Coconut Club and Record Label Owners Team Up on New Musical Acai Cafe

Community Garden opened at 1401 Cedar Ave. earlier this month (Photo by Wayne Lim)

“Contrary to popular belief of, ‘Oh, this was created for the internet, this is very Instagrammable,’ it wasn’t anything in the name of [creating] hype on the internet,” says James Harcrow, referring to the vibrant, smiley-faced smoothie bowls he crafts at his newly opened Eastside cafe.

Those bowls comprise the heart of Harcrow’s music-oriented Community Garden, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood along Cedar Avenue. The cafe, open Tuesday through Sunday, marks co-owner and general manager Harcrow’s first foray into the hospitality world, and the latest venture from Coconut Club co-founders Brian Almaraz and Cole Evans. Since launching Coconut Club in 2019 (the Warehouse District building of which is planned for development on an unconfirmed timeline alongside Oilcan Harry’s), the duo have also opened Paradise Palace dance club in Houston.

Community Garden functions as a hybrid space, blending acai bowls until 4pm, and serving up vinyl DJ sets in a wine bar setting during the evenings. The free-form listening room also offers a DJ booth, patio seating, and a retail corner for Texas music and Harcrow’s electronic record label, Growth in Decay. The cassette-focused platform has fostered underground producers and artists, including Corduroi, Kinder, and saliYah, since 2016.

“There’s a lot going on under this roof,” the label founder says of his new, plant-filled social hub. “I knew that I was doing the acai bowl thing well, and I also knew that there was a lot of strength in the community that had been built around the label. I realized that those two are a really strong foundation to build the space upon.”

The vinyl selection at Community Garden (Photo by Wayne Lim)

Harcrow and Almaraz, both veteran DJs in the local scene, call the incorporation of music within the space a no-brainer. Whereas Almaraz initially considered Spotify to soundtrack the plush living room vibe of Community Garden, the co-owners ultimately settled upon vinyl, putting the cafe’s carefully designed DJ booth to full-time use.

“We’re not a club environment, so the blending isn’t as important as whenever you’re on a dancefloor,” Harcrow explains. “It’s been nice, whether we’re having homies DJ or even just all the people who work here throwing on records throughout the day. That wasn’t something that we planned, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to spin records all day,’ but it’s been a fun way to get to know everyone a little bit better.”

Every weekend during the evenings, Harcrow and Almaraz invite local DJs to spin at Community Garden. Musical guests so far include Lucía Beyond, Riti, Kowboy, and DJ Al G.

“Going into the night, a lot of the [DJs] play at clubs or bars, and I think this is a nice break from that,” Almaraz says of CG’s listening room element. “You’re able to dig deeper into your catalog and go through the crates a little further than you normally would.”

On the retail side, Community Garden’s pop-up shop offers a sizable selection of Growth in Decay goodies, ranging from logo tees and tapes to 12” records. Beyond his label’s merch, Harcrow curates a selection of local CBD products, community-sourced zines, and music from additional Texas artists and labels. Spotted on the shelves: Cactus Lee’s Perfect Middle Hall and saliYah’s No End & No Beginning.

Riti DJs at Community Garden on June 3 (Photo by Wayne Lim)

“Anything that takes up space sonically in the state, I want to have represented on that wall,” he says.

Community Garden is the only record store in Austin that exclusively sells Texas-based music, according to Harcrow’s knowledge. Additionally, he and Almaraz take an anti-consignment approach when stocking vinyl, buying artists’ physical media up front instead of only paying them for the records that sell.

“We’re not like other record stores, where they have to stock everything from around the world,” he says. “I think sometimes that local section can get lost in the mix. I want to put people on to what [others] are doing musically.”

Only a few days after Community Garden’s June 1 grand opening, Almaraz and Harcrow have already set their sights on more ways to elevate the space beyond its humble acai bowl beginnings. Up for discussion? Poetry nights, release parties, acoustic performances on the patio, and whatever else the co-owners can dream up.

“It’s not 100% about just the DJs or the music,” Harcrow says. “We want to be able to get diverse with the programming. I think that’s something unique to this space. Sometimes that can be tricky in a bar setting or Downtown. We have a cozy spot here in the middle of the neighborhood, and we want the booking to reflect that feel.”