Comparing cafes Breakfast Businesses-

Lamb, “You never know who is going to come in.” Lamb works the night shift from 12-6am, so she’s seen it all: from people unironically dressed as wizards, to famous celebrities. She said “We have college students, we have business people, there’s just lots of people that float in through the day, all walks of life.” All in all, Epoch has, as Lamb said, “a super inclusive range.”

When asked why such an array of people are brought to Epoch, Lamb said “I think it’s because we are very indiscriminate whenever we serve people. And, our entire cast and crew, staff members, are equal and diverse as the people that we serve.”

All three Epoch Coffee locations have vintage-like aesthetics and contain lots of local art, outdoor spaces, and comfy chairs.

Castaño said she liked the fact that Epoch offers seating outside; “That outdoor seating is very nice because it caters to people who don’t want quite as loud of an environment in regard to people.” She also added that Epoch is great for studying: “It’s a really nice atmosphere, there are desk spaces and hard surfaces where you can write and read, and food and drinks in case you get hungry or thirsty while studying and need a break.” The three locations are all unique in their own way, but according to Lamb, the North Loop location is the busiest due to having 24/7 hours and being the original location.

Meanwhile, Mary’s Cafe draws in a different group of people. “We have a lot of students from UT and Austin CC, then, right next to us is St. David’s Hospital,” said Gambone. His cafe is located north of the University of Texas, so students make up a significant portion of his demographic. “We also get a lot of medical staff, a lot of people that are visiting their loved one, or maybe their spouse is having minor surgery or something, and they just need to kill time for a couple hours,” said Gambone. But, students and people from St. David’s aren’t the only customers. Mary’s also serves as a rich destination for couples and families. Like Castaño said, Mary’s is for “anyone looking for a cheap but enjoyable experience as a family with some fun food.”

TheEpochCoffee inNorthloopincludesa coveredpatioforcustomerstoenjoy.Photo CourtesyofElizaHawley.

By Eliza Hawley

Gambone’s cafe was a dream come true, so he’s always working to make the cafe a friendlier place. He says, “We look at every customer like we don’t know what they have going on that day; they might be having a stressful day; could be a student that has a big test that they’re really worried about.” Gambone and his staff get messages constantly that thank the cafe for their kind and welcoming nature. In addition nice for this space.”

Brentwood Social House shares a similar goal of being a friendly neighborhood cafe: “We do have a lot of families that come in, a lot of neighborhood people that can walk and ride their bikes.” Daniels makes an effort to welcome everyone, but works hard to ensure that kids and parents have an enjoyable experience. Here, “it’s a place where parents to having a compassionate attitude towards customers, Gambone said “a lot of young people come in, so that kind of gives us the opportunity to make food that they can afford.” Gambone works to make sure that the food can be affordable by shopping at Restaurant Depot, having discounts for healthcare workers and students, and having a price range within the menu. The aesthetic of the cafe has a hot pink color scheme, collages on the walls, and murals outside, Gambone described his design choices as “a mix of what I could afford and also aesthetically what I thought was

“We look at every customer like we don’t know what they have going on that day; they might be having a stressful day; could be a student that has a big test that they’re really worried about.”

-Kenny Gambone, Owner of

and caregivers can come and feel comfortable and actually have a good cup of coffee and or glass of wine or something and their kiddos can play safely.” Daniels loves the mix of people that are drawn to the cafe. One of her favorite memories was when “there was this table of older gentlemen; they had on suits, and they were having a meeting. At the other end of the room, there were three year olds playing at the train table, and it was just a really sweet mix of just a little bit of something for everyone.” Since so many of the people

Cafe

that visit this home-like cafe are children, Daniels, a parent herself, adapted to her customers’ high-energy needs by getting a playground. This playscape was perfect for entertaining kids and increased the amount of customers. Daniels also mentioned having changed the menu to accommodate customers with dietary restrictions. But the menu wasn’t the only thing they changed: “Early on, we were closed on Sundays and we realized within the first two weeks of being open that we probably needed to be open on Sundays and that is typically our busiest day now.” Additionally, Brentwood Social House strives to be a center of community. “We host a lot of events to support the community and we do vendors markets to support entrepreneurs in the area. We have kids music, kids bands to support the families,” Daniels said.

