La Tazza Fresca
Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: University of Texas519 W 37th St
Austin, TX 78705 (512) 453-0403
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Wi-Fi: Free
19 Reviews for La Tazza Fresca
turkish coffee (only 'to go' place i know of in the city with it). teacher discounts (i knew that adjunct class would come in handy for something). right next to the laundry mat. i only go when i'm doing laundry. i often do laundry during times i intensely need caffeine. i'm grateful la tazza fresca is next door and not some other horrid place.
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I see that the other reviewers rave about this place at night, and confess to having only been there on a weekday lunch while getting an inspection next door at Groovy Lube.
Also, I realize that this is a coffee shop, and I did not drink any coffee - but here goes my review, regardless.
I had the soup of the day (tomato basil) and a vegetarian samosa. The soup was lousy. It was not creamy like good tomato basil; in fact, it was way too acidic. What really got me, though, was that it appeared that it was not made with fresh basil - there were lots of little pieces of dried herbs floating around. It was also a little too salty.
The samosa was too greasy and not very crispy. (Keep the oil really hot when you fry stuff, folks.) It did come with a side of tabbouleh in a small plastic cup, which was a nice unexpected touch. The tabbouleh was really, really salty though.
The place does have a nice atmosphere and a good location, and one extra star is awarded because the girl working was very friendly and gave me a couple slices of bread to dip in my soup.
I'd be willing to give it another try - maybe next time I'm due for an oil change, I'll try that egg salad sandwich Michael K. raves about, and get some coffee.
I've mainly been to LTF at night to study. It has a bottomless cup of coffee, but at night the coffee often tastes like it's been sitting forever. Another minus: there was a barista there (dunno if she still works there) whom I observed handling money and all kinds of substances and then touching the business end of the spoon used to hold foam in the frothing pitcher during a pour. I can't imagine a better medium for propagating pathogens than tepid milk.
The chai is too sweet (my kingdom for a nice SPICY chai--recommendations?) and the muffins and doughnuts are sometimes-stale and definitely from Costco (not a knock on Costco, but I could just buy those there myself and eat them at home if I wanted so-so muffins).
Also, as other reviewers note, this place gets very crowded at night; it's also dark and suffers from a lack of electrical outlets. It also shares its restrooms with the Groovy Lube next door. Finally, in a rather incredible story, one of my peers had his textbooks stolen off a table there. Someone literally ran into the place, snatched his books right out from in front of a friend with whom he'd left them, and ran out, leaving the poor girl who was watching the books to chase the thief down the street. All in all, FAR from my first choice of coffee houses.
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This place has THE best egg salad sandwich I've had perhaps ever for $3.99. The bread is toasted, and it's served with an espresso cup filled with home made tabbouleh with fresh onions. I was expecting your bland 7-11-on-the-go-egg salad sandwich, but this was not that. Fresh and very yummy. The staff here is relaxed and friendly. My barista let me pay after I had finished eating - the message was "take your time, no rush." An espresso here will run you more than most places, but the food (at least the egg salad sandwich) is a deal of deals.
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This is my favorite coffee shop in Austin. The coffee drinks are decent, they serve alcohol, and it's a wonderful atmosphere. I've only experienced it at night, and always have a positive experience. They are also open really late (early?) for students pulling an all-nighter.
Sometimes they have live music to complement the atmosphere: relaxed and chill. When there's not live music, they often play jazz or big band. When I want to meet up with people in Central Austin, I always suggest La Tazza Fresca.
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Great atmosphere, bad lattes.
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OK, I really hate to not give La Tazza five stars, but like a previous reviewer mentioned, the lack of seating on busy nights (people tend to camp out here, like, HARD-CORE. Myself included.) and the daytime shout-outs by Groovy Lube employees stole the fifth star away.
Other than those two very minor issues, however, I reallysuperduper love this coffee shop. It's a 45 second bike ride from my house (oh, sometimes two minutes when drivers on Guadalupe are being buttheads and not letting me cross) and I find the lighting inside to be dim, yet perfect. The people who work here rock my socks off. They're all soso nice.
