Merit Coffee

Living walking distance from here, this place is one of my favorite coffee shops in Austin! My absolute favorite thing to get here is their Strawberry Matcha Latte which happens to also be a seasonal drink so you can only get it during certain times of the year. This spot also comes with a menu of different breakfast tacos which are all pretty tasty, we've gotten to try pretty much all of them. Another favorite drink is their Cereal Milk Latte which is also a special menu drink that you can find during certain parts of the year.

The staff are always friendly, they have pretty cool merchandise to browse while you're in line. This place seems to always be packed when we visit and every table inside is always filled. However, they do have outdoor seating as well! It's definitely a favorite for people to bring their laptops and get some work in while sipping on their drinks and munching on their food. They've got great pastries, we tried the poptart and it was amazing! There's also tons of street and garage parking close by. It's in a plaza with Trader Joe's which is perfect if you want to make a stop to get groceries as well.

Only complaint I would have is that this menu is pretty pricey for a coffee shop but let's be real, all coffee shops are getting more expensive now :')

a staple downtown coffeeshop, i recently tried their strawberry matcha and really like it. Its quite expensive but at this point rite of passage in Austin...

They have indoor and outdoor seating and free wifi.

Pretty decent place to grab an espresso drink. I walked over the bridge to check this place out after reading all the glowing Yelp reviews, but it's just an average coffee shop.

I placed my order at the counter with a very aloof employee (where's that Texas hospitality I keep hearing about?) who wasn't very friendly. I felt like she hated me from the moment I walked in, LOL. I even left her a tip on my already-overpriced cappuccino but even that didn't make her happy. Whatever.

I waited for my name to be called and the barista was quite fast considering the line of people already waiting. I grabbed my to-go cup and grabbed one of the small tables outside since it was a nice day.

My cappuccino was good, but nothing spectacular. The espresso beans were roasted well, and it was a quality cup. I didn't enjoy the more fruity notes though, as I prefer a cereal-y and darker, richer quality to my espresso. That's just a personal preference, though, so if you like fruitier notes, you'll love this place more than I did.

The latte art was a nice touch, but it looked pretty pitiful -- if you care about that sort of thing.

Minus a star for the attitude and minus another for having an "off-brand" sweetener instead of real Splenda.

I was out on a long walk around the pedestrian bridge and was looking for a cute spot to grab coffee! Merit coffee was a great find - super cute and great drinks. People were here to work or meet up with a friend, the vibes were very relaxed and we had no problem finding a spot for 2 on a weekday evening.

Cute coffeeshop but overpriced.

$7+ for a matcha latte with oat milk is eh.

Nice staff and good latte though :)

Good amount of seating inside with wifi.

They make a great iced caramel latte with oat milk (my order, haha) but I found the service and ambiance to be average.

It was packed for a Saturday morning at 9:30am, and I am assuming it is dog friendly because I saw as many dogs as humans, lol!

Even with the crowds, drinks were ready within a reasonable time frame. I was eventually able to pay with Google Wallet (of course the employees assumed I was using Apple Pay...not all of us have iPhones you know...), even though the barista did ask if I had my physical card with me...erhm, if ya'll have tap/NFC payment enabled, you will wait patiently until my phone reads, thankyouverymuch! Especially if I'm paying $7 for a small iced latte---yikes!

We made a quick stop in to Merit Coffee for an iced latte for me and a pour over coffee for Nate. The shop is pretty tiny and there was no open seating so we took our drinks to go.

The front area for ordering and waiting is a little cramped, but it didn't take too long to get our coffee. The rest of the space is bright and airy with lots of people studying and working.

My iced oat latte was a normal price and pretty tasty, but my favorite part about this coffee shop was their merch - I loved all of it and was very tempted to buy the Texas "Trailblazer" glass mug. I'm sort of kicking myself for not getting it! They also had t-shirts, tumblers, other mugs, hats, etc.

Aaaugh!! I want to like Merit Coffee so bad, but sadly there are just too many things that dock off points for me. I don't want to be too much of a Negative Nancy, so let's start with the good first!

First the Seaholm District will always be a pleasant experience, so you'll have the option of taking your coffee outside and watch the hundreds of dogs that walk by through the grassy field. Second, Merit's decor is OUTSTANDING. It really hits that rustic, hipster, "kind of obnoxious but secretly everyone wants that feeling" vibe.
And third, when the drinks hit, they hiiiit. Personally, I really enjoy their Caramel Latte (I think I order with oat milk?). Also, the baristas are very friendly and helpful!

So what's the issue then?
1. Price. This seems to be an issue with Austin coffee shops in general, but why in god's name am I paying nearly $10 for a flavored latte with substitute milk?? C'mon now, that's just insane.

2. Their experimental seasonal drinks are usually misses. It makes me wonder if someone actually tried them. Berry Cobbler Matcha? Sure try it, but it'll just taste like pie, not matcha.
I distinctly remember one time in the summer - I asked about a seasonal coffee (I think it was lemon flavored or some other bizarre fruit flavor). The barista in the front was doing her best sales impression, but the one in the back was furiously shaking her head, HAHAHA.
The one exception is their Harvest Maple Latte. I think that's what it's called. That drink slaps.

3. I'm also not a fan of their rewards point system. Their points expire after some time, so unless you're visiting on the daily, good luck getting any meaningful reward.

3/5 for now. But given that I'm so close by, I'll still be visiting from time-to-time and am more than willing to change my score in the future!

This is a nice little coffee shop in the downtown area with parking available in front and in a nearby garage, but there's also a robust residential area nearby so depending on where you live, it may be within walking distance.

They offer various pastries (and a few gluten free/friendly options) although I've only ever tried to coffee here. My last coffee was perfection but most recently I ordered my usual go-to coffee drink, a lavender latte, and could barely drink it.

I've been here once before and the coffee was absolutely delicious, but my coffee was insanely sweet this last time - almost unbearably so. I ended up having to cut it with more coffee to help balance out the flavors. I think perhaps a bit too much of the syrup was added, because I LOVE sweets and did not love the drink.

That said, it was a birthday freebie, so I really can't be too upset, although it makes me hesitant to return and re-order that particular drink here. Speaking of rewards, they do offer a robust rewards program BUT the rewards expire on a pretty frequent basis (within 3 months), so it's probably not worth it (outside of birthday rewards) unless you're a regular or live close enough to stop in on a semi-regular basis. I believe you earn 1 point per purchase and 5 points for signing up for the newsletter.

The location is quite nice with plenty of indoor seating available and I've never not seen dogs when I've been here, so it is pet friendly and they also offer free dog treats!

Employees are always so lovely and friendly, so really my only complaint is how sweet my latte was this time. Otherwise, I think this is a great coffee shop and I definitely recommend. The standard lattes they make are great, but maybe avoid the flavored options!

THE BIG: Located in the Seaholm district in downtown Austin. Small coffee shop however plenty of working space. Street parking and parking garages available.

THE BLACK AND WHITE: Merit is quintessential to San Antonio but they set up a downtown shop here in Austin. Definitely a place to check out. They have a partnership with tacodeli in delivering their tacos as well as bakery Lorraine on their egg cups.

I typically grab a small coffee or a small matcha latte and grab a table to start some weekend work. Great way to find an alternative place to get out and grab some good coffee

THE FINAL BAMBOO: Overall for a small matcha latte, you're looking at $5.75. Then for a small coffee, your normal $3.75. If you're around the area, a good way to get some work done at a coffee shop.