I looooooved the matcha here…read more I tried the mango sticky rice - amazing!! Blended so perfectly and around 8.50 but it is a larger size I also tried the kouignn Amin pastry and also loved this They heated up it up for me as well which was super nice Overall very cute spot Kinda hidden in the back of the south Congress hotel area near the water trade bar Service was great - super helpful with my questions about the pastries too This spot is great - definitely coming back

Today, not tomorrow. "Hoy, no mañana." I choose Mañana to get my almost daily injection of…read morecaffeine. Mañana is located at the South Congress Hotel has coffee + tea, bakeshop and grab + go offerings (primarily water, kombucha, paletas and juices). Of course I was there for a latte spiked with black sesame vanilla (their most popular latte) according to my barista, which I paired with an almond bear claw. This was not your typical bear claw as it was not eye-squinting sweet but bursting with almond flavoring primarily in the center. It was almost like a crescendo in a symphony when you got to the center of the bear claw. My latte was flavorful in a subtle way with the sesame vanilla permeating throughout the latte. It is important to note that they make their own pastries and tacos each day. The pastries are a bit pricey costing more than my latte. The coffee shop has floor to ceiling windows on two sides with one of the windows opening into a courtyard with additional seating. The beautifully titled coffee bar immediately grabs your attention. In addition, service was quick and efficient. I was in and out the coffee shop within 10 minutes. I parked right in front of the coffee shop as it was early before the meters started to tick.

Came to Cosmic with a friend. He suggested a Mexican food truck that is here. And of course we got…read moredrinks. He got a frozen mango drink. And I got the black cherry lemonade drink. My black cherry, vodka based drink was so good. It was sweet, and cherry flavored. Loved it. Thought I would only have 1 so I closed out my tab. I ended up getting a second one. But my friend treated me to my second. My friend also got the frozen coffee something. I didn't take a picture of the menu, and forgot what he got. I did have a sip of it, and wow, was that good. I need to come back here again, cause the food truck was great, the drinks were fantastic, and the whole area outside was perfect. I do have a friend coming to visit, so maybe we can come back and I can show her around.

Cosmic Pickle is a very unique venue located of S. Congress that I discovered while visiting…read moreanother nearby location. The Cosmic effect can be realized through the red string lighting inside. Cosmic has indoor seating and outdoor seating with a covered patio. The lush greenery and trees make the venue visually appealing. In addition, a food truck park is across the walkway creating more interest. Joint outdoor seating is also shared with the food truck park. You can easily toggle between the food trucks and Cosmic. In addition, since there is so much outdoor space, the venue appears to be dog friendly. The drink menu has quite a lot of variety. In the early morning hours, you have the opportunity to drink lattes, espresso or cold brews paired with pastries. As the day continues, you can add to the drink menu wines, beer and cocktails. I had hibiscus tea with a croissant...both delicious. That morning, I was the only customer, so I had dedicated service. Will have to return in the evening...

View 5/5 Latte 3/5 mediocre…read moreDanish 5/5. This was so good. The ricotta had some herbs (primarily Thyme I think). The pastry was perfect. Flaky and light. Service for the latte was a little slow even though it didn't seem like too many people were before me waiting for their drink. Very cute vibes. Parking in the plaza can fill up quickly so follow the signs for additional parking.

