Locals playing UNO at Austin’s Coffee’s RIP party on Saturday night.
Houda Eletr
Loved by UCF students and locals — Winter Park’s Austin’s Coffee held a costume party with live DJ performances on Saturday at 6 p.m., in memory of the original location at 929 W. Fairbanks Ave. being closed down.
The city of Winter Park purchased the lot that Austin’s and other businesses stand on. Forcing Austin’s to relocate to their new, larger location about a mile away.
UCF students find themselves saddened by the news, feeling that the original building held character and soul.
Trey Hibbard, first-year graduate student and statistics major, as well as the first DJ of the night, said that one of his favorite memories at Austin’s was when a barista once let him play music on the café’s speakers.
“I was playing like really loud trap EDM at 3 p.m., it was just really funny, and I was so happy I got to do that,” Hibbard said.
Mi-Hwa Chang, senior history major, said that the vibe at Austin’s is a perfect space for wanting to get homework done. She said that it’s not too overstimulating and not too stuck up — it’s just right.
“It’s a historic property, and it’s been around for a long time,” Chang said. “As a historian, I’d hate to see this building go.”
The floor in front of the stage was filled with locals in costumes — including a Mandalorian, Springtrap, clowns and foxes — dancing tightly under red lights.
Kavan Paul, junior information technology major, said that he had been coming to Austin’s since moving to Orlando from Texas to attend UCF.
“It’s always been really nice to just kinda go to Austin’s when you and your friends don’t know what to do on a random afternoon,” Paul said. “You know, it’s kinda like, ‘Oh, what do you wanna do?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know, let’s go to Austin’s Coffee.’”
As new DJs took the stage, the coffee shop overflowed with locals crowding the sidewalks and front patio. Between sets, a barista often shouted for people to buy everything in the café, saying they wouldn’t be keeping any of the leftovers.
Matthew Ghassemi, senior finance major, said that his first time a few years ago was a bad date, but ever since then, it’s been him and his friends making better memories at Austin’s, especially at their weekly jazz nights.
“As all things must pass, I’m glad they’re able to relocate in Winter Park and continue to serve the people,” Ghassemi said. “It’s like one of the few places that’s very chill and isn’t a bar that my friends and I can hang out.”
Gabriel Reyes, freshman mechanical engineering major, only recently discovered Austin’s coffee in October. Reyes said that Fairbanks could use some remodeling, expressing his concern for accidents at the traffic light in 1792 on Fairbanks Avenue.
“Showing up today was so nice, I had a lot of fun,” Reyes said. “It was just me and three random dudes dancing that started the floor.”
Recollecting memories and recreating photos, locals began dispersing as the night came to an end around 1 a.m. UCF students looked forward to the memories that are waiting to be made at Austin’s new location, set to open on Saturday.
“The one good thing I can think of that comes with this is we’ve realized that communities don’t go with buildings and places, they go with the people,” Paul said.