Learning about Avenue B Grocery & Market, Austin’s oldest grocery store

Have you visited the oldest continuously operated grocery store in Austin?

We’re talking about Avenue B Grocery & Market. This long-standing local gem has been serving the Hyde Park neighborhood since 1909, for more than a century.

Avenue B — as most Austinites simply call it — is maintained by its tenth owner, UT alumnus Ross Mason. He joined the store in 1984, and officially gained control of the business in 1986, hoping to preserve the small-town feel of the throwback market.

The store reopened earlier this summer after closing for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to groceries, this store sells items such as tableware + records.

Many customers also enjoy the simplistic, yet delicious, menu. Some items you’ll find on the market’s menu include:

🌶️ Texas chili

🥗 Salads

🥚 Deviled eggs

🥪 Roast beef, ham, turkey, salami, and bacon sandwiches

When guests visit the store’s website, they are encouraged to “scroll to the bottom [of the website] and employ the audio gizmo if [they] want to enjoy listening to some sweet background tunes from the past.”

Guests are taken back to the musical era of the 1960s. Currently, website visitors can listen to Texas-born blues musician T-Bone Walker and “The Genius After Hours” by Ray Charles.

The grocery store, which is located at 4403 Ave. B, is BYOB and has a dog-friendly patio. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.