Illuminate Coffee Bar

I went in yesterday around 4 pm. The team there found it completely acceptable practice to reheat drip coffee from the morning. First they tried steaming it. Which is course watered it down. Call me old fashioned but when I go into a coffee shop I expect fresh coffee at that price. Not streamed or nuked left over. You're a coffee shop. It's what you do.

I love the food and coffee here but when I opened my sandwich I didn’t realize there was a small wood chip inside the cheese within my sandwich. Before I realized this I had already ate a bit of the sandwich which was also covered in small splinters. I only noticed whenever my friend pointed it out to me and I most likely already had swallowed several small splinters. Not the best start to my morning. :(

Illuminate has everything you'd need in a corner coffee shop. There is a spacious interior with tons of seating perfect for studying, catching up with friends, or generally passing the day. The owners are great and very friendly to customers. The prices are fair and the drinks are made very well.

Been coming here for years - since the Cafe Yolly days! I'm not going to lie to ya. It's not a life changing coffee experience. But I've never had a bad experience and I've been here tons of times.

I will say their lattes are very creative and taste great! However I'm mostly just a drip black coffee guy when I go to spots like this and it does the job just fine.

They have very good coffee products and the absolute best breads, harvest and pumpkin. I love the vibe here really homey and relaxing. I go to many coffee shops and this is my fave. Also, breakfast sandwichs are pretty good too. Tacos are too expensive and not quality but acceptable. Bonus are Aussie bites if you just want a quick treat that is healthy with your coffee. Great friendly staff and owners.

Giving the place a solid 5 across the board for the warm and welcoming atmosphere, amd good coffee. I come here to work from time to time, and their cappuccinos are exactly what I need to kick off my day. Give this place a try!

Great place to get a coffee. Brewed well, not bitter and they have a wide selection. They also have beers on tap if you are looking for a place to hang at night.

I had a lovely time at Illuminate Coffee Bar. People seemed to be working, studying, relaxing, and meeting up there.

The music is loud enough to keep it hard to hear details of conversation but soft enough not to invade your headspace.

I had a white gold and enjoyed it's creamy, sweet flavor.

The decor is tasteful; the natural light is refreshing; and there is a bike out front.

I'm eager to go again.

First I'll say I haven't found many coffee shops I really like in the Austin area. Living in Asia for several years spoiled me when it came to coffee shops - theirs are impeccable. But I've been able to find a few that are decent places to go when I want to study or get some work done. Whenever I go to a coffee shop, I'm looking to focus on some work, and enjoy a good coffee and maybe a snack. But my main ask is that it's a good study environment - hard to find in Austin tbh.

THE VIBE: I went to Illuminate on a Sunday afternoon - expected it to be louder than usual b/c of the church/weekend crowd, but it was REALLY loud. All coffee shops are really loud at this time, so that was kind of my mistake. There were several tables that were yelling over each other to have a conversation, the couple who I assume to be the owners had their kid who was screaming the whole time I was there (~30 min), which they're allowed to do -- again it was kinda my fault for going to a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon. The last straw that caused me to leave though was that they randomly turned on Logan/Jake/whoever the hell Paul BOXING very loud on the TV above my head. I left immediately after that. Beyond that, the shop wasn't gross but the atmosphere wasn't great --the decor seemed a bit thrown together if you care about that sort of thing.

THE COFFEE & FOOD: I usually order lattes so I decided to try one of their seasonal drinks at the barista's recommendation. I got the Irish Gold which I already was afraid would be too sweet as it has white chocolate in it. It just tasted like sugar. I also got a potato egg & cheese breakfast taco. The eggs were so salty I couldn't eat it. I told the barista and he was very accommodating and offered to give me something else. I just got a bagel with cream cheese, which also wasn't great.

TD;LR

Pros: Staff was nice, lots of seating

Cons: Not a good study environment, food wasn't good, latte too sweet, played Jake Paul boxing on the TV.

This place is aweosme. I tried the Walter white it has coconut oil, white choclate, caramel, espresso shots. It was one of the best coffee I have had. And the Sugar free vanilla latte is also good. It has a really pleasant ambience. Would recommend people to go there and I would go there again for sure. They have different flavoured frozen yogurts as well. It's good place to take kids too.