It took five years and many Houston-Austin round trips via Texas
State Highway 71 before I “discovered” the Hit the Spot Café in Garfield. What took me so long to find out about a place
that’s garnered positive reviews on Yelp and Foursquare? The café hides inplain sight inside the Garfield Community Library.
How many times did I marvel at the packed parking lot of the
Garfield Library? I’d glance over from my spot behind the wheel or in the
passenger seat and chalk up the library’s popularity to story time or ESL
classes. A librarian would have shushed my speculations and insisted I research
the place.
As it happens, the East Travis Gateway Library District, to
which Garfield belongs, offers story times, ESL classes, and karate classes in
its Learning Center. The draw in Garfield is different.
The
charming library features portraits of the presidents, a bead board-covered
counter, and welcoming vibe. It offers food for thought, and thinking frequently leads to hunger. That’s where Hit the Spot comes in. The restaurant offers
breakfast all day, daily specials (beef tips on Wednesday; fried catfish on
Friday), plus friendly, efficient service.
Hit
the Spot fills a dining void in the 71 corridor north of Bastrop and south of
Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week
and for dinner Friday nights.
What’s
more, the restaurant/library combination teaches lessons in peaceful
co-existence. At lunchtime, the wait for a café table can range from five minutes
to twenty, and would-be diners are welcome to browse library books or work on a communal jigsaw puzzle. There’s a display of books by a
spotlighted author and a table of freebie books.
If you
like books, biscuits, and chicken-fried steak, the Garfield
Community Library has you covered.
