Coffee + Kids
An enjoyable day out for me would somehow include an hour or so sitting in a coffee shop with a fresh, hot cup of coffee in my hand, watching the myriad of people strolling by. It fits my personality well and makes my day so much more enjoyable. But, with kids, this is very difficult and not very enjoyable! Most of time, I am preoccupied with keeping my baby’s tiny fingers out of my steaming cup of coffee and filtering my 9 year old sons complaints of how truly boring this particular past time is. So, I am always incredibly pleased when I find a coffee shop that is family friendly- meaning they don’t frown when you walk in with kids in tow. I recently ran across a new Austin coffee shop while on line and decided to do some detective work prior to visiting them. It turns out that they are somewhat equipped to handle kiddos and they even have monthly events to entertain the little ones in the family!
Here’s what Angela from Irie Bean Coffee Bar has to say about their place:
Glad you discovered us. We definitely consider ourselves family friendly. Children are very welcome and we have a lot that come in each day. We don’t have high chairs for children but we have coloring books, crayons and sidewalk chalk if you consider that equipment for kids 
We have a great back patio for them to run around on. We also have a monthly event called the Kids Decaf Club. These events feature activities like kids music, face painting, balloon animals, art projects, etc. Our next Kids Decaf Club event will be on Dec 15.
Maybe we can frequent their joint enough and convince them to get at least one high chair! Sounds like a nice place to chill out and people watch while the kids are busy. www.iriebean.com
December 19th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
coffee and people watching are at the top of my list of favorite things, too. livie and i will be checking this place out right after the holidays!
December 26th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Irie Bean looks pretty neat from their website.
Another kid-friendly place to enjoy a cup of coffee is the Whole Foods on 6th & Lamar. Grab coffee (or a smoothie, or gelato or far more than you ever intended on purchasing) and head up to the second floor rooftop. There are a lot of tables & chairs and most importantly…a playground.
December 27th, 2009 at 1:03 am
I absolutely love Irie Bean! I’ve been going there nearly every morning for the past year. They are super friendly, and the baristas make my drink before I even enter the building. They know me by name (as do the other regulars), and always talked to the little baby that most often tagged along with me. As he got bigger, he loved to play in the rocks in the back, and put his hands in the water fountain.