Sage Cafe

Had a groupon for this hidden gem.
Went last weekend and absolutely loved it!
Had the hummus and pita & a turkey presto Sandwich on foccasia. My friend had the grilled cheese. Everything was fresh and tasty — no complaints. Wish they had more treats and desert options, but it’s ok.
Prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly. Minus 1 star for the crappy parking (and lack thereof). Shared lot with The Great Outdoors making it a bit of a pain if you’re trying to get in /​out on a weekend. Weekdays are probably better!
Atmosphere is what makes it! Hidden in a little house in front of a plant nursery you’ll miss it if you’re not looking for it. Nice addition to the SOCO area. The patio is beautiful and they have a ton of fans to hide you from the heat!
Overall, fantastic experience. Will return happily!

The placement is great, but the food and service needs improvement. The coffee was brewed with super hot water so only the acidic bitter Folgers crystal taste came through. I kind of expected all of the staff to be chill. But there’s a level of chill that’s closer to apathetic, and that’s heavily reflected In the food.

After a pleasant experience in the nursery, I saw this place and thought, ‘hey, I’m hungry, and I’ve been curious about their wraps, so let’s give it a go!’ …uh, no más. After standing around for 5 minutes on my own, I was so lucky to have someone join me. No biggie, I get people may not have seen me and I was still looking at the menu any way. I really had no clue if the person who came in even worked there until she was standing on the other side of the counter, staring at me silently with a look on her face as if I had just stolen her favorite beanie. I assumed her uncomfortable silence meant she was ready for my order. Typically, I would have just left at this point rather than give money to someone like that but I was genuinely curious about the food since I live close by. I ordered one of the wraps, it was very good and tasted fresh. Too bad, though, because otherwise I was made to feel like a nuisance. Out of the entire experience the one thing said to me was, ‘credit?’ I spent many years in the service industry and am not quick to complain about human error or honest mistakes, but rudeness and a crappy attitude will always send my cash elsewhere.
Well, if the owner is cool enough to respond so quickly with an apology then I guess I can dig deep and find 3 more stars. Because, otherwise, it was a good experience.

I love this place. It’s nice to sit outside in the back and people watch. The food is healthy and prepared with care. I really love the breakfast tacos. Coffee is great too and so is the service!

Its a hidden treasure. Laidback and friendly staffs. Must their peanut butter espresso shake.

This place is so cute, they have an awesome selection of times on the menu and the set up of it is intriguing.

Fresh, healthy, fast, super close to St. Eds, lovely patio working atmosphere. It’s very Austin. Had the tomato basil mozzarella sandwhich on focaccia bread– very tasty, the avocado bliss my Aunt had also was tasty! Lots of tea and coffee options– drinks galore. I’ll come here again! They have amazing smoothie options, I haven’t tried but I will be back to.

The staff is nice and efficient, and the pastries are fantastic! The coffees and smoothies are really quite good. We added Mango to the Avocado smoothie and loved the flavor profile.
One word of caution: avoid the sandwiches. My husband upgraded the bread and it was kinda poor for the price. I got PBJ on sourdough (for my inner kid that day) or at least it was supposed to be… It tasted like crunchy stale white bread. No zing that you typically get from sourdough and it was visually not toasted but kinda was rough n tough in my mouth as if it was. Overall it mighta been an off day but we won’t be going back.

This secret spot on south congress (across from St Edward’s) makes some tasty light bites. They also have plenty of coffee options and breakfast tacos.
The Space:
I went by for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and it was very quiet and a relaxed atmosphere. The space inside is small (2 or 3 tables). The patio has 4 or 5 tables overlooking the garden shop.
The Service:
It appeared to be a 2 man operation — one on the register and the other in the kitchen. This worked well for me on a quiet Sunday, but I imagine it could be slow on weekdays. We ordered and sat outside, and our food came out fast — maybe 5 minutes.
The Food:
I had the avocado salad, which is half of an avocado stuffed with chicken salad over a bed of lettuce with tomatoes and onions surg balsamic vinegarette. It was light and tasty. My iced chai latte was okay. It tasted a bit like the powder mix some places use to make those, but it wasn’t terrible. I’m just picky about that detail.

Love the vibe, the food and the smoothies. An instant favorite of mine.
Highly recommend if you like eating clean and healthy.
The refreshing factor is a ¹⁰⁄₁₀ with the fun names of all their drinks, they just sound like they taste delicious.

New ownership shows, because it’s much better now and the espresso and machiatto were perfect and not the slightest bit bitter (starbucks).
The porch was comfortable even in 95+degree weather with their fans outside.
Sandwiches were excellent.
We’ll be back for sure.

A little confusing when I first walked in. Also, not much to say about the inside, awkwardly organized and a few tables. The outside was definitely better which faced the garden store.
I waited briefly before someone came to the register. I had looked online before I came, so knew roughly what I wanted, but felt uncomfortable and didn’t get much input from the register. They were nice though. The space just felt weird. I ordered a sandwich and smoothie.
I sat outside and waited about 5 minutes for my food. I wrecked the smoothie in that time. It was great. My food was also delicious and fresh.
Only downside to this place is the space itself and getting there, but they have great, fresh food. Would recommend.

