All-Hours Bar Buzz Mill Coffee Closed Its East Austin Location Permanently

Buzz Mill Coffee, the all-hours coffee shop and bar, closed its 5012 East Seventh Street location in the Govalle neighborhood permanently, as first reported by the Chronicle and confirmed by owner Jason Sabala. The original East Riverside location is staying open, serving to-go and delivery coffee and food for now.

“Due to the impact of the pandemic on our industry as a whole,” explained Sabala to Eater, “and the murky future of community bars, I felt we had to make a move to preserve the fort,” referring to Buzz Mill’s programming and community groups, such as the Lumber Society (an “adult version of Boy/Girl Scouts”) and initiatives for employees to pursue personal projects. “I wasn’t prepared to let that get pulled into the falls if we can’t bounce back quickly.”

Currently, Austin bars and restaurant dining rooms have to remain closed through Friday, May 8 in order to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

There were several food trucks that had been parked at the East Austin location, nicknamed Buzz Mill Shady. JNL Barbecue and vegan dim sum spot Plow Bao relocated to Buzz Mill’s Riverside location, and Austin Rotisserie is setting up at Shady’s next-door winery neighbor Infinite Monkey Theorem.

Buzz Mill Shady’s lease, equipment, and furnishings are up for sale through brokerage company Restaurant Realty Group. The lease is up for at $100,000, and available items range from tables and booths to coffee machinery to sound systems to video security systems.

Buzz Mill Shady opened in October 2019. It had already temporarily closed at the beginning of the dining room ban in mid-March. The original Riverside location opened in 2013. It had planned on opening a South Congress location in 2016, which had been mostly built-out but nixed those plans because of landlord issues. (It’s now home to Cosmic Coffee.)

• Buzz Mill Shady Location Is Closed [Chronicle]
• All Coverage of Buzz Mill Coffee [EATX]
• All Coverage of Buzz Mill Coffee Shady [EATX]