OUR STORY
SUPPORTING LOCAL
Bennu Coffee is a true local mom and pop establishment owned by Stephanie and Steve Williams. It’s no surprise that Steve and Stephanie met at a coffee shop. Stephanie would often visit Steve’s all-night coffeehouse after her shifts working at local non-profit to relax and reboot. Steve and Stephanie’s shared passion for community service and love of coffee created a bond that eventually lead to dating, marriage, children and opening their own 24-hour neighborhood coffeehouse in 2009, Bennu Coffee East.
Why “Bennu?” Well, amongst Egyptian folklore, the Bennu bird is a symbol of rebirth and resurrection. It is essentially the Egyptian version of the Phoenix. Steve and Stephanie felt the Bennu bird was a fitting representation of the beginning of their lives together. And, for many of us, that first perfect cup of coffee serves as a kind of rebirth every morning.
Steve and Stephanie developed Bennu’s business model to reflect Steve’s coffee expertise and their shared priority of bettering the world around them. With Steve earnestly curating the coffee program and Stephanie serving as the operational leader, Bennu quickly began to thrive. The all-night, community-driven coffeehouse developed a reputation for offering excellent coffee in a clean comfortable environment served by friendly baristas. Soon after opening its doors, Bennu Coffee East became a bustling, around-the-clock destination for Austinites to socialize, relax, study and enjoy a great cup of coffee.
In the first year of Bennu’s operation, Steve worked on perfecting one of his absolute favorite coffee concoctions: cold brew. Brewed for more than 16 hours with organic South American beans, Bennu’s cold brew recipe came to be known as some of the best in town. Inspired to share his recipe, Steve partnered with Chris Campbell to bottle and sell Bennu's cold brew – now known as Chameleon Cold Brew, the beloved, nationally distributed coffee brand.
By 2016, the Williams, now with two children, began to envision expanding the Bennu Coffee brand. In early 2017, serendipity arose when the owners of central Austin coffeehouse, Dominican Joe’s approached the Williams to buy their shop. Purchasing Dominican Joe’s, also a community-driven business, was the perfect opportunity for the Williams to take the next steps of growing their family-owned business.
Bennu Coffee’s second location, Bennu Coffee on Congress, opened in May of 2017. Bennu is happy to welcome the employees from Dominican Joe’s to their ever growing family and looks forward to serving the central Austin community at their new location.