Issues with the septic system at the new home of Austin’s Coffee have forced the owners to delay reopening the Winter Park mainstay for local arts and entertainment.
The shop located for decades at 929 W. Fairbanks Ave. closed its doors Saturday with plans to reopen a week later at 2240 W. Fairbanks Ave. — about a mile west of its current site near Interstate 4.
But co-owner Angela Whitmer told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday afternoon that the building’s septic system is problematic and the building needs to be connected to the city sewer system.
“We’re looking at two, possibly three weeks. I’m hoping not to be down that long,” Whitmer said. “Everything else is going good and smooth.”
She owns Austin’s with her brother, Richard Whitmer, and Preacher Lawson, a nationally known comedian who honed his style on the shop’s stage years ago during its weekly Comedy Night. The trio bought it earlier this month from Jackie Moore, who owned it for many years with two others.
Whitmer said they became aware of the septic issues a few days ago and are trying to get permits and work completed — along with required health inspections — as quickly as possible.
“We prepared for the worst situation possible and we’ve been able to have situation after situation thrown at us and we’ve been working our way through them as fast as we possibly can legally,” she said. “It’s a beautiful space and we’re turning it into Austin’s 2.0.”
Austin’s Coffee in Winter Park is seen Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. The mainstay coffee shop closed its doors at 929 W. Fairbanks Ave. on Oct. 25, 2025 after the city bought the property and didn’t renew its lease. It will reopen in the coming weeks at its new location at 2240 W. Fairbanks Ave. — about a mile west near Interstate 4. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The new location is about 2,400 square feet compared to the previous 900 — with a bigger kitchen and stage. Some of the current Austin’s employees are expected to work at the new location.
Winter Park bought the land beneath Austin’s former location last year after coveting it for decades, in part to help relieve nasty traffic congestion at a nearby intersection. The city didn’t renew the shop’s lease and set an Oct. 31 closure date.
Austin’s was the closest business to the troublesome intersection; the other businesses on the land, including Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Soseki, will continue. The city plans to add dedicated left-turn lanes (in both directions) from Fairbanks to Denning Drive. It also wants to expand Martin Luther King Jr. Park, improve drainage in an area which often floods in heavy rains, and beautify Lake Rose (created by a sinkhole).