Brian Knowles, the owner of tiny Hyde Park cafe Terrible Love at the Baker Center, has quietly turned himself into the complex’s unofficial welcome committee. Now he is taking the relationship a step further, converting the old band hall next door into a small wine bar centered on Spanish-style vermouths and other low-ABV pours. Knowles plans to keep brewing through the morning rush at the walk-up window, then stretch service into the evening as the build-out wraps up, giving the Baker Center a day-to-night hangout for neighbors, tenants and anyone passing through.
From Trailer To Boiler Room
Terrible Love started life in 2021 as a converted horse trailer before landing in the Baker Center’s former boiler room. Sprudge profiled the trailer build-out, and Eater Austin covered the move into the Baker Center and the cafe’s soft opening. The shop’s website lists the walk-up hours and tight specialty menu that have helped cement Terrible Love as a neighborhood fixture.
The Coffee Ambassador's Next Move
Knowles says he is about halfway through transforming the old band building into a wine bar built around “Spanish-style, sipping vermouth,” plus a lineup of low-ABV drinks and mocktails, according to the Austin Chronicle. “With a little orange slice or an olive, it’s incredible,” he told the paper. The idea required convincing the building’s owners to trade rentable office square footage for a community-facing amenity, and Knowles framed the pitch as part of a broader effort to turn the Baker Center into more of a neighborhood hub.
Baker Center's Community Moment
The former Baker School has been reshaped into a creative campus that now hosts nonprofits, studios and small businesses, creating a built-in audience for a modest evening spot, according to reporting from KUT. The building’s owners, the Leagues, have opened portions of the property for markets and public workshops, helping connect tenants with surrounding neighbors. Knowles has said the wine bar is meant to sit alongside that activity, complementing rather than competing with the center’s arts programming and daytime businesses.
What To Expect
Terrible Love posts its walk-up hours and specialty coffee offerings on its website, and Knowles says the evening concept will lean into relaxed, approachable sipping instead of a heavy cocktail program. Local coverage has described the opening of the wine bar as “imminent,” though no firm date has been set, according to the Austin Chronicle. When the doors finally open, the tiny wine bar is expected to be a quiet, neighborly counterpart to the cafe’s morning crowd, offering Hyde Park a spot to linger after the workday without leaving the block.