Things Mozart's does well: food and desserts…read more Drinks are falling behind. The peach cobbler matcha just tasted like matcha so why bother calling it peach cobbler? There was some stuff sprinkled on top but very disappointing. Things that are not so great: 1. Orders are all over the place. We got a matcha, a cold brew, and a drip. Matcha came out first. Never got a cup for the drip so had to ask. Also had to remind barista about the cold brew, which is easier and faster to make than the matcha given you just pour it in a cup with ice. Do they just jump around from ticket to ticket when making drinks? 2. I asked for our desserts to be in to go boxes and I wanted our savory food heated up because we were going to eat it there. I said this 3-4x. Everything was placed in to go containers so I had to take the savory food out and ask again for it to be heated up. Food placed after us was already in the toaster so we had to wait extra long for our food to be placed in there and heated up. 3. Music is way too loud. Can't even talk. Thankfully there was a longer than scheduled break in-between the first band and the second band that we could actually talk and enjoy our food. 4. The wait times are ridiculous. The line does NOT move that fast. Probably because people have to keep asking the workers where their stuff is. 5. Parking is terrible. A woman and her friend pulled out and I pulled in only to have valet claim it was their spot. How did a woman and her friend walk to her car and pull out if it was valet? There was also no cone but sure, it belongs to valet. Was this a way of trying to get us to pay? Touristy trap. Yes, I know there is an overflow lot. It is usually packed/full. I was also with elderly parents. Good luck walking down that hill without falling. They used to have someone in a little cart take people back and forth but not anymore. I tipped $8 for worse than Chipotle/Subway service. I've been here on a weekday mid-day before and they've forgotten my iced Americano before. I've had to go up and ask the baristas just standing around and clearly not working on my drink. Then I would sit down and 5-7 min would go by. Still no drink. Go back to the front. They say, oh there's your drink (half melted). I was sitting inside at a table talking with a friend. Surely if they called my name, I would have heard them but I guess they cannot be bothered. I've been coming to Mozart's since high school since I live nearby. Service has become a joke. It's turned into a tourist attraction with prices to match and extremely long lines The food is good, I will give them that. Once the food quality goes down, there is absolutely no point in coming. I also worked as a barista in high school and college. I can adequately judge the level of service as I've been through the crazy rushes. The service is terrible here. It's like they think because they're Mozart's on the lake, they can just not care about providing good service. The people working there, while always polite, do not seem like they like working there. I dont know how to explain it. I think it's because Mozart's is tourist attraction and no longer an actual Austin coffee shop. It feels like Starbucks right at the point Starbucks sold out. It's such a shame. I live a few minutes away so I would like to come here more often but every time I come, I'm always a bit unhappy about my visit.

Environment friendliness - doesn't have recycle bins…read more Best coffee in town, yet to try the pastries. Pros - has few tall bars with nice tall seats - Plenty of seating inside and outside, with these amenities around it feels like a nice location :) - has charging outlets - wifi (details below) and restroom Cons - Parking: usual downtown parking restrictions apply, 1 hour parking validation at Frost Tower, I wish it was for 3 hours; parking is such a headache around this area WiFi (no hotspot login is required) SSID: Houndstooth Frost pass: coffeeandcheese

The staff are great but the dirty chai latte was the most disgusting thing I've tasted - fake sugar…read moreand found out it was a concentrate. They don't even carry cinnamon or spices to try to make it feel more authentic. I got a descent cortado next time, but they short take the chai off the menu if it's as bad as their concentrate.

We stopped by Desnudo Coffee for a quick coffee break and really enjoyed it. The coffee was smooth,…read morerich, and had a great depth of flavor without being too bitter. We also grabbed a pastry to go with our drinks, and it paired perfectly with the coffee. The relaxed atmosphere made it a nice place to sit and enjoy a quiet break. A great spot for quality coffee and a little treat.

This was SO good. Literally was not expecting this from a matcha / coffee truck downtown, but it…read morewas an actually incredibly delicious matcha drink with such unique flavors. Huge kudos to the team for the attention to detail and unique combinations in terms of the drink menu!

best espresso I had in ATX - also a delicious pumpkin miso latte. they're roasting on site so the…read morewhole area smells delicious.

Loved my cafe latte and a mushroom cheese croissant. Reasonable pricing but not a '$' place right?…read moreThe latte was ~$6 and croissant was ~$5 so it's close to '$$' cafe. Kudos to ambiance , felt cozy vibes with plants and coffee beans all over the place with a nice outdoor seating area with plants and string lights! Free WiFi and ideal for travel nomads?! 3 star rating because the waitresses/cashiers were so distracted and they kept talking while not getting my coffee ready?! They don't callout the order so it was hard to take them and of course couldn't ask since they were busy talking. While billing my order, I was literally pointing my croissant for a good 2 mins and they didn't take my order.

