A Chocolate and Churro Shop From Madrid Opens an Austin Cafe

A shop and cafe from Madrid, Spain is expanding into Austin this year. San Ginés will be opening in the Zilker neighborhood 2072 South Lamar Boulevard starting on Friday, November 15.

San Ginés’s Austin location will work much like its Miami one. There will be its signature churros. There are sauces and toppings such as chocolate, dulce de leche, and rainbow sprinkles. And then there are filled churros with dulce de leche, guava, or Nutella. And then, the Spain-sourced chocolate — which is slightly more bitter than sweet compared to typical chocolate — will be used for hot chocolate and dipping sauces. There are also plans to serve ice cream.

The cafe portion will offer Spanish tortillas, paella, ham-and-cheese croquettes, breakfast-y egg dishes, croissants (including a guava-cheese one), and sandwiches. For drinks, there are coffees, those hot chocolates, and juices.

The Austin cafe’s layout includes the main building with coffee, drinks, food and seating. Then there will be a food truck that will dish out the churros, chocolate, and ice cream.

The Austin San Ginés’s first day is a limited service one. Its hours that day will be from noon to 10 p.m.

And in the meantime, the cafe opened a food truck, Olé by San Ginés, in the spring. It’s parked at the Padel Club Austin courts (which is a racket-style sport that isn’t tennis or pickleball) in the East Congress neighborhood with St. Elmo’s Yard area at 511 Industrial Boulevard as of May 21. The menu includes cafe dishes like empanadas, tortillas española, omelets, sandwiches, burgers, sandwiches, and desserts (though churros don’t appear to be available here). Its hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

San Ginés was founded in 1894 in Spain, and decades later, it was run by Pedro Trapote. His sons, Alex Trapote and Gonzalo Trapote are the ones spearheading the brand’s American expansions, with the first being in Miami in early 2023. The reason they chose Austin for its second U.S. store is because Alex lives here. And also Alex’s mother’s side of the family owns next door Greek cafe Opa.

A street over on South First is Austin dessert truck Churro Co., which underwent new ownership last year.

San Ginés

Update, November 5: This article, originally published on April 12, has been updated to include San Ginés’s opening date and and details about the cafe’s new food truck.