East Austin Cafe Revival Coffee Is Closed Permanently

East Austin cafe Revival Coffee is in fact closed permanently, as noted on its social media accounts on October 13. This official announcement comes days after owner Alyse Bordelon originally wrote that the 1405 East Seventh Street coffee shop was only closing temporarily, because she had been locked out of the building by the landlord due to a late rent payment.

“Despite our optimism” and customer support, wote Bordelon in the shuttering notice on Facebook and Instagram, “we haven’t had a break-even month since March.” She acknowledged suggestions on starting a GoFundMe campaign to keep the cafe open, but she said that “the future is too uncertain and your money is too valuable.” Instead, she suggested other ways of showing support, such as donating to their baristas through its Venmo, frequenting small businesses rather than massive chains and big box stores, ordering directly from said-small business rather than through third-party companies, and telling the government to support small businesses.

In her first Instagram post explaining why Revival had to close temporarily a week ago, Bordelon wrote that “we’ve been suffering alongside so many small businesses in Austin,” which led to the late rent payment. She also recommended people visit nearby coffee shops, including Try Hard, Fleet Coffee, Flitch, and Greater Goods. She bluntly ended the note by writing that “COVID 2020 has been a real bitch” and “Fuck Trump.”

Revival Coffee opened in March 2018, taking over what had been Vintage Heart Coffee. The coffee shop was known for its charitable peg, where 10 percent of their proceeds were donated to local charities selected by customers.

• Revival Coffee [Instagram]
• All Coverage of Revival Coffee [EATX]