Swedish Hill South First — Restaurant in Austin

Austin has spent years manifesting its own Erewhon—a temple of aspirational wellness where a smoothie costs more than your last therapy copay. Swedish Hill isn’t quite that, but it’s our city’s closest answer to "pay $4.50 for drip and feel spiritually elevated." It’s not just a bakery—it’s a vibe. A mood board. A place where people feel objectively hotter just for existing under those Edison bulbs and ordering “just a little something” from the pastry case.

Now don’t get me wrong—the pastries are good. Not “get-their-name-tatted-on-you” good, but reliably decent. The coffee? It’s serviceable, but no one's flying in from Seattle to taste the revolution. Still, when you're basking in that Scandinavian-chic lighting and pretending you’re on your way to a soft-launch tech brand shoot, you’re not really here for flavor. You’re here for the transformation. You walked in a South 1st 6.5 and walked out feeling like a Swedish Hill 8. That’s ROI.

Parking? Sure, there's about 1 spot for every 7 people experiencing a croissant-induced glow-up—but there's neighborhood parking and Swedish Hill strives to be cardio-neutral. You’re about to destroy a croissant while lying to yourself about going for a walk later. The extra two-block pilgrimage is part of the ceremony.

The crowd is a rotating cast pulled straight from an Aba happy hour or a Launderette birthday brunch. You’ll overhear phrases like “angel investing in sustainable tequila” and “I’m between retreats right now.” And you know what? It works. You sit in that sunlit corner, nibble on a kouign-amann, and start to believe your startup idea might actually be worth something.

The staff is on point, the space is curated within an inch of its life, and the breakfast taco (+bacon, +avo, red sauce) is a solid $9 indulgence. Is it overpriced? Absolutely. But so is everything at Merit and you're still in line for that burnt honey cortado.

Swedish Hill is not for everyone. But neither is therapy, mezcal, or skin cycling—and we’ve all doubled down on worse decisions. If you want great pastries, go elsewhere. If you want to feel spiritually elevated while holding a laminated menu and pretending to read Kinfolk, welcome home.

Update: bumping from 5 to 3 due to growing pains and inconsistencies in “experience” - service has gotten slower/many of the initial staff have moved on and training is not keeping up. Throughput ($/table & table turns) is not great so they’ve implemented a “no laptop”policy. Food has remained...

I love the air, the lightness and the light that shines through the space is beautiful especially the crumbling wall outside. I just love that modern and antique type of look together. This is so much better than the original one on W. 6th St. it seems like they’ve up their food game much better quality, including the pastries. I had a lemon they call it a danish- it’s not a danish but it’s a lemon type of tart which was great. The coffee is fantastic. It’s from intelligencia, which is such a good brand.

But most of all the service is fantastic. I want to shout out to Will and Gigi.

I didn’t realize, cause it was my first time there that they don’t let you work on a computer or a laptop, which I think is a fantastic thing yet the volume inside was too loud. I was there to do conduct an interview with someone and we went outside, so couple that with the volume of music it’s a little bit too much!

If you want to come and read a book outside where it’s slightly quieter then that would be the solution, but not really.

Unfortunately, the music is blasting on the speakers so what’s the point of not using your laptop? You can’t concentrate on what you’re writing or reading.

Leslie, I wanted to try the soft serve ice cream. It’s simply awful. There’s definitely chemical additives in it. It’s not dense or firm. It’s served you where it’s almost melted and it has honey yuck but you don’t taste it because again...

To say that I was surprised when this came out for $16.00 is an understatement, I was so underwhelmed. Are you seriously telling me that they served plain white bread...not even toasted, and that there were more chips and bread than actual chicken salad on the sandwich, and to top it off the chicken salad wasn't even that good or anything special that would separate Swedish Hill from a Walmart Deli. For a place that prides itself on baked goods and fresh foods, this was by far disappointing and to be charging $16.00 for a sandwich, bruh this sandwich was worth $4.95 in plastic wrapping. Clearly, I am upset, but in this economy if you are going to be charging that much for a sandwich...like give it something. I miss Foxtrot, bring her back. Overall, I would not come back and wouldn't recommend coming here for lunch with friends. It's a good study spot, but that's about it.

Apologies for complaint about the price, but nothing aggravates me more than spending money on an expensive item that is not-good food.

P.S. I would suggest investing in rotating fans for the tables/bakery items to lessen the amount of flies crawling all...