Nate's Coffee & Cocktails — Restaurant in Buda

I used to love going to Nate's until recently. Aside from the great ambiance, open patio, fire pit and decent drinks, I love the location. However, during my last visit, I had a really off putting encounter with one of the male bartenders. When I first arrived, I was carded by a female employee who served me two drinks upon reviewing my Texas issued ID. I went to sit down with my friend and after finishing our drinks I went back into the bar to order two more. When I went inside, the male bartender stared at me for sometime and then offered to assist me with getting two more drinks. He requested he see my ID again after I had already been carded and served two drinks with an open tab. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt because I understand that I do look very young for my age and he was just trying to do his job. In addition, this is a neighborhood bar with many regular patrons so he probably had not seen me before. Thus, I went back and got my ID from the table and showed it to him again. After three minutes of him starting at my ID he took it to the back and questioned the female bartender about my ID who had already checked it. He then started scratching at it and bending it several times to see if it was fake. I told him that I was indeed over 21 and had other forms of IDs to prove it but that he was making me very uncomfortable with his approach.

I started to get flustered because it was getting the attention of other patrons and I felt very singled out especially being the only African American woman in the entire establishment. It truly me feel as though that because I was a young black women who seemed out of the norm, it took part in his questioning of my integrity and the validity of my ID.

After several minutes he finally gave me my ID back and told me , "fake IDs are really getting great these days...don't get upset..at least you can take it as a compliment that when you're older you'll still look so young."

I was very taken a back about that comment as I felt that was extremely misogynistic of him to say as a Women's beauty and looks aren't tied to her age.

This entire encounter really upset me because I felt that prior to this experience, Nate was a very friendly, safe place for people of all ages, ethnicities and genders to have a relaxing drink and...

Very Good During the Day! - Significantly Worse At Night.

The daytime experience at Nate's is great. It's a good place to work. Plenty of seating. Seating of many styles (rigid wooden seats, lounge chairs, stools etc.). The internet has worked (indoors) everytime I have visited. Jackie is awesome! She was the reason I came back for a second and third (day) time. I also met Fin (sp? sorry) who is equally as courteous and makes very very good espresso and- If you like mocha, they are fantastic at Nates! I met GM Will, who was nice/ professional. Will was kind enough to give me a run down of the history of this incredibly well preserved & restored Buda Landmark.

I came one evening when Jackie was working and met Hope and Jennifer that night- who have also been consistently great.

However, the remainder of my experiences in the evenings have trended downward enough to bring the overall rating down and warrant this comment. There are two bartenders who are consistently and unnecessarily unpleasant. I still want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but Andy and Cortney are bad for Nate's business. They are nasty and arrogant. They represent what is wrong with Austin these days.

I am confident I was never rude however, these 2 employees are confidently rude and unprofessional. They make personal insults to patrons. After this past visit (at night), I have followed up with Buda Chamber of Commerce and the BBB.

Kindness is not weakness. Arrogance, rudeness, and lack of self awareness are weaknesses. I recognize that the service industry is hard and as human beings you are entitled to a bad day. I also recognize that as humans the only thing you owe me and others is nonviolence. You don't have to like someone or even be nice to them. But you can’t be in the service industry and be a jerk- insulting and genuinely rude.

Y'all-

This isn't a movie. This isn't NYC, LA, Miami......or even Austin. This is Buda...and it's real life. It is only slinging drinks- take it down a notch and lose the nasty attitude. It's supposed to be a pleasant, fun, and welcoming experience- not whatever these two emoloyees...

Really used to love this place. I would drive 35 minutes every week with my dog to grab a cup of coffee and get some work done. This was before Covid of course.

The only thing I would have complained about is the lack of decaf coffee because I’m extremely caffeine sensitive, but I loved the place so much that I’d suffer through and enjoy a cup of coffee regardless. I used to come all of the time and being in the service industry myself years ago I was a little disappointed that they never added decaf options and they still haven’t despite how much they’ve probably been asked. In my experience as a former member in the bar industry especially at a local stop we would special order certain things for our regulars. That’s how you keep them coming back.

Anyways, the real reason I’m writing this today isn’t because of the lack of decaf but the fact that I drive 35 minutes to come here only to see a sign that says they are closed and will open later. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Again, I’ve been in the service industry, and most of our company parties would happen on Mondays, but they don’t update their website or socials when this happens. Sometimes, I don’t even chance coming here because I never know if they will even be open. I really do enjoy this place, but it’s been hard to be a consistent customer again...