Turkish coffee is AMAZING, cake's delicious, the tomato basil soup saved my life one night (even though it's kinda spicy and I'm a wimpy Swede) and the general ambience of this place pleases me very much. It doesn't even bother me that the bathroom, shared by Groovy Lube, smells like engine grease.
The patio is adorable and great for bumming around and studying on a warm, lazy weekend morning.
Oh, they also sell Shiner and several kinds o' wine, which I cannot legally buy yet, but the rest of you can enjoy.
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I walk over to Tazza Fresca about once a month when my friends have a show there. I don't drink coffee, but I really enjoy a good coffee shop atmosphere. The atmosphere here is great. I like the art (even though some of it freaks me out a little) and the nice big wood tables. However, every time I go, the service is slower than any coffee shop I have ever been to. I don't know if the girl that works there on weekend nights is an exception to the rule or not. I didn't notice anyone mention the service in any other reviews, so I am guessing that might be the case.
Overall, though, the place is a great place to get some work done and/or listen to music with your friends over a cup of hot chocolate.
Very nice atmosphere and really good coffee. Awesome for the studying crowd but maybe not so much for the crowd that wants to just socialize.
While I was there, the music selection was very good: some Chris Isaac, some Jazz, etc.
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La Tazza Fresca is a cozy and vibrant little cafe, nicely located just off Guadalupe.
Aided by an eclectic mix of art on the walls, the vibe here is happy and artistic, though not in an obnoxious hippie jam band kind of way.
If you go here, expect baristas that are low key and friendly, iced tea that's decidedly solid, and a surprising variety of tasty food on offer. I recommend the five dollar calzones.
The clientele is diverse and ranges from Thomist theologians to weed-smoking beat poets.
But my favorite bonus to La Tazza is the strange and unpredictable assortment of open mic musicians that seem to appear ex nihilo. These musicians are not always, shall we say... good (though some of them are). But even the oddballs can be entertaining.
On one occasion, I remember witnessing a girl of highly gothic appearance (and by highly gothic, I mean that she probably sleeps in a jewel-encrusted coffin) sitting poised upon her stool, writing what I can only assume was eschatological poetry on her Mac Book. At this point, a man who might be described as a black, bluesier Art Garfunkel sat down with guitar in hand and proceeded to belt out, in stentorian tones, some very odd sounding tunes. Before he could strum even his third chord, our gothic girl bolted for the door like an elephant to the Ganges.
I'll never know whether this gothic beauty was repulsed by sappy love songs or whether the music simply reminded her that she was late for a Type O Negative concert.
This is a good cafe.
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A very small place but comfy. They have a nice patio but the roar of Guadalupe isn't very comforting. The coffee dude made a great cap. I liked the place but the parking is minimal.
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This is a small cafe and gets crowded easily. Groups would do best to grab a hookah and head outside.
The wine and coffee are both good, and the hookah's not too bad either.
It's a mixed crowd, which I like. Makes for interesting people watching. Also, I've been there a couple times when they were hosting a salsa class. THAT was funny to watch.
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Great irish cream coffee! Good selection of beer, wine and teas. They advertise crepes but never seem to have the ingredients to make them, coincidentally. If you have tried them, drop me a line!
They also offer FREE Milonga tango mixers the 2nd Friday of the month, along with local acts other nights. This has included anything from a keyboard/light show and rapper to a fiddle player (she was good.) Also a few board games in a corner shelf, so challenge a friend to a good old game of Scrabble. Just be sure to have a dictionary on hand.
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Everytime I've been here I've had a good/bad experience. Or maybe it was just TOO good a good experience that I wasn't ready for it which made it bad. Allow me to explain:
1. Went here hungover while doing laundry and got 2 sausage and egg burritos. Burritos were delicious but my stomach hated them because they were too good. Too good for my lame stomach to digest...