I love this place, but I ordered a sandwich with added turkey with pita bread and hummus on the side. They were out the bread, pita bread and forgot my turkey. however, they gave me another sandwich.

We were going to check out The Great Outdoors for the first time, and had been told by a friend that we should grab coffee in the café while we were there. So we did, and breakfast too. I had the avocado salad with tuna, it was perfect. My hubs got a ham and egg sandwich, and he also liked it. There mocha was great, not too sweet, and the iced tea was fresh.
The service was rather slow, but I believe they were short staffed and it was Sunday morning, so we weren’t in a rush.
This is a great little spot! With the view of the gardens, and dogs welcome, I’ll be back!

The spinach salad is a must try if you’re the healthy type. Loved the nursery, this is a good place to visit for when you’re going to go plant shopping, stop here and have your morning coffee or breakfast.

This is a promising place in a great location — a part of south congress with few places to eat, and embedded in The Great Outdoors, a really nice nursery.
Unfortunately, Sage Café doesn’t live up to it’s potential. On our visit, the patio, which should be a stand-​out feature, was strewn with trash and there was no water in water station.
Worst, out spinach and chicken salads seemed to be spinach from a bag, a sliced flavourless tomato, a few walnuts, and a half cup of the kind of chicken salad that belongs on sandwiches. This was a cuplet of unmixed and unmixable vinagrette. We’ll return to try a sandwich, since the location is convenient, but not with high expectations.

I was very pleasantly surprised this afternoon! I spent some time at the Great Outdoors just looking for a home warming gift for a friend. While shopping, I was plagued by the thought of where to get healthy food during rush hour, right before work. I started to get overwhelmed thinking I might need to go home which would also be inconvenient. On the way out, I saw the café and had no idea that it was even there until just now! I contemplated, having worked in many cafes myself, of the quality of the food… I decided to take the chance anyways.
I was so pleased! The girl working was sweet and greeted me right away. I was very happy to see that the menu had many health conscious items to choose from, and at a really great price too! My black bean tofu wrap was delicious and I didn’t mind waiting a couple short minutes while sipping on tropical green tea, either.
So excited to go back! It was quaint and a refreshing scene outside of the typical huddle and bustle you find in other parts of town. Definitely going back soon.

Came here on a drizzly Saturday morning before stopping into The Great Outdoors. There was one other couple there, so not busy at all. My S.O. ordered a large coffee and two breakfast tacos. We waited close to 15 minutes for our food before the waiter brought out food to the other couple. We waited another 10 minutes before getting up to ask what was taking so long. The waiter was no where to be found, but the couple asked, «Is this your food? We didn’t order any.»
Seriously?! 1) What took so long for two tacos? 2) The waiter didn’t bother to confirm that he had taken the food to the right table. 3) Being the only other people there, the couple couldn’t have told the waiter/​asked us about the food?
The place has a cool vibe, but the tacos weren’t very good and this experience was absolutely terrible.

Sage is a fabulous coffee shop with delicious iced coffee and food! It’s smaller than some other coffee shops in the area, but has a really lovely patio and feels secluded and comfortable. There’s a large parking lot that the café shares with The Great Outdoors store that is directly behind it.
I tried an iced coffee and it was smooth and flavorful, no bitterness and no need for sugar or cream. I also ordered a turkey & provolone sandwich on gluten free bread and it was delicious. I’m not sure what kind/​brand of bread it was but it wasn’t dry or tasteless.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience and I am definitely planning on returning. The only negative aspect — which isn’t really negative, just disappointing to me — is that they close fairly early.

If you have ever wondered what happens when an entire office orders lunch, and literally everyone hates their lunch? Well, you have found that review. I will digress though, and only concentrate on what I ordered.
This menu actually sat the secretary’s desk for a while. I would come in and comment, «this looks good.» There was always a promise of trying it out. Finally, we did. This is where our downfall begins.
Two days before the meeting we passed around a sheet of paper whereas you would write your order. With the menus attached, I chose carefully.
BLT no cheese, with avocado, on sourdough, w/​mayo, mustard, and spinach. With chips and hummus.
The catastrophe goes as follows:
–The bacon was crumbled? It was like Bac O’s on a sandwich? I think to try and hide the fact that there was barely one slice of bacon on it.
–Oh, wait, what’s that I notice missing? No tomato? Isn’t that literally 33% of the name B-​L-​T? Seriously? I mean… come on!!!
–Three thin, and when I say thin, I mean like #1 at the deli thin, slices of avocado.
–It wasn’t on sourdough. It was on white bread. That was almost as if they took a regular slice and cut it even thinner.
–I counted four pieces of spinach. Seriously, four?
–No mayo. Only mustard.
–Oh, wait, there is more. The «cup», and I’m using that term in the loosest possible way. The «sampling» is more like it, of hummus was bland, and tatseless. The chips were stale and hard.
So, I do not think it’s typing out of turn to say that this was a general problem with the entire office’s lunch. I would also like to say that another one of my co-​workers got a BLT also, and there was no tomato on it. What??? Mind Blown!!!
This sandwich would have cost me $ 6.00 if it had not been an office meeting. Do you realize how absolutely angry I would have been walking into this fiasco having paid for it? Any idea at all? How this place is still open is probably a miracle that was probably brought on by the owner wishing on a monkey’s paw.