07/20/09

Spider House, Second Home

by golightlyx

As ridiculous as it sounds, Spider House really has become a second home to me. I spend hours there nearly every day and I am on a first name basis with almost all of the employees.

I love the atmosphere & the location. Spider House is decorated with eclectic antique finds and unique one of a kind pieces of furniture. I feel comfortable and welcome here!

I typically order an iced Toddy Rico & the Garden Bagel. I also suggest any of their baked goods & the Grilled Cheese Especial!

• Pros: Beautiful landscape, friendly staff, great drinks
• Cons: Pricey

06/04/09

Amazing!

by Agamben

Never Have I ever been to a place that best embodies everything Austin. It has an amazing vibrant atmosphere, good drinks and walls covered in interesting stories and phrases. There is little if nothing not to love about Spiderhouse

03/29/09

Example: great place for good bread

by xladyxbutterflyx

While it definitely has the weirdo Austin-feel that people crave, plus some awesome people-watching, the service is TERRIBLE.

Our waiter had to come back 3 times to make sure he got everyone's order correct. Our drinks were constantly empty and we could see him flirting with some girl by the register, instead of attending to his customers. We had to ask for the bill twice and he never brought it to us. We almost walked out because we had somewhere else to be and we were just sitting around waiting for him to bring it to us. We walked over to the kitchen/register area and waited around for another 10 minutes.

We were completely ignored by all the other waitstaff nearby, and our waiter seemed to be avoiding us.

Finally we stopped a girl who worked there and she went and got the bill for us, since our waiter was pretty useless.

I do actually like this as a hangout and coffee place, but if you come, be expecting poor and slow service!

• Pros: Nice atmosphere, cool decor
• Cons: Nightmare service

03/04/09

The Worst Service I've Ever Had

by daisyp

This review has been a long time coming. I have tried to go to the Spider House many times, and each time I'm met with the worst cocktail service imaginable. As a former member of the service industry, I'm understanding, but these people have pushed my limits.

On one particular evening the server took forever to come and greet us. Another server let us know who would be helping us and pointed him out. We saw him flirting with a girl by the computer. We asked another server to take our order, but she told us we weren't in her section. We waited for him a while longer, and finally waved him down. He got our order, our food came, and a friend joined us. Our friend ordered, and we waited without and frito burrito coming. We watched him flirt some more. I got up and asked him about it and he said he would talk to the kitchen. I then watched him order it on the computer and yell into the kitchen window to make it "on the fly." He was not attentive, our drinks went empty, our check was late. We didn't tip him anything since he wasn't around to run our cards and we didn't have cash beyond the bill. One the way out to our cars we saw him talking to the girl in the parking lot that he was flirting with earlier. How can the Spider House continue to employee such lame servers? Never going back.

• Pros: patio
• Cons: waitstaff that acts like you owe them something

09/23/08

Great Drinks, Avoid Thursday Nights!

by Leelee84

Great place to have a nice evening drinking coffee or tea! My boyfriend and I love this place--but Thursday nights are a nightmare. I have never had a problem with customer service or a rude waitstaff.

• Pros: Chai tea
• Cons: parking

08/30/08

Ample people watching

by sydneyt

I used to frequent Spiderhouse all the time, but not anymore because the service has really gone downhill. One time my boyfriend and I went there to get coffee. We waited around for about 15 minutes before he decided to just go in and get coffee from the bar. While he was gone, this really creepy waiter guy came up to me, got down on one knee and said "Can I get you anything, angel?" I didn't know how to react. I still love their food and drinks, just order at the bar and save yourself the hassle of trying out their waitstaff.

• Pros: close to campus, good food and drink
• Cons: hipster staff

08/15/08

bad service, austin weird attitudes

by laliroo

I just got back into town from living overseas and wanted to experience a table service cafe again. Its something that's a bit of a rarity Austin even though you tip a barista more per price of a simple coffee then a waiter or waitress working at a local bar and grill dive. This place is cool and trendy and has an interesting vibe, just as I remembered it, but the service is nonexistent. our waitress was so strung out on some austin weirdness that she forgot my order and my friend's twice, and it took over 15 minutes just to get a glass of water and a house coffee. My friend even went to the bar for a beer to bring back to the table and was also ignored. its a shame with austins love for coffee culture, that there are really few places with good service that make the experience worthwhile.

07/17/08

dont order soy milk!

by hlwolly

I used to have to meet here with a school group I was in. It's dark and loud, and the coffee does not taste that great. My friend ordered a drink and the soy milk had gone bad - it was lumpy. I admire the "austinness" of this place but it is a little pretensious. Also the chairs are uncomfortable.

• Pros: good place to meet people, fun hangout
• Cons: service and food are not that great

05/13/08

Bad Coffee, even Worse Service

by amk10003

I dropped in to the Spider House for a quick cuppa before meeting friends for dinner. I sat at the bar, but the bartender ignored me until I got up and moved to across from where he was standing. The coffee--not as good as DoJoe or even SBUX.

My friends arrived and we took a table on the patio. We waited ten minutes before our server approached the table. Our table was dirty but he did not offer to clean it up for us. We said that we were going to eat something; he brought menus but no silverware or napkins. We waited fifteen minutes before he returned to take our order (and only then after we flagged him down). We had six in our party, but our waiter did not write down any of our orders. Of course, he forgot a drink and messed up an order. It took him waaay to long to bring a round of waters. He slammed each glass down on the table.

Four of our entrees arrived at the same time; the four of us sat looking at our food for a solid five minutes before the other two entrees arrived. We had to request condiments, napkins, and silverware. The waiter brought condiments, napkins, and three knives. The waiter did not check back with us until well into the meal. And before we finished, he stopped by, announced that he was going home, and dropped the check.

1 star for food, atmosphere, and an accidental free lemonade.

• Pros: Decent food at a low price
• Cons: Horrible, horrible service

04/28/08

Great atmoshere!

by dansdoll2

The atmosphere is good but the service needs a little help. I love their coffee and desserts, but the staff needs a little customer service training. You should give them a try because they are an Austin favorite.