Mozart’s Coffee Roasters Encapsulates Winter Spirit
The grand piano is decked out with sparkling blue lights, adding to the grandeur of the live performances.
A quiet area decked with its own lights can be found directly underneath the store.
Viewers can also enjoy the lights along with a beautiful view of Lake Austin.
Many people take photos for their Instagram feeds at this hotspot shop.
Beautiful lights are strung all across the shop providing ambient lighting, even in the dark night.
The Vanilla Latte is quite plain and bland, and needs an extra spoonful of sugar.
The classic hot chocolate is topped with marshmallows and whipped cream, and has a delightful flavor.
Inside the shop, there are a variety of baked goods and coffee offerings on the menu board.
There is an abundance of seating for customers to sit and enjoy their coffee and watch the light show.
The cool winter breeze is all Austinites can feel outside Mozart’s Coffee Roasters, the famous coffee bar known for its Christmas light show. Founded in 1993, the Austin original coffee shop quickly rose to fame as a popular Instagram hotspot. Its 10th annual Christmas light show ran from the end of November into early January and attracted thousands of customers. The thriving business decorated their deck with over a million LED lights and holds live music along with favorite holiday tunes during the show. The show took place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. every night.
Even from the road in front of Mozart’s, customers can view the stunning decorations. Before entering the gorgeous, lit up, coffee shop, customers can go through a short line through the ‘Mozart Express’ where they can skip through the long lines inside the store and purchase some coffee and snacks. Upon entering the store, there is a large area with an abundance of seating for over 500 people. A long line of excited customers unravelled from the store further inside where the coffee and baked goods were sold. Due to the holiday festivities, the area was completely full, with barely any area to walk around. The lights were hung everywhere in beautiful shapes and designs with a grand piano to the side, decked with blue twinkling Christmas lights. There was also a large house-like formation with lights that flashed on and off during the show. On a lower deck beneath the store, there was even more seating and lights tied onto a fence in front of Lake Austin. Directly underneath the store, there was also a quieter spot with benches away from all of the noise and lights of the shop.
Despite the stunning lights, the actual food and drinks at Mozart’s were not as notable as other coffee shops in the area. We first tried a classic latte, something any coffee shop should have mastered. However, the lack of sugar made the latte bland upon first taste. After adding some more sugar, the latte tasted much better, but it was still not up to the same standard as other shops. The dull, weak taste didn’t provide any unique aspects to the drink, falling flat.
The Mexican Hot Chocolate, topped with marshmallows and whipped cream, however, changed the game, bringing beautiful mingling flavors that blended together perfectly. The flavor was at the perfect level of sweetness and the whipped cream and marshmallows tied the whole drink together. Although there wasn’t any special twist as I usually like with my drinks, the hot chocolate brought back a classic flavor that anyone could enjoy. The hot chocolate truly shined among all of the drinks as it provided warmth and a cozy feeling in front of the beautiful light show.
We also tried the strawberry cheesecake. Upon first taste, the texture was very rich, but overpowering with the sweet elements. However, the cake itself was fresh and creamy with the hint of strawberries adding an extra fruity rush. The soft, warm cake was quite memorable with its dulcet flavor.The strawberry cheesecake was too sweet, but made up for where it lacked with a fresh, ambrosial, and full-bodied flavor.
The service was also not as satisfactory as other coffee shops, but this could be attributed to the unbelievably crowded store. The cost of the drinks and baked goods were not too expensive, but the shop is slightly more expensive than other areas in Austin. In total, for a hot chocolate and a latte, we paid about $10.
I would recommend Mozart’s to anyone looking to get a real taste of Austin. Although the light show itself is over, customers can still have an enjoyable experience at Mozart’s. The drinks are average, but the view of Lake Austin is truly unforgettable. Despite the lights not being there, the experience of getting a drink and feeling the cool air breeze by on the deck is something not to miss. Mozart’s Coffee Roasters definitely hits my top 10 places to visit in Austin as it is a true Austin original and cannot be forgotten.
Overall Rating- Four out of Five stars
Mozart’s Coffee Roasters
3825 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, TX, 78703
Every Day: 7 a.m. – Midnight
This is my third year on student press and my fifth year of taking journalism. I love to write, read, eat, sleep, and procrastinate. :) I’m in DECA,...