Even though customers and environments play an integral role in cafes, food is the main component here, and these restaurants each have their own way of doing it. At Mary’s, there are bagels, wraps, waffles, paninis, smoothies, and many types of coffee. “We like to have a variety for people,” Gambone said. They serve mostly breakfast and lunch, and include products from local businesses: “We use Third Coast coffee, which is a local coffee roaster, so they roast all of our coffee beans for us and they bring us coffee beans every day.” They also get

By Eliza Hawley

their bagels from the local company Rockstar Bagels. Gambone said “everything we do, we make fresh to order” Because of that, the staff does prepping; ”In the in-between time when [the workers] don’t have a customer, they will portion salsa, or grind the coffee and measure it.”

Gambone has a small staff, with two people full time and two people coming in four days a week. In the morning, he said “We get to the cafe about a half hour before we open and we get things ready for the day.” From open to close, Gambone is in the kitchen, where he does a lot of meal prep and makes focaccia bread in-house. Meanwhile, the barista will serve people face to face and make coffee and sandwiches. At the end of the day, he said, “We close at two o’clock, so usually we’re out of here about two thirty, three o’clock, after we get the place cleaned up and do all the dishes.”

Epoch is very different from Mary’s, with a large staff and a location that is open 24/7. Despite the large staff, they have a very caring community.

Lamb said, “Everybody just kind of looks after each other. A lot of people are at different parts of their lives, different stages, that all have this mutual love for how this place is run.” This is Lamb’s favorite part of Epoch: the community of staff within the cafe. She also said that the leaders are very supportive and that “the owners will always choose the staff over whatever problems arise.” Lamb used to work at a traditional restaurant and heavily prefers being a barista because cafes have a nicer aroma, she likes making coffee more than food, and cafes are more people-oriented. She is always working to make customers feel at home by making “the line as fine as [she] possibly can between staff member and customer.”

At Epoch Coffee, they are much more drinkbased, which makes sense given that coffee is literally in the name. They serve tea, coffee, blendies, espressos, and much more. Epoch uses private, house-made roasters at another location for their coffee grounds. And despite the wide drink selection, they also have a collection of baked goods and snacks. Lamb said “All of our pastries we get from East Side

They also have afternoon tea, which is a British tradition in which pastries and sandwiches are stacked on a three-tiered stand. This British bakery style was brought to the cafe by a past business partner, and Daniels has been able to continue since, which she is very proud of. Most of the food here is pastries, but paninis are made to order and pies can be heated up. This neighborhood spot is similar to a bakery in that after the pastries are soldout, they’re gone. However, this is not the case on Saturdays, when they do a second bake. According to Daniels, “The bake team probably comes in at about 5:30 or 6 o’clock.” Her 18-person staff is split up into two groups that each have a manager: the Front of House Team, that serves people, and Back of House Team, that makes the food. Daniels said “what we’ve created over the last six years is a big part because of the team that we have in place. It’s not just me, at all; it’s very much a group effort.”

Pies and Clever, but we bake them here.” To supplement the delicious dishes, Epoch also makes its own syrups.

Brentwood Social House has a unique spin on their culinary cuisine, as they have lots of British food. “We do really have unique items that can’t be found in Austin, like the bakewell tart, and millionaire bars, and the fat rascal scones,” said Daniels.

Though cafes can vary in food, customers, environments, and processes, at the end of the day -or rather, the start of it- cafes in Austin offer a unique restaurant experience for anyone looking for a nice sip of coffee and an enjoyable bite to eat.

By Eliza Hawley