Slake Cafe & Bar

My plans were thwarted by insane ROT rally traffic and i was left scrambling for lunch. FIred up Unilocal and this little gem was only three blocks over.
I wasn’t expecting much, i just wanted a sandwich and to be on my way.
So it’s actually quite a cute little place. Warm and inviting inside seems almost like a date night location option.
I had a Caprese and husband had the Dirty Cow.
Those were both excellent. My pesto tasted super fresh and loaded with garlic. The bread was warm, fresh and just slightly crispy for a nice crunch. It was extremely satisfying. The Dirty Cow had brisket that was on par with the BBQ you expect in Texas.
I’m super glad we found this place. The next time i’m downtown i’m going to head back over.

Slake my heart.
What a sexy word involves quenching. I like the practical utility of the word
:to provide, do, or have what is required by (something)
Food is of amazing quality, flavor, and selection. By selection I mean all of the dishes have a melding mold of succulent ingredients. Cravings of my hunger spewed into the life-​force of the Laredo sandwich and Even the side of roasted vegetables blew me away with flavor and love. It ended with a cookie.
Must come back to try the curry and salads and biscuit with gravy and fried chicken. Also it was pretzel day and I over heard talks of regulars that loved the happy hour menu with delightful Bins of homemade Booze jars adorning the wall

Service was a little slow, but I guess it was prime lunch time. The rio grande salad was amazing!

I need! The chicken salad recipe please! I’m obsessed. I also love that they have gluten free bread! This near my workplace and is so yummy! I love that u can order online so I can go there and just pick up if I’m in a hurry! I want to try their breakfast… Wonder if there is such thing as a gluten free croissants! :)

Love this place! All Texas everything. Texas ingredients, Texas beer, Texas wine, etc. Should be on every Austin visitors list. My sandwich was great. I will be back to sample more.

Slake is DELICIOUS! I work a couple blocks from Slake, and find myself in here quite often. I haven’t had anything on their menu that isn’t good — specifically calling out the kolaches and quiche. Slake definitely has the best quiche in town, but it does sell out fast most days. My only feedback for them would be to make more quiche. (-;
Do yourself a favor and eat at Slake if you’re in Austin!

I stopped in to appease a long-​standing cupcake craving. Sadly, the large confection was dry and lacked any distinguishable flavor. My partner in crime ordered a peanut butter cookie and thought it too was dry. It was crumbly but the flavor was good. Sorry Slake but we won’t be back for an afternoon delight anytime soon.

BEST COFFEE EVER. They served the Major Gomez Blend from Austin Roasting Company. So good that I ordered it online and bought a coffee maker to have some at home. The coffee has this nice maple-​y, walnut flavor. The place is very laid back and low key. They have a nice assortment of pastries and hot and creative breakfast dishes. The «miga’ a corn tortilla filled with goodnesss– mine had egg and roasted vegetables and jalapenos. Super good and not too heavy. Almost next door to the Intercontinental so that was my go to place for a coffee and breakfast.

Meh. I’ve experienced better about sums it up. $ 5+ for 1 underwhelming taco. I could have gotten 2 real tacos for $ 5 from a Mexican trailer. We need to institute a taco standard in this town!
Also, can joints stop serving tofu in cubes. It’s the worst. Crumble that shit or something.
But on a positive note the place looks nice inside. They serve beer and dessert and it’s close to 6^th and congress.

BIGGEST & BEST BISCUITS & GRAVY! The spicy gravy won me over. The biscuits themselves are pretty much perfect. You can add an egg on top, too. Their selection is incredible, but whenever I’m indecisive, I always go for biscuits & gravy. The cappuccino I’m drinking is delicious as well.

I had the Mac of the Day, which was Mac with brisket, tomatoes, onions, cheese in a tomato-​based sauce. It was a really big portion and quite tasty, but Ima traditionalist when it comes to Mac and Cheese. I wouldn’t mind trying out their other versions next time I go there. Because I checked in on Unilocal and I received a free cookie and I picked the S’mores one. Dayum! It was really sweet and gooey. I’m a fan of their coffee drinks and sweet treats, but it won’t be hard to like their main entrees too.

