New on Tap
Progress Coffee to close and make way for beer and coffee concept Wright Bros. Brew & Brew
The decade-old East Side staple, Progress Coffee, will soon be no more. Owner Joshua Bingaman sold the Progress space to Grady Wright, Matt Wright and Matt Bolick who will open Wright Bros. Brew & Brew in a few months' time, specializing in craft beer and coffee.
"After over a year of touring spaces, meeting some whacky property owners and being generally frustrated, the Progress space found us," Bolick tells CultureMap. "The Wright brothers and I couldn't be happier. I have lived in the neighborhood for almost ten years and wouldn't rather set up shop anywhere else."
Bingaman says in an email to CultureMap that though he's closing the Progress locations on East Fifth Street and within TreeHouse, the Progress Coffee Roasting portion of the business "is still going full throttle" and "the Lakeway location is chugging along."
The closure comes at a time when Bingaman is refocusing on his other project, HELM Boots, which just opened its first storefront earlier this month.
As for the budding business taking the keys to the shop, Grady recently told Austin360, “The plan after we launch as Wright Bros. Brew & Brew is to bring in Handsome and Flat Track, two roasters with local origins that we have close ties to. We’ll also offer a rotating selection from other roasters, local or national, that are roasting great coffee.”
On the beer side of the coin, Brew & Brew plans to have more than 40 options on tap, canned and bottled. Bolick says, "With so much great beer being brewed in our home state its easy to dedicate a number of taps to local favorites. The remainder of our line-up will be a rotating number of seasonal, rare and unique beers."
The Wrights and Bolick will run Progress as is for a few months before they rebrand and reopen as Brew & Brew. There are no plans for Brew & Brew to take over other Progress locations.
While waiting for Brew & Brew to officially open sometime this summer or fall, visit Flat Track's small espresso bar in the back of Farewell Books, run by Bolick.
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Progress Coffee is located at 500 San Marcos Street, Suite 105.