Houndstooth coffee brings an excellent coffee snob’s selectivity and taste on coffee to central Austin, and yet the owners and baristas are humble, friendly, and helpful.  To me, this cafe is the closest to Blue Bottle Coffee that Austin has to offer.

If you want a double nonfat mocha, no problem – it will be more subtle than a typical Starbucks drink, with more espresso flavor coming through.  If you want to try something different, they have a variety of coffees and roasts available, and will help you navigate the options.  In other words, you don’t just order espresso, you select a specific espresso bean on their menu (though, if you order a mocha, you might not notice the difference).  I’d compare it a bit to consulting a sommelier, you’ll get more information than you really need to make a choice, but the richer descriptions give you a deeper context to the coffee you’re drinking.

Cafe Mocha @ Houndstooth

Houndstooth is well located in a new shopping center that also sports a Taco Deli (best tacos in Texas) and Floyd’s 99 barbershop, as well as Uchiko, the little sister of Austin’s favorite sushi destination, Uchi. I think the following picture from their site tells you a lot about the origins of Houndstooth:

Prepping for the Opening

Houndstooth carries coffee from three (at least) roasters:

Counter Culture

Cuvee – local Austin roaster since 1998.

Intelligentsia

Of course, it should go without saying that you can get a variety of espresso drinks, as well as french press, pour over, or siphon.  I haven’t been disappointed yet, and I’ve been back to Houndstooth more than a dozen times now.  One of the Yelp Reviews seems to agree with me, giving it 5 stars:

Part of it is the rotation of espresso roasts so you can get something slightly different every time.  Part of it is their meticulous attention to detail.  Part of it is the beautiful (and I’ve heard very expensive) custom La Marzocco machine.  Sean takes his coffee seriously, and it’s evident in everything that Houndstooth does.

No argument from me.