Most amazing, incredible biscuit sandwiches. Best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had. And cheap…$ 5! Great atmosphere, games available for play, indoor & outdoor seating, alcohol served here, all their food looks great. Wholeheartedly recommend!

They rotate their entrée of the day, the other two entrees they do have every day is a curry dish and a Mac and cheese dish. They have other menu items focused mainly on burgers and sandwiches and soups/​salads. Their bakery selection is fresh and delicious! Pro tip — gets packed during lunch, with limited seating, so come at the beginning or end of lunch if you want to grab a table.

Flew into AUS and had a long layover downtown. #Yelp had Slake Café as great place to eat and good reviews. I gave it a try and the reviews didn’t let me down.
First, great service and friendly people! The food was great. I had the Chicken and Waffles and it was filling. The atmosphere is hip, and cool. The restaurant has that «Austin, Tx Vibe» and I really like that!
If you want to eat somewhere with good food (especially breakfast) and experience that Austin TX Culture, check this place out. Price is good too!!!
Oh yeah, I was able to use a coupon from Unilocal!And got a free cookie. It was «tha bomb!» (That means it was good)

I first visited Slake a few years ago while my friend worked there, and I’ve returned each time I visit for some solid breakfast and lunch. So imagine my surprise when I come in this year and see it’s closed on weekends, including SXSW weekend.
I understand that downtown Austin becomes an ugly free-​for-​all on that weekend, but 7^th St. is a couple blocks away from the ruckus, and hiking over on Saturday to see a sign saying «We close at 4PM today» when it was 2pm confused me. Come to find out «today» was Friday.
Came back on Monday 7PM to find Slake open and expanded. Similarly to a lot of cafes in NYC that I love, they had to add a bar and extra seating and trivia night. Aw man. But the bartender was nice and the veggie tacos were, as always, bangin.
Maybe it’s just because I’m allergic to hipsters in large groups, doing trivia, but I am jonesing for Slake’s first iteration… the one that was open on weekends. But I’ll chalk my grumpiness to Williamsburg PTSD and come back again sometime.

Just finished my 3 tacos and all I can say is ‘Underwhelming’. Ordered 3 different tacos to go and paid almost $ 14 for them. I got my number and sat down. Well, 20 minutes go by and I go up to the guy behind the counter and ask him to check on my food. He just tells me to «take a seat and we will bring it out to you.» Several people that came after me have gotten their food and I’m in a hurry for lunch so I ask the guy running the food to check up on my order. Turns out it has been sitting right in front of they guy behind the counter for some time.
So now my tacos are cold and I’m running late. I get back to my office and my order is wrong. They made 2 chicken tacos which were not good at all and one brisket taco which was just OK.
Based on the confusion inside the café, the lack of flavor of the food, and the premium price tag, I would never go back to this place.

