Little City Espresso Bar/Cafe
(512) 476-2489
916 Congress Ave
Austin,
TX
78701
30.271
-97.7417
Neighborhood: Downtown
What People Are Saying About Little City Espresso Bar/Cafe
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In Short
Housed in a narrow 19th-century building, Little City has tables and a bar covered in chipped concrete and chairs covered in sheets of fabric. The crowd includes businesspeople, the after-dinner/after-theater/after-bar crowd, students and several groups who come in to play cards. The smell of fresh-brewed espressos and cafe con leches fill the air. Sandwiches and salads are staples, including the Incredible salad--tossed spinach, fresh vegetables, herb vinaigrette, goat cheese and herbed olives.
User Reviews
Voula206
September 16, 2008
Being that I am from Seattle and a Starbucks hater from birth, this cafe is the first place that I have visited since moving from the coffee capital that has not burned my soy lattes! However, I must agree that in general their service isn't great. Although, the only other alternative is burned soy and disgusting coffee at the much hated Starbucks down the street. I would rather suffer the poor service.
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dvogler
October 02, 2007
I'm surprised noone else has commented on the food at Little City either, so here's my take as one who works close to the capital and eats lunch downtown nearly 5 days a week. About 4 years ago, I frequented this place for lunch. Their salad's were very nice with fresh greens and tangy dressing. The poets place always featured fresh fruit, veggies and cheese. The sandwiches were never loaded with meat, but nice quality of bread and some different combinations served with really good chips/salsa. The soup's were different and I believe, homemade. Overall, it was a place to get a healthy, tastey lunch with a yummy coffee on the side. Their coffee and espresso drinks are still consistently good, but in the last couple years, the quality of service has crashed into these hipsters with no clue how to talk to customers or provide anything that resembles service. The food has also suffered greatly. I too had the experience of going there for an early lunch and having to wait for them to get up and running in the kitchen. Often, if you go before noon, you cannot get the soup. I guess all the hipsters get up too late to start the soup. Not only has service quality suffered in the past couple years, but the food is no longer fresh tasting. The salad greens are often slimey and the breads are always days old or days old tasting. I quit going there for any food. Haven't ordered anything off the menu in years. But perhaps they're taking notice of the decline in food orders? Within the past couple of months (summer 2007?), it looks like they've taken many of their plates off the menu and added some new sandwiches. I'm hoping for better things as this used to be an Austin institution very worthy of my business! It's such a disappointment to see the quality go downhill, especially since they are down to this location and the one in BookPeople.
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davebuoy
February 09, 2007
They may have great coffee, and I agree that you should go local rather than starbucks. The problem is they serve food. Maybe they should stop that. The reviews up till now say nothing about the food. SOOO, I walked in at 10:55 am and sat at the bar. The girl asked me and I ordered the wasabi roast beef sandwich w/ iced tea. She told me they don't serve lunch till 11:00 and I said that since the sandwich comes with chips and salsa she could serve that now while I wait. She started to say something about the chips come on the plate with the sandwich then stopped herself midway thru and went and got the chips and the iced tea. IT'S 10:55, for crying out load, sorry to throw you such a curve ball after telling me it'll be another 5 minutes before we think about you. The chips and tea come, no napkin. The salsa was fresh and tasty, the tea was weak. The sandwich comes with more chips n salsa like it is suppose to so I guess I got extra. Still no napkin. The sandwich was kind of a woulda, coulda, shoulda thing. They shoulda put some meat on it. They coulda refilled by small glass with tea. I woulda left a tip. I don't know why they try to serve food they really shouldn't. The sandwich has great potential if they would put a little meat on it and serve it on fresh bread instead of day old. I won't be back. Let the hippies have their coffee shop, they know not to eat there.
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The Extras:
Little City offers roasted beans by the pound. Varieties range from Organic Mexican ($9.50) to Ethiopian Harra ($11.20).
