When Kiyo and I flew into Austin early Friday morning this past President’s Day weekend, we were ready for breakfast immediately after checking into our hotel. I had of course done extensive food-related research, and had a couple of places in mind that I knew I didn’t want to miss. We asked our kind Hilton doorman how to get to Progress Coffee, and he voiced his approval for our choice before sending us in the right direction.
The cute little coffee shop was just east of the hotel and we ambled over leisurely, taking in all the street art, storefronts and bars along famed Sixth Street on our way. Once we arrived, we decided to sit outside (it was warm and sunny which considering it was February and we’d just flown in from New York, we couldn’t get enough of).
In preparation for a full day of walking around the city, we each ordered an “iced lightening,” a strong iced-coffee drink with hazelnut, chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Even Kiyo, who usually drinks his coffee black, was obsessed with this beverage. The sugar and caffeine jolt was perfect and the flavors were so satisfying together that I was definitely sad to finish. I pocketed a chocolate chip cookie for later – this was also a good idea and the cookie was also sweet and satisfying.
Kiyo always prefers lunch over breakfast, so he ordered a sandwich special that came with tortilla chips. The sandwich itself included turkey, bacon, avocado and red onion. It looked simple but good.
My breakfast sandwich was so delicious. I wish I could find this near my office in New York. The “Progress Breakfast Biscuit” is egg and cheese (I also requested bacon) sandwiched between a warm and flaky cheddar jalapeño biscuit. The result is cheesy, salty and spicy goodness, balanced by the sweetness of the buttery biscuit. There is the option to add in or substitute tomato, avocado, sausage, roast beef or turkey as well. My only complaint is that it’s not very big, so even though it’s rich, I was still hungry shortly afterwards. Since there was much more eating that day, that was probably a good thing, but any other day I could have probably eaten two of these sandwiches, it was so good.
