Cenote
Restaurant · East End ·
French pressed coffee, American eats & Texas craft beer on patio
French pressed coffee, American eats & Texas craft beer on patio
"Back after a brief closure, this beloved neighborhood cafe returns with a liquor license, extended hours, and a renewed sense of purpose. First opened in 2012 on Cesar Chavez and later expanded to Windsor Park, the shop weathered profound loss when co-owner Cody Symington died in 2021; owner Mary Jenkins honored him by hosting a NICE Project Narcan vending machine that dispensed more than 4,000 free doses, and when the original space closed this spring, she moved the machine to the Terrazas Library—the first library in Texas to host one. The new 7th Street location makes a strong case for skipping chains: think horchata cold brew alongside a breakfast burrito stuffed with chorizo. Jenkins is exploring a vending machine onsite again with one nonnegotiable: the NARCAN must remain free. It’s once more the kind of cafe where you can work, eat, linger, and feel taken care of all day long." - H. Drew Blackburn
"Back in action on East Seventh, this widely adored café now stays open until 10 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, adding a new cocktail menu to its lineup of coffee, craft beer, breakfast food, and sandwiches. Led by founder Mary Jenkins after the loss of the original East Cesar Chavez space to redevelopment, the Narcan machine the café once hosted there has been given a new nearby home." - H. Drew Blackburn
"Keeping the East Side caffeinated and fed, Cenote is a great spot to get some work done outside, people watch, and enjoy breakfast food much better than anything you’d expect from a typical coffee shop. Wash it down with one of the green juices from the fridge and you’ve officially started your day off “healthy.”" - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion, matthew jacobs
"Founded in 2012, this longtime East Austin cafe at 1010 East Cesar Chavez Street is losing its longtime home after the space was sold in March to developers planning a new build that will include a California-based chain. Owner and co-founder Mary Jenkins agreed to a lease buyout but has no firm timeline and is working to relocate the cafe—potentially later this year or next—by launching a crowdfunding investment campaign on Honeycomb Credit and scouting sites in Hyde Park or along Airport Boulevard, with designer Michelle Marchessault tapped for the new space. A central community concern is the cafe’s free Narcan vending machine, installed in 2023 through the N.I.C.E. Project in honor of Jenkins’s husband, Cody Symington (who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021); the dispenser has distributed roughly 2,800 doses, but the new owners say it would be a construction “liability” and plan to keep it offline for the estimated one- to 14-month build, prompting a petition to preserve it. In response, arrangements were made to install a separate Narcan machine at the nearby public library branch so neighborhood access to naloxone is maintained. The business also opened a second Windsor Park location in 2017 (closed 2022) and the original space previously housed the Paper Route bakery from 2018 to 2023." - Nadia Chaudhury
"A sturdy breakfast sandwich can be found at Cenote with eggs and cheese between ciabatta bread or a croissant, topped with bacon, chorizo, turkey, or avocado. Takeout orders can be placed online, and there are indoor and outdoor dine-in services." - Nadia Chaudhury, Erin Russell
