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Bennu is great, always chilled with good music.

Wow! So awesome to see our local coffee shop make SvN!

Bennu is host to so many Austin Rails developers: cafebedouins.com cheaptweet.com tweetriver.com bedouinlabs.com damonc.com prefinery.com mikeperham.com gelatodating.com gowalla.com

If you’re a coder, Bennu is the best coffee shop in Austin. Open 24 hours, 3 wifi access points, great access to power, and 7 distinct mochas. It’s where we go to get things done.

If you can find a table, that is. They are popular, so local dev entrepreneurs are frequently battling the University of Texas students for table space.

Does anybody go there just for coffee? It looks more like office space for freelancers than a coffe shop!

The Georgia Tech Library has a similar setup. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4442705451_e09ea74baa_b.jpg

Haha, just last night I noticed a similar thing at a coffee shop here. They placed their outlets up high on the ceiling, but I don’t think they were meant for use (no adapters hanging off them :))

Very cool.

@Nic Yep, and the coffee is good. There is lots of seating outside too.

I like a coffee shop being computer friendly. It looks like not all the sockets are above tables, so sadly I would constantly hit my head :)

That’s cool.

Are you allowed in there if you don’t have a Mac?

Thanks for featuring our coffee shop on SvN!

Our power strips are actually on retractable extension cords in the ceiling so they can be pulled down for use or sent back into the ceiling when not in use. We also have outlets all along the walls, on our study bar, all over the outside patio, and underneath our main bar.

And we like to think our coffee is supurb! ;-)

Stephanie Williams Co-owner Bennu Coffee

My local coffeeshop just did the exact OPPOSITE of this. They plated over all the outlets in the shop. No power at all. The thinking is that you are only going to buy 1-2 drinks and that your battery should last you at least this long.

It’s been very controversial, most grad students have stopped coming. I’ve debated the move with the owner a few times, but I have to respect his stance. He’s worried about the shop becoming a computer lab with no sales and even less social interaction.

Still, it pains me to see the masses taking their money across the street to Panera – it would be nice to see some kind of creative solution (wifi codes on receipts, etc.) that would keep dollars in the community.

That looks like a building code violation waiting to happen.

This looks terrible to me. If I walked into a coffee shop full of people peering at their screens I’d walk straight out again – what price the buzz of conversation? Stephen, lots of respect to the cafe owner who plated over his power outlets… must have been a difficult decision…

I see the motivation for places like this and the place that walled off outlets. In the end, folks will go to the coffee shop that suits them best.

If you are going to go one way, go all the way or don’t go at all. Kudos to both for taking a stand and sticking to it.