The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

I’m removing a star because they closed. Boo! Starbucks can’t hold a candle to the great tea, awesome pastries, and amazingly friendly service that this Coffee Bean provided me over the last year or so. I’m going to miss them!

Hey hey! Very courteous contact by the owner concerned about my chai tea experience. I gave them another shot, and it was much, much better the second time around.
Convenient location (forgot to mention in my original review)…close to the bank, Randalls, and the liquor store… you are SET!

What do you not expect from a girl who lives in Seattle? To miss a coffee shop in Austin! But this is my favorite coffee shop that I’ve ever been to. In short: It rules.
I spent all of the summer in my beloved hometown while I studied for the bar exam. That meant a lot of coffee/​tea, and a lot of time spent in places with outlets and a good atmosphere. This place was hands down my favorite. It just had a great vibe. I always felt less stressed there, which is quite a feat… did I mention I spent the summer studying for the bar exam?!
Everyone who worked there was really friendly. They got to know me as a regular, but they were nice to me even when I was just a random newbie that couldn’t decide on which tea to drink.
The tea selection is fantastic. Even though I am often a coffee drinker, I went for tea almost every day this summer. There is a wide selection, plus you can get a latte, which is a nice treat. The tea latte is unlike any other I’ve had, made with a sweet powder rather than just steamed milk, but it was frothy and delicious. I often would just have plain tea, and I have yet to find such a great selection here in coffee land.
I may have Starbucks coming out of every corner here in the Pac NW, but Starbucks has nothing on this place! I miss my little Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Austin. You will see me every time I am home. Stay awesome. :)

Love these guys. The coffee is great but it’s the staff that will keep me coming back. They are extremely friendly and love to make your day brighter. Sometimes I even get a smiley face in the caramel in my frozen coffee. :) Keep up the good work!

A nice location that is warm, inviting, clean, and has plenty of seating. The staff here is very helpful and friendly and was willing to offer suggestions to this new visitor. I really enjoy their iced coffee and the overall drink selection available. My only gripe is the food selection was slightly limited. But this is an awesome location and I will be returning soon. Cheers!

Super friendly and efficient staff and a beautiful, peaceful space make this coffee shop a joy to visit, and a little hard to leave. At any given time, small groups of people are engaged in business meetings, conversations, or study, so there’s a definite community feel built around coffee and WiFi.
This Bean has a series of low 4-​top tables on one side and a group of bar-​height tables and counters on the other, along with various tables on their spacious shaded outdoor patio. So it’s fairly easy to find a perch, at least for now.
I’m a coffee and tea drinker, and I like to keep it simple. Their brewed coffee is good, as is their espresso. I’ve only ordered the brewed coffee with Half & Half and the plain latte.
They do have a nice array of herbal teas, but I found their chai latte overwhelmingly sweet and odd-​tasting. They said they use powder additives, and I couldn’t find an ingredient list on their website. Apparently, this applies to their flavored coffee lattes as well. I’m a natural girl, so I don’t do powder coffee additives in any form. There is no telling what’s in that stuff, but it doesn’t taste like food. Thus, my friendly advice is to stick with the basic drinks here, where you can add whatever natural liquid substance comes with the shortest list of ingredients. Like for instance, milk, Half & Half, honey, and if you must, sugar.
But their baked treats are irresistable. There are chunky whole-​grain muffins and more decadent blueberry and sugar varieties, and some sweet danishes and rich coffee cakes that call for rescue from their glass case, right at eye level. Don’t make eye contact if you’re trying to avoid calorie consumption. Ask for the oatmeal instead.

I’ve always had helpful, friendly service here. There are lots of fun tea drinks to choose from. I’ve only had the hot tea, but I’m sure in a few weeks that will change to iced. If a powdered tea latte is not your, um, cup of tea, do try their regular tea. Very tasty. I haven’t tried anything yet but tea, so I can’t speak to that. So far I’ve been able to find a seat when I want to stay, but I mostly use their drive through. The seating area is attractive, well lit, and comfortable. There’s also some outdoor seating as well in the front. I love that they are in this location! I find this a welcome addition to this new shopping area. Now if we could just get a real restaurant instead of all those fast food places!

I frequently go to this location because I live and work right across the street from it. I love their wholesome style and that they have more nutritious food items/​options than Starbucks as well as the option for Almond milk.
However today I went in to get my boss and I a couple of things. They got my boss’s drink correct but forgot her cookie. I ordered myself a latte and when he made it, he made it iced. I also purchased a snack but changed my mind about it and wanted to get something else. The trade was done BUT he could not give me the difference in cash because his manager was not there and he was not able to do so. So I walked out with an iced drink and was jipped the cash difference. I was actually a little more upset about my drink not being hot because my throat is hurting and a hot drink would’ve been nice.
I believe that this is not poor customer service, but flat out bad management/​lack there of. I’ve been in the customer service/​food service industry and know what it’s like to not have management support and be screwed with a pissed off customer.
I hope management steps it up, I would like to keep going here but if things don’t seem to shape up, I’ll just go to Starbucks– which by the way costs less and is also across the street.
P. S. There was this unprofessional looking girl who was stomping around the place like a grump, yelling at her co-​workers and being rude to them. NOT COOL and gives bad image to your place. Maybe you can find out who she is? White girl, brunette, working ³⁄₁₈ around 4:35. I literally just left this place 10 min. ago.

Flavoured coffee was yummy (english toffee I think) — and I know a lot of coffee people would immediately discredit what I have to say because I chose to drink their flavoured coffee!!! But I am a coffee person, I just love flavoured coffees also!
I also got a spinach and mushroom croissant, but that was bad! The cheese or something in the croissant made the pastry very soggy with its own oil. And the mushrooms were very overly salty. But some of there other stuff looked yummy, so try something other than the spinach and mushroom croissant.
Its a good place to study: its not too busy so the expresso machine isn’t constantly screaming as it froths the milk (this is the case at Starbucks where you feel like you lost a few decibles of hearing after being there for 2 hrs). Good lighting for reading. Tons of plug-​ins.