Z Café Opens At Austin Airport

AUSTIN, TX — Austin-based independent restaurateur and operator, Iris Ren, has announced the opening of Z Café, a one-stop shop eatery located before the security checkpoint 2 at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Z Café is in the former SoCo Market location near the American Airlines ticket counter, airport officials said in a press advisory. Renovated this spring, the new store will have its grand opening later this summer. Z Café will serve hot and cold coffees, drinks, sandwiches and Asian foods as well as assorted snacks like pastries, salads, chips and energy bars. It will be open from 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Z Café features scalloped signage lining its exterior, with banners informing customers of the treats awaiting them inside. Once inside, customers are greeted with new dark wood flooring, marble tables and café chairs. The order station has also been remodeled with a contemporary tiled back splash and red light fixtures.

Kasey McCarty, the interior designer of Z Café, said she sought to create an inviting environment in setting the right tone for travelers before entering the terminal. Her design brings a rustic, home-like feeling Ren wanted to sought to achieve in her store, according to the advisory. Ren chose McCarty due to her previous work designing other Austin coffee shops.

According to an airport-provided bio, McCarty launched her own company in 2005 after having designed for several Austin favorites such as the Violet Crown Cinema on 2nd Street and the Salon by Milk and Honey in the Hill Country Galleria. McCarty’s coordinating architect was Kennedy Colombo and her contractor was Whalers Construction.

McCarty said she wanted to bring a design that was unique to both her and Ren’s aesthetics, as well as a vision of a modern Texan café with elements of French and farmhouse design, airport officials said.

The previous operator of the airport’s Wok ‘n Roll restaurant on the departure side of the terminal, Ren was gratified how her new venture came out: “Everything is just so cute, no matter which angle you look at the store, it is just cute,” she said. “This is my small world.”