2. While doing laundry went to go get some coffee and decided to try to Turkish Coffee since there was no description and the guy said it had cinnamon or something. I usually drink coffee but seriously I thought I was on meth. I don't know what the hell was in that coffee but I wanted that high to end quick. Go check it out...turkish coffee. I wasn't ready for the intense caffeine I consumed so that was my bad being not prepared for awesome.
3. Asked for some chocolate milk and it turned out being delicious and he only charged me a dollar! A DOLLAR!
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Once upon a time, my car's inspection sticker was out of date. I didn't know what to do, so I headed to Groovy Lube. The Groovy Lube guys said there'd be a 40-minute or so wait. Hmm, what to do when stuck at Groovy Lube?
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Head to La Tazza Fresca! Whether your car is being serviced or you're sick of the Spider House scene, take some time to grab a coffee (or a glass of wine) from this quaint yet oh-so lovable coffee shop on Guadalupe.
LTF is open until 2am--making it a great place to take advantage of the FREE Wi-Fi, study, or sip wine until late hours of the night. Large groups, BEWARE, seating is rather limited, and the cafe is small.
Personable service and a delicious cappaccinio ensured that my first trip to LTF would not be my last.
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Delicious coffee. I am not a huge fan of studying inside during the day because there will be regular interruptions by Groovy Lubers calling out names. This is an acceptable cost of the LTF/GL symbiosis, but it wrecks my concentration. Your mileage may vary; comments void after Groovy Lube closing time.
If you are not there to study, then you'll want a comfy chair. There are a couple of stuffed chairs in one corner; I find the rest are a bit uncomfortable for the long haul. On a nice day, the patio is bliss.
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La Tazza Fresca is perhaps secretly my most favorite coffeeshop in town. I love the fact that it's not too hipstery. There's always a wide array of people in the place of varying ages, ethnicties, etc. Their coffee drinks are delicious and STRONG! That Turkish coffee Alex speaks of, although I've never had the courage to touch it, my friend got it once.. (based on Alex's review -- he likes to be blown away by very intense coffee experiences).. and well, it was CRAZY. He was up til about 8 am. Not for the weak. At the bottom of the cup was like an inch of pure coffee sludge. Watch out. The decor is cozy and warm. Some cheezy art on the walls, but some good. The girls who work there are totally sweet and 'tudeless. They're open late. Decent patio with electrical outlets. But beware of some occasional BAD poetry readings. Holy smokes - I was in there the other day and heard one of the most horrifying performances I've ever had the misfortune to drop in on. Downright embarrassing. But I've never been much a fan of the slam poetry, so I'm biased. No, actually this was probably bad by anyone's standards.
oh and take note: DO NOT park across the street in the vet's office parking lot, EVER! Even if it's late at night and you're only running in for a coffee to go. You will be towed! We were towed in under 10 minutes under these same circumstances. Luckily, I caught the guys as they were about to drive away with my car & stopped them. Yet, they STILL made me cough up $45 in cash on the spot to save my ride. Some kind of racket.
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A cozy little coffee shop with a nice atmosphere and a nice selection of beverages for your consumption. The wifi connection is fast and solid, and they have a some nice jazz playing over the sound system. The employees have always been super nice and helpful; it's really hard not to crush on the girls that work there. It is quiet but not so quiet that you can't hang out and chat with a friend. The outside porch is great for those nice warm days and is a decent place for people watching. I can't really say much bad about this place. Go here if you feel that Spiderhouse has become too clique-ish or overcrowded.
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I love La Tazza Fresca. They have different entertainment here some nights. They have friendly baristas. They have a cutely decorated interior. You can talk all you want. One time a man was handing out free books of poetry. You are right on Guadalupe. Its open late. Many reasons to enjoy this fine establishment. When I lived across the street basically, I used to live on coffee from La Tazza Fresca. They have a cute little outside fenced in area and some big chairs inside. They sell wine and have WiFi, not too shabby! All in all, highly recommended. I'm not sure about the food situation ( being mostly a coffee only at coffee shops gal myself) but if its anything like the drinks Ive had there I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
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