My Name Is Joe airstream trailer opened in Austin back in February, much to the delight of downtowners that had grown accustomed to other coffee houses such as Caffe Medici, Houndstooth, and Starbucks. I know I was ready for something a little different, and was excited for My Name Is Joe because award-winning chef and restaurateur Philip Speer was one of the parties involved, along with William Ball, owner of downtown’s Garage Cocktail Bar.
Aside from serving perfectly tasty cups of coffee and delicious food like tartines (open faced sandwiches) and breakfast bowls, My Name Is Joe is on a mission to support the greater good of coffee and community, one cup at a time, while also contributing a portion of profits to one Central Texas nonprofit treatment center.
It’s no secret that both Ball and Speer struggled at one point with alcohol and drug dependency, and now in recovery they both wanted to give back to others who are battling the same demons and wanted to give them an opportunity and a “workplace for people in recovery where sobriety and a love for food and coffee cannot only coexist, but thrive,” says Ball.
1.2% of sales from My Name Is Joe support the Comfort Café, a 100 percent donation-based restaurant located in Smithville, Texas. The café wholly funds and employs residents at Serenity Star Recovery, the nonprofit addiction-treatment center that operates the café.
William Ball and Philip Speer are focused on delivering to the citizens of Austin a distinctive and exceptional coffee and food experience, and at the moment they are offering breakfast and lunch dishes in addition to innovative drinks like the turmeric latte and matcha latte, as well as more traditional caffeinated drinks like espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, house-made cold brew and nitro cold brew, and good ol’ drip coffee. My Name Is Joe features beans from lauded 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters out of Vancouver, and makes their almond milk and horchata in house.
As far as the food goes, Speer wanted to avoid your stereotypical coffee shop fare like stale bagels and basic muffins and focused on what he refers to as “stick-to-the-ribs” fare. Some of my favorites are their tartines, or open-faced sandwiches, and my go tos are the Moroccan tartine with house hazelnut hummus, pickled beets, cucumber, ras el hanout and fresh herbs, as well as the avocado tartine made with escabeche carrots, sorrel, green onions, and black radish.
Other highlights include brown rice porridge served with a soft poached egg, scallions, house-made kimchee and bulgogi tofu; Texas Rancher Oats, gluten-free steel-cut oats served with a savory tomato sauce, a poached egg, queso fresco, black beans and avocado; and Avocado T’oats, a dish of gluten-free steel-cut oats, heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and preserved Meyer lemon for the savory options, and almond-butter toast with apple jam and miso butterscotch and house-made granola with cultured yogurt for some sweeter options.
My Name Is Joe Coffee Co. is located in a vintage Airstream Trailer at 501 Colorado St. in downtown Austin and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you’ve got a hankering for some great coffee and fantastic food and want to support a business that gives back, definitely give My Name Is Joe a try. If you’re looking for other coffee options in Austin, check out this post I wrote on my favorite coffee shops and cafes to work and get inspired.
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