The Best Cafés in Austin
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The best cafés in Austin, according to the experts: Michelin Guide, Eater, and James Beard Awards have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Mercado Sin Nombre comes out on top.
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A flower-strung alley leads to an order window in East Austin, which is a whole vibe before the coffee even arrives. Mercado Sin Nombre is a Mexican coffee shop built around heirloom corn and specialty coffee, with pastries that take the idea seriously, including a biscuit that takes 100 hours to make. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and a James Beard Outstanding Bakery semifinalist, it keeps the name deliberately small so the farmers doing the work stay front and center.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
- Eater Eater: Best New Café
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Eater Best New Café
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
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A cafe and bar where the grounds do half the work: twenty tree species, a working garden, and a stream running through a South Austin property that makes it surprisingly easy to justify a third coffee. The team behind Veracruz All Natural and DEE DEE partnered up here, so the food skews Mexican and Thai alongside the cafe menu. Come for the laptop-friendly shade, stay because it turns into a bar once the afternoon earns it.
The awards
- The Austin Chronicle The Austin Chronicle: 2026 · Best Botanical Work Escape · Best of Austin