CrowdMate Get the app

Austin · Venue

Kick Butt Coffee

A compact Austin coffeehouse, bar, and all-ages performance room shaped by its martial-arts roots.

Upcoming shows
95
Capacity
75
Address
5775 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78752
Phone
(512) 454-5425
Next show
Sat, 3 Oct 2026
Official siteDirections
Kick Butt Coffee in Austin

About Kick Butt Coffee

Kick Butt Coffee in Austin is a 75-capacity coffeehouse, bar, and concert room with an unusual built-in neighbor: the café’s back doors lead into founder Thomas Gohring’s Tai Chi and Kung Fu school. That setup gives this Airport Boulevard room a personality beyond its strip-mall setting. Its stage hosts rock-facing bills alongside comedy, poetry, dance, and open mics, while daytime coffee service gives way to evening shows.

Kung Fu, Coffee, and an Early Stage

Thomas Gohring opened Kick Butt Coffee in February 2008, extending the martial-arts theme of his nearby school into a café decorated with kung fu references. His sister Joy, a stand-up comedian, helped establish a weekly comedy open mic soon after launch; a bimonthly blues dance followed in May, building a performance program around the small shop. The venue’s music role arrived quickly: during South by Southwest in March 2008, it hosted a dozen-plus acts, including John Biz, Aim Low Kid, and Christopher Denny. That week placed emerging touring performers on a free North Austin stage while the downtown festival surged elsewhere.

What the Room Gives You Now

Current programming keeps the mixed-use format active, with booked concerts alongside recurring poetry, music, and comedy open mics. Artists and promoters have a dedicated booking contact through the venue’s site, while open-mic participation runs through in-person sign-up. Punk and metal form a durable part of the room’s rock identity, joined by varied concert bills and community events. The capacity keeps the audience close, and the café-bar layout supplies coffee, food, and a full bar; the passage into the adjoining dojo remains the room’s clearest physical signature.

Sources

  1. Kick Butt Coffee — Kick Butt Coffee
  2. Kick Butt Coffee brings together kung fu and punk & local restaurant owners make adjustments — Community Impact
  3. Kick Butt Coffee — Austin Chronicle
  4. Austin Monthly Review — Austin Monthly
  5. Kick Butt Coffee Wants Central Texans to Get a Kick from Unique Retail Concept — PR.com
  6. Kick Butt Coffee Has the Ticket for Music During South by Southwest — PR.com
  7. Kick Butt Open Mics — Kick Butt Coffee

Next 15 shows

See more shows and join concerts with your friends in the CrowdMate app.

Get the app

Download CrowdMate on the App Store Get CrowdMate on Google Play

All concerts in Austin