinks, including a chocolate-orange blossom latte, iced coffees, matcha and chai.

Barrett’s Coffee Roaster is all about “good coffee and a relaxing atmosphere”. With over 20 years in Austin’s native business, they are roasting really tasty coffees!

They have the “smoothest brew ever” and the staff are super friendly. They are responsible for bringing you the best possible coffees from farms around the world.

It’s open for takeout, indoor and patio on-site services, and coffee bean/cold-brew growler delivery services.

Order: barrettscoffee.com

7.  Once Over Coffee Bar

Barrista in  Austin. Photo by Pew Nguyen from Pexels

Once Over Coffee Bar is a coffee house in South Austin with an intense focus on quality coffee. We really geek out on all things coffee.

They have a gorgeous back patio overlooking Bouldin Creek and the product is always first-rate. They primarily use Dead Fingers, a custom blend from Austin’s Cuvée Coffee Roasters, but Counter Culture (and whatever their loyal regulars have procured for them during their trips) will make an appearance in the French press from time to time.

Like Houndstooth, Once Over has a nice selection of local beers for any non-coffee tag-a-longs.

Order: square.site

8. Halcyon

Coffee bean, grinds, java juice. Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Halcyon coffee is a 24-hour downtown destination for excellent coffee, alcohol, nicotine, and all of your legal vices under one roof. 

Halcyon is a unique urban concept that combines the comfort and convenience of a modern coffeehouse by day with a laid back bar and lounge atmosphere by night.

This spot serves as a buzzy date night spot or daytime work-from-your-laptop spot with a vibe that’s particularly unique to Austin.

Order: doordash.com

9.      Epoch Coffee

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Espresso drinks, pour-overs, housemade chai and expertly prepared potted teas. Pastries, Sandwiches, pizza slices and desserts. Beautiful environment is indoor and outdoor with Wifi.

Epoch is open 24/7, and a good thing too because you’ll find students huddled together over books and drinking coffee all night long. But it’s not just a staple for students – plenty of Austin natives frequent the café for great coffee and a great atmosphere – you may even run into a group playing 4-way chess!

There are two other locations: West Anderson Lane and Far West Boulevard. Pickup orders can be placed in person, and all locations are open for indoor and outdoor services.

10.  Flat Track Coffee

Coffee Shop interior in Austin, TexasPhoto by Quang Nguyen Vinh photo by Pexels

The space is tiny (only about 100 square feet) and the seating minimal, but this storefront for Flat Track Coffee, one of Austin’s newer micro-roasters, produces some big-time coffee.

The build-out is simple but striking; a slate wall with the Flat Track logo is juxtaposed with two white walls hung with rotating art and warm Edison bulbs.

The coffee program is equally austere and tasteful, only serving single-origin espresso beverages and cold brew coffee. With just a matte-black 2 group La Marzocco GB5 and a set of Mazzer and Mahlkönig grinders on the bar, Flat Track is an exercise in functionality.

They illustrate the simple joy of a really well-prepared drink; it’s the sort of shop that just takes a step back and lets the coffee do all the talking.

Order: flattrackcoffeetogo.com

The evolution of Austin’s coffee scene has gone from average to overwhelming, in recent years.  It’s only fitting with the massive flow of population growth we’ve seen, with no signs that it’s expected to slow down!

These days a modern-day coffee shop isn’t only limited to high-quality, sustainably-grown, roasted beans served by skilled baristas.