Rockman Coffee and Bakeshop

I have mixed feelings about Rockman. I visited later in the morning on Presidents' Day, so I knew it could be busy due to the holiday. When I walked in, there wasn't a line. The issue was that there were not many pastries left to choose from. I could've walked away and come back another day, but I decided to try the kouign amann, which was light and croissant-like on the inside and gooey crisp on the outside. Definitely recommend. I also got a pecan bar for later that was decadent. The pastries were hands-down delicious. I was pleasantly surprised and glad I actually tried items I might not have. Their latte was also really good. Not to mention, their employee was incredibly nice and answered all my questions.I think this is an easy fix because if they anticipate a crowd on weekends and holidays, they can hopefully increase the amount of pastries in advance so there are not several disappointed people walking in later in the morning. I'll definitely be back to try it a second time.

BEWARE OF THE PARKING SCAM!I had an EXTREMELY disappointing experience at this café--not because of the coffee or pastries, but because of the TERRIBLE PARKING SITUATION that cost me a whopping $88 FINE.Let's start with the good: the interior is nice, the pastries are a bit overpriced but tasty, and the coffee is decent. But what's the point of coming here if you CAN'T EVEN PARK without getting fined?We parked in the lot right next to the café, where there were NO CLEAR SIGNS indicating it was paid parking. Across the street, there was a sign with a QR code for payment, but there was NOTHING VISIBLE on the side of the café and bakery. As a result, we unknowingly parked in a private lot and got hit with a huge fine.Turns out, there are only TWO FREE SPOTS, and they have a ridiculous 15-MINUTE LIMIT. What kind of café expects customers to rush in, grab a coffee, and leave in 15 minutes? And to make it even more confusing, these two spots AREN'T EVEN THE FIRST ONES IN THE ROW. So unless you already know these bizarre rules, you're pretty much guaranteed to park in the wrong place and get fined.THIS PARKING LOT IS NOT EVEN RUN BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN. It's privately owned, and based on how casually the café staff reacted when I asked about it, I'm guessing I'm NOT THE FIRST PERSON THIS HAS HAPPENED TO. The employee just said, "Yes, it's a private company, we have nothing to do with it." No shock, no concern, nothing. If they know this keeps happening, why not WARN CUSTOMERS? We sat in the café for THREE HOURS, and no one said a word about it.This whole experience was INFURIATING. An $88 ticket is no small amount, and honestly, it KILLED ANY DESIRE TO EVER COME BACK. If you're considering visiting this place, ask yourself--is it worth the risk of getting fined just for a cup of coffee?I won't be returning, and I hope this review saves someone else from the same frustration.

This is the type of place where worth waiting in line is worth it. The service is great and the pastries are even better. The last few times I've been I've gotten the everything bagel croissant with a center filling of cream cheese. It's SO good. Unfortunately I don't have a picture because I always eat it first. I have to say everything they laminate here is insane! They definitely know what they're doing. You cannot go wrong with any flaky pastries you order.I will say I was a little disappointed in the texture of the bagel but I did like the flavor of the cream cheese my friend got (I think it was like a garlic herb). Side notes to keep in mind: There is limited seating so be prepared to take to-go. There is paid parking!

Finally got the try Rockman's - well worth the wait and worth going all out for!Parking - went 9am on a Saturday and was able to find street parking. Line - if you go in the morning for the food there will likely be a line out the door. Waited about ~30 mins, made a friend in line and we chatted the whole time about the menu so it was fine. Service - One you get to the counter they are so incredibly friendly and helpful about what to get based on what you're in mood for, what's seasonal and what's popular. Ambiance - colorful inside with a handful of tables to sit at.Food - was SO hard just selected a few things as everything looked incredible, I got a total of 4 things to share. Everything bagel with creamcheese - soooo good. Cacio e Pepe croissant - must have, very unique and yummy! Ginger cookie was perfect and lastly was the kougin amman that was to die for. Soooo worth the wait, can't wait to try more.