The vibes are sick - so much space and fancy. I enjoy how clean it was too. They have an entire…read moresecond room full of coffee bean bags! Wild Matcha latte with espresso - was yummy and I didn't taste the bitterness from the matcha Crumb cake - exactly how I like it: crumby on top and moist all around. Surprised it's not dry, they did a good job Chai latte - sorry this was a miss. It needs more earthy tones Poppyseed muffin? - sorry I don't know how to explain this (can't find it online either) but it was sooo delicious. Really enjoyed the contrast of textures too Matcha latte - sorry this tasted like I was eating grass. On the bright side they didn't skimp out on matcha Blueberry latte - a seasonal flavor but it was delicious Overall there are some misses but I'd come back in a heartbeat because I can tell how much effort and care they put in.

Palomino Coffee looks like it belongs on the cover of Southern Living magazine. Inside you have…read moreabout 25% of the coffee shop sprinkled with lush green plants...they are draped along the wall, hanging from the ceiling...sitting on shelves throughout the coffee shop...they are beautiful! There is something about a live plant that brings life to a space. The first signage you see when entering the coffee shop is "All plants for sale". No ambiguity...super clear...a part of Palomino's brand! In addition to the plants, the furniture is modern, stylish and minimalist. You could tell the space was being used by remote workers, students and others who enjoyed a visually appealing space. Now for the coffee...I tried a seasonal pumpkin latte. It was flavorful, smooth and nicely balanced. My latte was paired with a bacon, egg and cheese taco from Venizos down the street. Notably, the taco was stuffed with ingredients and the homemade flour tortilla elevated the taste. Also, they serve pastries from Sour Duck, which provides additional choices. In addition, they have a moderate amount seating inside and small amount of covered seating outside.

Cute spot with parking in the garage next door!…read more The strawberry matcha is one of my favorites in Austin! The strawberry puree has that stringy texture I like. Alternative milk is $.75 extra. This spot is BUSY! Drinks come out fairly quick though. Probably lots of students from ACC across the street. Came on a weekday early afternoon and almost all the tables were taken and there were constantly customers going in and out.

After touring KAZI radio station, we decided to pop in for coffee. ok... coffee for me...water…read morefor the hubs. DAM Coffee Bar is a Vietnamese focused coffee shop located across the street. It is a medium sized coffee-shop, which appeared to be populated with college students as their were a large number of open PCs. I decided to go with the pistachio latte, which proved to be a good choice. It was flavorful and made with real pistachios. The iced coffee looked visually appealing with an ombre look. As I prepared to drink the latte, I imagined it being eye-squinting sweet. Surprisingly, I found the latte to be robustly flavored with a hint of sweetness. In addition, there is free parking in the attached garage. There are restrooms down the hall, which appeared to be shared. The restrooms were dated and of need of updating. My barista made my coffee well and rather quickly. She was friendly and welcoming. DAM coffee offers pastries also, however, they appear to be a bit pricey. Definitely would consider returning...

Came to Simona's with some coworkers for happy hour and was not disappointed! This place is behind…read morethe Colton hotel off Congress ave. There is a parking lot that you can get validation for 2 hrs free, but after that you will be charged. Overall though, it's totally worth a visit! The bartenders are really friendly, the bathrooms are immaculate, and the inside of the place is really cute -- think kinda pink vintage? There are some tables, and big comfy couches around a coffee table in the middle of the bar which is where we sat. I had one of their happy hour cocktails that was similar to a creamy espresso martini, and they are 50% off on happy hour days/times! My friend got one of their floral cocktails which wasn't discounted but I LOVED it personally. I also got a strawberry matcha drink (non alcoholic) that was a little too sweet in my opinion; I finished it but wouldn't get it again. Overall though the cocktails and vibe in there are worth a visit alone! When it's not too hot, the area outside has little mini-chandeliers and is also very vibey.

This is a review about the coffee and food aspect of Simona's…read more It is over priced. In terms of coffee, they are middle of the pack. There is much better coffee in austin. They have premium prices still. They sell pastries and they have a taco food truck connected to it. Both are still very much overpriced. I get it, they are inside a nice hotel and so they will charge a premium but at least have the quality match that.