The food here is really amazing. I soooo want to give this place four stars, really really badly. I just can’t though. So let’s say this… food: 4.1 stars. Overall experience however, is a 3 (maybe even a 2, but the food makes up for that one extra star).
Foods amazing. I have not had anything bad yet… breakfast, lunch or from the bakery.
What brings them down to 3 is their online order system, customer problem resolution ability, and sanitation! Let’s talk.
Online Order System:
It navigates easy and is very simple to use and would be amazing aside from a couple of issues. There have been two occasions where the food that was ordered had run out and was not available. They do not currently have a way to keep the online menu up to date with the actual sales they have going on, so you can order online and go to pick up your item and listen to them tell you how it sold out and then they try to offer you something else instead. –Not a good look Slake!
Online Order Fulfillment:
There have been 3 times where I ordered online, go pick up my food and take it back to work… only to find that what I ordered is not what I received. Wrong soup provided, biscuit instead of taco, wrong item altogether. I have not complained about this b/​c although I did not get what I ordered, I was hungry so ate it anyway and it still tasted great (again, the food is not the issue here).
Customer Service Problem Solving:
The online order myself and two co-​workers placed and walked to the restaurant to pick up did not go through on their end, although it went through and completed on ours. They had to re-​ask our orders and make them once we arrived. Problem is that we meant to take a quick break from work and come right back, not stay 30 minutes waiting for our orders. This kind of thing can lead to trouble when your manager is trying to find you. The resolution Slake provided was to make a verbal apology, re-​take our order manually, prepare our food and give it to us to go. Period. — No offer of coffee while we waited (not even an offer of water or anything at all), no free cookie or treat (one of the things they are known for on the menu), no discount, not anything. Again, Not a good look Slake!
SANITATION:
While my co-​workers and I waited for our breakfast to be cooked form the above situation, we sat at the bar area and talked among ourselves. While doing so I noticed one of the guys that work there making various coffees for the other patrons sitting at tables etc. He would take the coffee scoop and dig out a nice scoop of coffee grounds, grab some tool to use that I am guessing is used to tighten the grounds in the scoop? Unsure what it’s for, as I am not a coffee expert. Anyway, … after tightening the scoop he then used his bare hand to wipe the excess of the top. To make things worse, … he brushed his hair lightly with his hand at one point and proceeded immediately to making the next persons coffee, bare hand wipe and all. — Slake!, Not a good look. Thankfully I don’t drink coffee.
Food-​wise — AWESOME! That is what gets it 3 stars instead of 1 star in light of the issues described above. Without those issues, solid four. Would consider 5 stars, but it takes a lot to get that mark.
Reading the other reviews, eating in seems to be the way to go. So, disclaimer: This rating is concenring ordering online at Slake. not eating in. Maybe it’s best to just order and eat there (and stay away from the coffee). … That may be a four star experience.
As always, Hope this is helpful. (catch phrase coming soon)
#BeingTlee

Ah-​mazing food. Friendly staff. Great cocktails. Live music. A wall of spirit infusions. Austin is known for great restaurants but this one is setting the bar high. Definitely check them out!
Don’t miss the Plain Jane sandwich made spicy with pulled pork on a housemade bun.
Happy Hour specials and Ladies’ night on Wednesdays!

Breakfast and lunch service are slow af but the food is good. Most of the time it’s not worth the wait.

I found Slake on Unilocal,and have been several times — for coffee and pastries, lunch, and Happy Hour. All the food I have had has been delicious, and the employees are very friendly and helpful. The curries are, so far, my favorite. I was a little underwhelmed by my cookie, but everything else has been absolutely repeatable. I’ll keep going and taking my friends.

The food was good, had the green eggs and ham taco. The cookies were also good but I had to wait FOREVER to get my food on a Thursday late morning with only about 5 people in the place. I can’t even imagine how slow the service would be on a rush hour morning or lunch!
I would good back but next time I will make sure to order online, which is an option, so maybe my food will be ready in a timely manner when I arrive.

Cool little spot! I was at the Paramount working and needed lunch quick as I hadn’t eaten yet yesterday. Slake had online ordering and was pretty much right next door. I got the lunch special of 2 tacos for my buddy and I and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were. I also had the most delicious peanut butter cookie. Wish I had more time as it looked like the place had a good beer selection too. I’ll have to come back next time I’m in Austin.

Great food. Just moved to Austin and this was one of the first places I tried. My first introduction to the kolache, which I now love.

Consistently great food. Their breakfast plate is the best, with or even without meat. And the lunches, and daily specials, really rock!
The employees are also great to work with.
Hands down I recommend!

I really, really enjoy going to lunch here with my friends! I think it’s great. I always get GF curry, and it’s more than spectacular each time.

Ordered the brisket sandwich and they were out of mozzarella so they subbed for goat cheese which was damn good! They also recommended the Shannon Irish Red which was delicious too and went well with the brisket sammy.
Atmosphere is great and place is well designed with sweet wooden counter tops at the bar. Staff is awesome and friendly. I’ll definitely be coming back on my next trip to Austin!