All told, I liked Rockman, but for the price I don't think it's as good as it could be, which is why I'm going with 3 stars instead of 4. I did show up later in the day (around 1:30pm), so take that into account with this review, maybe the timing affected some things?We ordered a passion fruit & chocolate Kouign-amann. We asked for the pastry to be heated to regain some of its original crispiness. And much of the exterior did have a good crisp! And that nice crispy sugary exterior layer that you expect on something like a Kouign-amann.I have 2 main critiques: 1) the passion fruit & chocolate combo was too sweet for my taste. Normally I hope the passion fruit will add a nice tang that balances the sweeter chocolate, but in this filling, the chocolate was the dominant flavor. Not bad if you really like sweet, but I'd personally like a little more balance. 2) the bottom of the interior of the pastry was a little undercooked. It's probably difficult with so much filling to uniformly cook all the pastry, but for the price, I think it's fair to expect pretty close to perfection.From an interaction perspective, the person who took our order was very friendly, happy to answer questions, and the store itself had a nice modern look to it. Very clean/pristine. It might make good use of some more seating, but we were able to grab a couple high stools near where they were delivering ready items.

Visited opening weekend on Sunday and waited over an hour to enter the bakery. While waiting in line, the staff came through and offered chocolate chip cookies, coffee and iced water. They had paper menus that were passed through the line as we waited in anticipation of placing our order. When we got to the front of the line, they had just sold out of the strawberry cheesecake croissant. We got what our eyes desired and ended up with more than 2 people could eat in a morning! Memorable items were the pecan pie bar (shortbread crust was amazing!), sesame bagel with the french onion smear, and the raspberry morning cake.

On the continuing hunt for the best bagel in Austin, Rockman came up. A Lot. The line wasn't out the door but there was definitely a wait to order. The time in line was spent trying to find a group that looked ready to leave but not TOO ready. I did spend a lot of looking at their bakers working through the big window they had to look through. When I got to the front of the line I had focused in on their bagels but there were so many other options I got distracted. The Cacio e pepe croissant looked good but I saw their Everything Bagel croissant so I got that instead. Bagel wise I got their pepperoni pizza bagel and their garlic schmear. I asked if there was any 'must haves' and I was told the sourdough chocolate chip and oat crack cookie was popular and the churro croissant was her personal favorite and since it was the last one that day I got it. I'm not a really a coffee drinker so I had their NA spritz with Ghia, a pretty simple drink but one that took a while because the coffee bar was so in the weeds, even after hunting for a table, sitting down and digging into the baked goods I had nothing to drink for a while.Food wise, the pepperoni bagel: it was good, it was tasty but a bagel? It felt more like a stecca. The Everything Bagel croissant was decent, but missing some of that garlic-y/salty flavor. I was still in the mood for savory, not sweet and so I went back up to get their actual bagel and found out they don't slice it-just rip n' dip. I have to say, I don't think their bagels are actually bagels, there isn't that crusty exterior and the interior didn't have that moistness so there wasn't the contrast there.The sweets though were great-that churro croissant was a standout-the flaky croissant crust managed to hold the creaminess inside. The oat crack cookie was as the name suggests, light but sweet.However, the savories were not that good and that's mostly what I was there for and so I'm not sure I'll return anytime soon.

I absolutely loved the chocolate chip cookies, everything croissant, and ham and cheese croissant! Everything was delicious, and I can't wait to go back and try more. The iced latte was also fantastic. Parking can be tricky, there's free street parking, but you have to pay for the lot right next to the shop. They also have free wifi, but not a ton of seats to work from.

When I first tried my desserts, I have to say I was disappointed. Things were crunchier than they looked and didn't taste fresh. However, after leaving the desserts in the car for about 2 hours, they seem to have warmed up a bit and were 5x better! They were softer and the flavors shined a lot more. I loved the filling of the strawberry cheesecake croissant. The Chantilly cake is good but very dense. I've never had a snickerdoodle cookie that thin, it was very unique.

Beautiful assortment of pastries + friendly staff. However, poor use of square footage only 3 tables in the entire shop. I recommend you come with the mindset of grabbing your pastries to go. Despite the long line (good problem for the business owner) they were pretty efficient in getting your order. The prices are steep, I have been to many French style bakeries and this was VERY pricey, expect to pay around $8.50 per pastry. Some croissants were a little dry, others well balanced with flake and moisture.