Students need coffee and tables to study - pizza helps. Along with these, Epoch Coffee on North Loop offers some of Austin's best espresso, wireless Internet and an eclectic crowd of caffeine-jacked locals.
While coffee shops near campus are plentiful, there has been a dearth of 24-hour study spots since Mojo's closed in 2005. Epoch has filled this need, and people have taken to it with a vengeance.
"By the third day we were open, we had a loyal group of ex-Mojo's regulars," said Epoch co-owner Joe Rodriguez. "Most businesses need a year to get going. We did it in a week."
The four co-owners of Epoch have carried on the Mojo's legacy, even offering the sweet, nutty goodness of the Iced Mojo. This milky drink is a mix of cold brewed iced coffee and a highly guarded secret combination of flavors. If you like it sweet and milky, this drink is for you.
The espresso machine, which looks like a piece of a modern sculpture, produces consistently good espresso. The other trick to good espresso is in the baristas. A good barista doesn't only pull a perfect, artful shot of espresso but also makes customers feel cool, like they belong in this coffee-shop subculture.
"We are really picky about who we hire," Rodriguez said. "Though it is service, and in the service industry, you can't please everyone."
Epoch, however, seems to please a variety of different customers. Often Epoch is filled with students, especially near finals, but many non-student regulars populate the ample patio and homey tables. Epoch cannot be pigeonholed into the study-spot niche. Patrons can be found playing games like Scrabble and four-sided chess or even polishing a sword or two.
Epoch offers pizza slices from East Side Pies, Greencart sandwiches as well as a cookies, brownies, bagels and cinnamon rolls. Try the Guiche Pizza - spinach, goat cheese, green chili, sun-dried tomato and garlic.
Epoch is a good place to spend 24 hours and has everything you need, except a shower. After 24 caffeine-charged hours of studying, do your fellow coffee-shoppers a favor: Go home and bathe.
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