UPDATE: The owner reached out to me almost immediately after I posted. This tells me he is listening and concerned. He also reviewed his security tapes to confirm my concerns.
I really wanted to love this place. We came here as we were seeing a show at the Paramount and it’s right around the corner. But it was an utter disappointment. First the service was deplorable. Took forever just to be acknowledged. Second our potatoes came out cold, like out of the fridge cold. And third rather than taking the cold potatoes off our bill, they charged us for them. We ordered the flourless chocolate cake, it was good but not outstanding. So disappointed, as this place had potential just based on its location, but I will not be retiring.

The cashier is so rude. She was so rude to my friends. When they asked ehat where the vegetarian optiond she said «well if you can read the option are right there» wow. So rude!

Amazing food and cool atmosphere. I love the sandwiches here (it’s all real food and cooked in house) but my new favorite is their daily curry…
Its so good. Sooo good.
Coffee and baked goods are also killer! (I’m a sucker for homemade cinnamon rolls dripping with frosting)
Their bar is laid-​back and serves tons of Texas-​sourced spirits, which I love. Happy hour menu is super-​adorable and runs from 4−6pm. Total home run. When I’m looking for real, good food I come here.

I know, I know, Slake. I’ve owed you this review for months now. I eat here about 3 times a week for breakfast and lunch. Sometimes both. As I write this review, I am devouring/​inhaling the V-​day taco (no cheese, on corn bc it’s the only way I’ve found to eat breakfast tacos regularly and still fit in my pants) at my desk. It’s a dance party of a taco… if your dance parties consist of multiple vegetables, eggs and salsa (don’t judge me, we all have our vices). I’ve also had about everything else on the breakfast menu, and the thing that makes Slake so awesome is that they are consistent. It is all good, all the time, every time. Some stand outs on the breakfast menu are the biscuits and gravy with a fried egg, the ham and cheese kolache, and the sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich on a kolache bun. I’d also like to mention that their coffee is killer.
They just recently added a bar and word on the street is they’ve focused on paying homage to our fair state/​nation of Texas by stocking the shelves with mostly local Texas booze/​wine.
The lunch is also REALLY good and really fresh. I like to tell myself this freshness also = healthy, and I think you should let me keep telling myself this. Try any of the salads, the slakewich of the day, the entrée of the day or the curry– you can never go wrong. Also, if you’re in a pinch, you can order online (breakfast or lunch– it takes about 20 minutes from the time you order) and your pick-​up order will be waiting for you, as opposed to you waiting for it.
So, if you’re still reading this, you must be really bored. My suggestion is to get a hobby… and also go eat something at Slake. The end.

Owner suggested I try the curry, and eventually I did and found it wonderful. Not really like any Asian curry, but it’s got its own style. A little sweet, not spicy, but also not too heavy either (compared to most curries, at least).
One other update: looks like Slake is changing from using Square online payment processing. I had a qualm about Square where you logged into square and it NEVER saved your payment information. So there was basically no utility to using square payments because of that. But hopefully the change resolves that minor annoyance.

YUM! I can’t believe I have been working around the corner from this place for over eight months and have never stopped in. Today, I ordered the Austin Salad with chicken! Absolutely delicious. GOAT CHEESE = best I have ever had. Could you just sell me a tub of that?
I really wanted to get back in line for pretzel Friday, but it was super long. I guess it will give me a good a excuse to come back!

Went here to wait out the traffic. Surprised that the little café has a bigger back with seating and sweet wood bar top with full bar. Although we got there just after HH ended, they have great deals every night of the week. Thursday was $ 6 cocktails, $ 5 glass wine, forget the special on beer, and $ 5 curry plate.
First the food– got the curry plate and the turkey sandwhich. Curry plate was AH-​MAZING! seroiusly though. It says daily so thinking it changes often, but it was so so good.
Drinks — i got the mezcal mule and hubs got the the paloma. Both were delicious, and $ 6 on special!
Couldn’t believe this place wasn’t busier. Can’t wait to go back!

