Just in time for the new semester, Jo’s Coffee has moved into the St. Edward’s University Meadows coffee shop as the third tenant since 2007.

The St. Edward’s branch is the third location of Jo’s in Austin. Liz and Lou Lambert opened the original Jo’s Coffee Shop at 1300 South Congress Ave. in Oct. of 1999, and the 2nd St. location several years later. The South Congress location is situated next door to the Hotel San Jose, also owned by the Lamberts.

“Liz and her brother Lou noticed that there was nowhere nearby to get a decent cup of coffee, and if you could find it, the people serving it weren’t very friendly,” said Chuck Lindsey, the manager of Jo’s coffee shop on South Congress.

Liz Lambert opened Hotel San Jose in 1998, and, due to the lack of a close and friendly coffee shop, decided to build one next to the hotel so patrons could get great coffee from friendly people, Lindsey said.

The company is excited about the future of Jo’s at St. Edward’s and has a lot to offer to the campus and students.

“[At Jo’s] we provide a unique experience to St. Edward’s students,” said Andrew Procter, manager of the St. Edward’s location.

Jo’s won the contract with St. Edward’s and held focus groups to find out what the students were looking for in a coffee shop.  Jo’s plans on being in Meadows for the foreseeable future.

“We currently have a five-year contract but hopefully [we will be around] for much longer,” said Procter.

Jo’s is constantly striving to maintain this culture and fulfill their motto, “Great coffee with a smile.”

In addition to being customer friendly, Jo’s is also environmentally friendly.

“We have strived to be as green as possible.  We recycle everything that we can; we use cups made from corn starch that are biodegradable, we use utensils made from potatoes and our coffee is fair trade,” said Lindsey. “We try to keep things as local as we can by using vendors and items that are specific to Austin and/or Texas.”

 At all of their locations, Jo’s is focused on giving quick service from smiling faces.

“We were told that last year there were five minute lines [at Texenza] but now it only takes two and a half minutes to get [customers] from the front door to the counter, so we are happy that we’ve hopefully made everything quicker for everyone,” said Procter.

Jo’s plans to get involved in campus life by hosting events, including trivia night and open mic night. They are also going to host live jazz music as well as show sports and other events on TV. Jo’s has further plans to extend its Hilltopper spirit with the future introduction of a Meadows blend and Doyle blend coffees.