If you’re driving through Austin in search of a local coffee shop, you’ll likely stumble across 24-hour cafes like Bennu Coffee and Epoch Coffee.
As someone from Dallas, homegrown coffee shops are not common, instead chains are everywhere. After moving to Austin, it’s apparent that there’s more to your local coffee shop than meets the eye. Behind places like Bennu and Epoch there’s a thriving Austin late night community — a community that is tired, determined and in need of caffeine.
Bennu is an independently owned coffee shop with locations throughout East and Central Austin. With a warm, cozy ambiance, comfortable couches, dim lighting, a selection of drinks named after classic literature and nationally recognized cold brews, Bennu is a great option for late night studying. The cafe offers spacious seating options and Wi-Fi that’s accessible after a purchase.
When you enter the shop, you’re hit with the smell of warm espresso and will likely come across many students engulfed in their work, with the sound of typing and quiet chatter in the background. The atmosphere could be described as similar to a library with Bennu’s wide selection of gourmet mochas, each named after classic novels like “The Raven” or “Pride and Prejudice.”
“When considering the interior of the shops, we were using ‘old world library’ as our inspiration,” said Stephanie Williams, co-owner of Bennu. “We’ve never been sure if this actually came through, but that’s the design aesthetic we were aiming for. It felt like a natural extension to name the mochas after classic literature.”
At first glance, Bennu’s menu caught my attention. My personal favorite was the “Don Quixote,” a mocha with Azteca D’Oro spiced chocolate topped with homemade whipped cream and Mexican spiced powder. However, any mocha combined with their bacon, egg and cheese sandwich makes a tasty study snack while you work on those Canvas assignments.
Epoch has a similar atmosphere to Bennu, though it’s a bit more eclectic in terms of its guests and environment. However, only one location – located on North Loop – is open 24 hours.
Epoch offers a more collaborative space. With plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, it compares to the iconic coffee shop in the hit show “Friends.” The coffee shop is filled with a diverse crowd ranging from students, community members, 20-somethings meeting their friends or corporate employees getting work done.
Many students take advantage of the productive atmosphere Epoch provides. Freshmen Brielle Chathan and Vivian Nguyen say that places like Epoch provide an environment that’s unlike anything on campus
“The PCL is kind of depressing. Like so depressing. The smell (at Epoch) is nice and the environment’s nicer,” Nguyen said.
Chathan agreed, comparing the atmosphere to the gothic architecture of Hogwarts in “Harry Potter,” which she said is much better than the PCL.
Nguyen and Chathan said there should be more 24-hour spaces to support students’ late night studying needs.
While their menu isn’t as expansive as Bennu’s, they have excellent options. Their Autumn menu features a version of the classic autumn staple, a pumpkin spice latte. Other options include their spiced fig tea latte, which has black tea with spiced fig essence, pumpkin spice syrup and steamed milk.
The pumpkin spice latte tasted great with oat milk, though nothing set it apart from other pumpkin spice lattes. You could definitely taste the spice in the spiced fig tea latte. The matcha latte is a solid choice if you want something simple yet savory.
Despite the different environments, there’s no denying that both shops provide a crucial space for Austin’s “third-shift” community.
“It is meaningful to us to be there for the third shifters, for students and for people who work in tech burning the midnight oil, for bartenders who need to unwind after getting off, for emergency personnel needing some coffee on the way into their unconventional shifts,” Williams said. “It might not be the norm, but Austin has enough of a late-night community that we want to be there for (them).”
Whether it’s to spend hours debriefing with your friends, catching up on work or grabbing a midnight snack, coffee shops like Bennu and Epoch honor the “Old Austin” by bringing back a different form of late-night culture that may have never left.
