by Lars H
I live in north Texas, but I was recently in Austin visiting some family and stopped by the locally famous Mozart Coffee Roasters shop on the shore of Lake Austin, right next to the equally famous Hula Hut restaurant. Mozart’s has been in business and roasting coffee since 1993, which is really before speciality coffee became a big thing. They were way ahead of the curve!
After checking out the menu, we ordered a decaf Americano, a hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and a vanilla latte. I also threw in a one pound bag of the regular Mozart’s Roasters beans to take home.
The shop was very busy and full on a Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. We couldn’t find any seats at all inside, or any seats outside on the top level patio. So we walked outside, past where a musician was still setting up for a live music set, and then walked down to the lower level seats right on the lake. A swarm of ducks immediately approached us in the water, hoping that we’d feed them some treats. When we didn’t, they quickly moved on.
By the way, the parking lot next to the shop was totally full, but there’s a giant parking lot across the street that had tons of spots, so check across the street if you can’t find a spot when you arrive.
The Americano was very hot and perfectly prepared. I would describe the taste as a very mainstream type of espresso drink not unlike what you might get at a Starbucks. So none of that sour, ultra fancy type of coffee. Very straightforward and good. I had a sip of the vanilla latte, and it was good, but much too sweet for my palate, since I tend to drink my coffees black or with just a little bit of milk, and my cappuccinos or lattes with no sugar at all.
But don’t think Mozart’s only has one mainstream blend, because they don’t! They had a big variety of very dark roasted coffees, if you’re into a bolder coffee. Some of the dark choices included coffee like the Vecchi Amici Italian dark roast, described as “Deep, dark Italian roast Central and South American Indonesian and African smokey and silky, yet smooth.” Or the French Dark Roast El Gato Negro, a “Costa Rica, Columbia, Sumatra roasted dark to French roast with bold deep roast flavors.”
But there was also a light medium roast Espresso D’Oro, “Brazil pulped natural, African and Indonesian, light / medium for Brazil and light for Indo/Afro blend. Golden espresso since 1998, caramel chocolate body and citrus fruit acidity.” Which sound like you can get it a little sour if you like it that way!
The service was friendly enough at this location, and the wait wasn’t too long. There was a little area where you’d stand and wait for your coffee to be called out that was near the merchandise shelves, so I was able to look at all the beans while I waited.
I’d say this coffee shop is a must visit in Austin if you want a shop that gives you the true, old school Austin vibe that I’ve appreciated since I was a kid when I used to visit Austin in the 80s. I enjoyed it here and I’d come back to this shop.