If you love to read, you’re probably well aware of how easy it is to get lost in a page turner and forget the world around you. Cookbook Bar & Café, a restaurant located inside the Austin Central Library, lets you do just that, offering chef-driven cuisine and gourmet coffee to keep your brain fueled up for a long day of reading. From freshly baked pastries to artisan sandwiches, this place has it all – with a charming atmosphere, to boot.

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Nestled inside the Austin Central Library, Cookbook Bar & Café offers a tranquil escape from the hustle and bustle of the capital city.

Facebook/Cookbook You’ll find it on W Cesar Chavez Street.

You’ll feel right at home as you step into the counter-service eatery, its natural lighting and warm tones that create an idyllic atmosphere for curling up with a good book.

Google Local/Joyce Carter Cozy and intimate, the restaurant has about 50 seats. That’s just enough to maintain spaciousness without giving up the quaint ambiance that keeps patrons coming back time and again.

On the walls, you’ll see more than 500 cookbooks that once belonged to revered pastry chef and lifelong Austinite, Virginia B. Wood.

Google Local/Austin Stromberg Guests are free to peruse the selection, which features books from the 1950s all the way up to the present day.

A spacious patio boasts 75 additional seats, plus sweeping views of downtown Austin.

Google/Joyce Carter If the weather is nice, find a comfy spot where you can dive into a page-turner and slip away from the confines of reality. As the wind blows through your hair and the sun beams down on your skin, you’ll ascend to bibliophile heaven.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the café is that all of its recipes come from the pages of highly celebrated cookbooks.

Facebook/Cookbook From decadent pastries to artisan sandwiches, the ever-changing menu emphasizes seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients.

The options are limited, but that just means each and every dish gets the TLC it so rightfully deserves.

Facebook/Cookbook It will be love at first bite, with the passion that goes into these chef-driven meals shining through and captivating your taste buds. Take this bacon, mozzarella, and pesto sandwich, for example: the pesto is made with arugula and walnuts, a unique twist that promises to elevate your dining experience to unimaginable heights.

While you never know exactly what the month’s offerings will be, expect to see breakfast items like brioche buns, quiches, and hand pies, as well as fresh salads and several other sandwich selections for lunch.

Facebook/Cookbook As far as sweets go, cookies, cakes, tarts, Danishes, and cinnamon rolls are the usual suspects.

Books and coffee go together like peanut butter and jelly, and Cookbook offers plenty of joe to keep you fueled for a long day of reading.

Facebook/Cookbook Whether you prefer a foamy cappuccino or nice and strong espresso, there’s something for coffee lovers of all persuasions, including a variety of different milk and flavor options.

Address: 710 West Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, TX 78701.

Google Maps Hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

Visit the restaurant’s website or Facebook page to learn more.

Facebook/Cookbook

You’ll find it on W Cesar Chavez Street.

Google Local/Joyce Carter

Cozy and intimate, the restaurant has about 50 seats. That’s just enough to maintain spaciousness without giving up the quaint ambiance that keeps patrons coming back time and again.

Google Local/Austin Stromberg

Guests are free to peruse the selection, which features books from the 1950s all the way up to the present day.

Google/Joyce Carter

If the weather is nice, find a comfy spot where you can dive into a page-turner and slip away from the confines of reality. As the wind blows through your hair and the sun beams down on your skin, you’ll ascend to bibliophile heaven.

From decadent pastries to artisan sandwiches, the ever-changing menu emphasizes seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients.

It will be love at first bite, with the passion that goes into these chef-driven meals shining through and captivating your taste buds. Take this bacon, mozzarella, and pesto sandwich, for example: the pesto is made with arugula and walnuts, a unique twist that promises to elevate your dining experience to unimaginable heights.

As far as sweets go, cookies, cakes, tarts, Danishes, and cinnamon rolls are the usual suspects.

Whether you prefer a foamy cappuccino or nice and strong espresso, there’s something for coffee lovers of all persuasions, including a variety of different milk and flavor options.

Google Maps

Hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

Have you ever been to Cookbook Bar & Café? If so, what did you order and how was it? Tell us all about your dining experience in the comments section below, and check out our previous article for more reasons why the Austin Central Library is worthy of a visit.

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Address: CookBook Café, 710 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701, USA