Russell's Bakery & Coffee @ Hancock, Austin TX

I'll be honest; I haven't been here in 2 years. Moved about a thousand miles away, and I only visit once a year. But I still think about this place, and when I was a kid, my mom would take me over here after swim lessons at Crenshaw's. I'd get chocolate milk and a bakery treat. My favorites were the blueberry scones because I was a hyperactive menace and they were coated in decorative sugar.

And when I got older, started going to summer camp, I would run as fast as I could when the day was over, trying to make it here to get a scone and a smoothie with my pocket change before my mom came back to pick me up. The art was always my favorite part, though. The hand-decorated cookies were enticing, and the icing on the cakes were beautiful, but the local paintings and collages on the walls, a riot of color and community support? Incredible, every time.

(My mom bought one, and it still sits above the mantel in my childhood home.)

The morning of my big move to Boston, I drove my own car here and received excellent service, a delicious iced mocha, and a blueberry scone that was a bit dry, but also topped with decorative sugar.
Fair trade, I think.

I purchased quite a few baked goods today including cinnamon rolls, croissants and pastries. I was driving by and decided to try it. Everything was dry, bland and not worth eating. The staff is nice but the baked goods are awful.

Excellent coffee and pastries. It would be a better experience if a tip wasn't requested just for taking your order, which was the only contact with employees.

I popped in this place ten minutes before closing and the hostess was still very accommodating. The decaf cappuccino and pumpkin muffin were a great pick-me-up after a long day. There are lots of options for pastries and the coffee is equally varied. The parking is a little inconvenient, considering it’s jammed right next to an intersection. Be careful when leaving. Cheers!

No complaints. Good Bakery options, basic sandwich options, & coffee (although I wasn't a fan of the cold brew). The atmosphere is really cute. There is nice art on the walls, lego creations, a free printer, and a small kids table.

Menu in store doesn’t show any nuts listed in products ended up having a bad allergic reaction to a chicken salad sandwich.

The customer service here is amazing! That staff seems like they’re having a genuinely good time working here. Plus the coffee is tasty

We've been coming here for years, and don't plan to stop anytime soon. The best!

I love to have a quiet lunch here and I always stop for coffee in the morning when I am in town. The people are so nice and the food is always delicious. I love the chicken salad and the chicken pozole soup.

What an adorable little bakery! They absolutely love military service members too! I went it just to grab a sandwich and salad and was honored to have been thanked repeatedly and given a discount. I went in on a different day and was surprised with a paid off tab by a kind and sweet silent military supporter. I absolutely love this bakery! Their baked goods and treats are the best and their coffee is so smooth! I ordered a tuna salad on wheat with a house salad with their homemade pesto vinaigrette! If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. The sandwiches come fully loaded with a lot of toppings, plenty of tuna and a hearty serving of salad. They aren’t stingy with the veggies either! They keep you coming back for more with the literally icing on their cupcakes! Decadent with intricate designs. The location is just Shy of 1.5 miles from Camp Mabry so you could walk there for exercise if you wanted! Plenty of parking and once inside, plenty of seating. It gets busy to so expect to wait a bit for your delicious delicate food! Smell the fragrance of the sweetness of the homemade wheat bread and baked goods once you have them in front of you. This is an experience as you rarely get homemade everything when you go out to eat! And lastly, savor every bite! I comment from Houston so this is truly a treat for me.

I love Russell's Bakery and Coffee! They have the best cakes, cinnamon rolls and sweet buns - loaded with fruits and nuts - called schnecken. One of their sweets per day is just not enough! And they sell day-old goodies at a discount. The parking lot is almost always full because it's so popular with neighborhood kids, the elderly and everyone in between.

We order a birthday cake every year from here, and we recommend this place to many. However — This year’s cake was very disappointing, as it was so dry it was hard to cut into. It’s surprising to see we’re not the only ones that have recently experienced this. Looks like sadly, we’ll need find another bakery for these special occasions.

I wanted to like the place since I like to support local coffee shops, but no. The strawberry cream cheese "croissant" was the worst I've ever had. Dry, chewy and bread-like, not flaky and pastry-like at all. Oh, and they don't take cash. I can forgive them for the "no cash" system, but not for a bad croissant.

I’ve had russels cakes every year for my birthday, it’s been 2 decades that I’ve ordered them from here. But these last few years have been so disappointing I don’t know if the bakers changed. But the cakes aren’t as great as they used to be. They’ve messed up the icing and the filling to my cakes multiple times. And recently have had cakes that are so dry and hard you can’t even cut through them. I had to find another bakery and I found Captain Quackenbush's Coffeehouse it’s def a 10/10.

Independent Bakery with lots of folks chilling and working on computers. The cranberry scone was fresh and not overly sweet.

Great coffee! Best coffee I had in my trip to Austin. Barista really knows what he's doing.

Great food. They have even Gluten Free muffins and breads. You can even get full size GF breads. When we visited they also had live music:)