Met up for lunch here with the better half and my first choice of the laredo chicken was out, but I went with the Dirty Bird and it was very good. A big thick chicken breast fried up and very juicy with thick sliced ripe tomato and sauces on a freshly baked warm and slightly sweet kolache bun.
There are lots of baked items here to choose from as well and everything was homemade and the quality translated into the final product. I tried a bite of the Caprese sandwich as well which was equally as fresh and flavorful. I also got a S’mores cookie which was incredibly moist and gooey. Nice flavor overall but eat them fast because the marshmallow will stick to the paper and cause all sorts of hell.
Worthy of a repeat visit for sure!

If I could give it 3.5 stars, I would.
4 – 5 stars on the food itself. Just outstanding in flavor and quality. I loved my salad, the Austin Salad. The quantity of goat cheese was quite generous, and the dressing was lovely. The free cookie I got (the smores) was pretty awesome. It tasted like caramel more than marshmallow, but still I devoured the crap out of it like Cookie Monster. So the food is really pretty special (if I had to compare it to something else downtown, I’d compare it to Annie’s Café, food wise).
2 stars on the seating and space. There is not much seating inside and what there is is pretty uncomfortable because you end up playing footsies with the people waiting in line for take out. There are 3 small tables outside, but they get a ton of direct sunlight at noon and there is no canopy or shade.
4 stars on service. I liked their staff, who were friendly and efficient.
3 stars on price. Their prices are $ 1 – 2 higher than I think they should be, especially given that they can’t be paying at lot for overhead since there is no atmosphere or decent table seating.
I will definitely be back for the food, probably for takeout. If they could get it together to rearrange the space to have a few tables inside and/​or umbrellas or a canopy outside, they could easily be bumped up to a 4 or 5 star lunch spot.

My friends and I stopped into Slake for lunch before checking out the Tom Sachs Boombox Retrospective exhibit around the corner at The Contemporary. And what a good decision it was!
The space is very small and relatively unassuming; the focus here is definitely on the delicious food. Some of us were indecisive about what to order, but the two girls taking orders were extremely helpful and offered suggestions.
I ended up ordering the Laredo sandwich and an iced coffee. The sandwich was huge and came on some of the most delicious ciabatta I have ever had. The chicken breast was topped with smoked gouda queso, chipotle sauce, and a corn relish with tomatoes, onions, and chilies. You can choose whether the sandwich is made «spicy» or «extra spicy» (I went with «spicy» as I was not sure just how spicy this thing would get). I was happy with this decision as the sandwich had some heat to it, but not enough to overpower the other flavors. It was served hot and everything tasted extremely fresh. I could probably eat this every single day for lunch and never get tired of it.
As a bonus, I received a free cookie by checking in on the Unilocal app. I chose chocolate chip, and it was also delicious and large enough to share!

I made the critical mistake of unwrapping my Kitchen Sink sandwich in my car. Hey Austin City officials: if you think using a cell phone while driving is dangerous, I should’ve at least gotten a warning for eating this thing.
First of all, I about drowned in my own salivating mouth. This thing smelled and looked divine, dripping with delicious flavors and probably more oil than I can actually handle (I ate half). The bread soaks it all up beautifully, so don’t you fret about grease hands.
This thing is like morsel heaven. Heavenly bits of heavenly bacon chunked in with some evil cheesy egg and heavenly sauce and, possibly also, heavenly potato pieces. I really don’t know because I couldn’t look because I couldn’t stop myself from driving while eating. #worthit
Another thing that’s worth it? A plain ol’ chocolate chip cookie. A check in gets you one free cookie, and they have a variety. Whatever you get is okay. The desserts looked okay. The food took a while to come out even though I was the only patron at 11, but that’s okay. You will eat and savor and be okay.