Jo's Coffee

The Honest Take

What it's actually like

Jo's Coffee on South Congress is one of Austin's most beloved spots - a coffee shop with outdoor seating spilling onto the sidewalk and an iconic "I Love You So Much" mural on the side wall that's been photographed approximately one million times. But for the dancing community, Jo's matters for one reason: Sunday Sinner's Brunch.

Every Sunday, 12:30-3pm, a rotating cast of local artists fronts the Jo's House Band - recent acts include Warren Hood, Georgia Parker, Beth Chrisman, Jenn Miori, Ian Stewart, and Lucas Hudgins - on the small outdoor stage while people drink coffee and bloody marys, eat brunch, and dance on the covered patio. It's free, it's all ages, and it's one of the most genuinely Austin experiences that Austin offers.

The setting is decidedly casual - coffee cups and dance boots, families and honky-tonk regulars, tourists who stumble into it and locals who've been coming for years. The music is excellent. Warren Hood is one of Austin's finest musicians and the House Band sets are consistently great.

"It started as a lover's message spray-painted on a wall. The music that happens here on Sundays has the same quality - unplanned, genuine, exactly right."

The Back Story

The wall everyone photographs

The "I Love You So Much" mural on the side of Jo's Coffee wasn't commissioned art. In 2010, local musician Amy Cook spray-painted it as an impromptu message to her then-partner Liz Lambert, who was Jo's majority owner at the time, during a lover's spat. It wasn't planned as a landmark. It became one anyway, given how much foot traffic passes that corner of South Congress every day.

In January 2011 someone painted over it. The wall was restored to its original green and the message repainted a few weeks later, and it's stayed up ever since - now one of the most photographed walls in Austin, showing up in travel features, ads, and background shots of just about everything filmed on South Congress.

The Dance Floor

Two-stepping at Jo's Coffee

There is no formal dance floor at Jo's Coffee - the dancing happens on a covered patio in front of the stage, on a Trex-like composite deck. This is casual, outdoor dancing at its most Austin. People two-step and waltz in whatever space is available and nobody is precious about it.

The Sunday format rewards early arrival. Get there by noon to claim a good spot near the stage, order your coffee, and you'll be in prime position when the music starts at 12:30. Latecomers dance at the edges of the patio, which works but isn't ideal.

When to Go

Best nights for dancing

Practical Info

Everything you need to know

FAQ

Common questions