Love the customer service, I called this location because I was searching for a book and I called them I asked if the book was available and the person who answered said yes. I told her I was going to come in 10 mins and buy it, I had a hard time looking for the book and asked the cashier where's the marketing section, then so I went and as I was looking for it. Edna came to help me look for the book, it's apparent that she was the one who answered the phone call and was proactive on helping a customer. I admire the costumer service of this location. Thank you for making my buying experience great! read more

My exclusive Christmas shops for books and toys. Yes, you'll pay more and it's way harder to find things than online - but it's hard to match the experience of discovery in a book store. Even though this store isn't "local" and was the "Amazon of the 90s" to local booksellers - it'll be a sad day if we don't have large physical bookstores like this as a community. Just go analog at least a few times a year and support brick & mortar stores. read more

I love this barnes and noble. Great selection , cute sitting area in starbucks, and very well organized. I found some macrame books here and some new novels everything i was looking for was so easy to find. read more

Terrible customer service! Not once while I was in there did someone ask me for help. I wandered around for 15 minutes looking for a book until I finally stop someone and ask them for help. He told me he was busy and pointed over and said go ahead to the customer service area and someone will help you as soon as possible. There was no one helping at the customer service desk and there was a line of two people already. Very disappointing considering all I wanted to do was buy a present for someone. read more

I love this store but the women who work at the cafe are extremely rude. They are short, unhelpful and don't care anything about their customers. read more

Books = bliss! Few bookstores exist these days, so I rejoice that Barnes and Noble still operates! I love all the new books! I requested gift cards here for Christmas, because bookstores rock! Great online portal too! read more

Four stars for the sole reason that the collection of books most closely resembles the library of an educated and interesting person. Okay, this "educated person" would, by extension, also own a questionably massive collection of romance novels. But hey, this is all by way of comparison. I mean, shit, call me a fucking fascist, but in my "old fashioned" opinion, bookstores should have real books. Kafka, Quine, Dawkins, Dr. Phil = REAL BOOKS, AWESOME. Hillary Duff and Philosophy = WORTHLESS. How to Defend Yourself Against Psychic Attacks = BULLSHIT. Shit-hordes of "spirit rocks" and overpriced fragrant candles = KILL YOURSELF. Sorry Bookpeople (ohmygod LOCAL business! ::TRIPLE ORGASM::), but your ratio of quality to filler is fucked. Bottom line, B&N is indubitably great for book browsing. It's also great for that dark and special day when you need to BUY a book, but Firefox greets you with the following message: "I'M SORRY BUT THE INTERNET IS CLOSED." Maybe it could happen. read more

My name is Catherine T, and I'm a bookaholic... and a coffeeholic. You know when you sit down at a store and spend three hours reading an entire book, you've found a great place. Good luck finding a chair, though. Many other addicts hang out in this den of parchment drugs. I tend to spend more time in the areas of Self-Help, Puzzles, Music, and Craft Books (crochet). And then there's that frickin' Starbucks that sells soups, salads, sammies, and Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. I almost fell victim to Starbucks today, but I managed to walk away clean, without the need to call my 12-Step sponsor. Yet, I bought two books. But they were both for my mother for Xmas, which means I'm still clean. I think I'm getting the hang of this book-sobriety thing. read more

Wait, they still physically SELL books somewhere? OMG 5 stars. Holddddd up, this book selection is turrrrrible. I can't find anything I actually want to read outside of Oprah's book club recommendations (which I won't deny I may have read some, cuz Oprah's the shit). Half the store is now taken up by games. Because everyone knows all gamers get mad game and all the fine ladies they want - said no one ever. There are now more magazines in this store than I ever believed existed, full of gossip. At least sell some naked body mags or something that I'd want to look at. A massive children's playground now engulfs the majority of the back of the store, complete with one of those colorful plastic balls pool, to which I was promptly escorted out of for being over the maximum height. In conclusion, this is still a large bookstore, with a whole lot less books than I remember seeing when I was a giant chicken legged 8th grader. However, since no one reads anymore they've reduced themselves into more of a gamer/geekathon/bible loving/screaming babies/starbork's type of place that really can only mean one thing: THEY STILL HAD THE ONE BOOK I WAS LOOKING FOR! It only cost me $18 for a paperback that was first printed 15 years ago! Oh joyous miracle, when the interwebs couldn't possibly ship me a book in time before I left the country for a week, B&N still had my back. read more

My secret getaway from work hideout! Yeah, the day is long, taking a quick stroll to B&N clears my head. Awesome place to browse, grab a cappuccino, and see what's interesting. Serious books, funny books, stupid why did someone write that books. Amazing range from the profound to the insipid. Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools. Chains have their place in the great cosmos of life, B&N proves the theorem. read more

I think one of the main criteria for working in a bookstore must be social awkwardness and the inability to maintain eye contact for any amount of time. Now, I'm not saying the staff isn't...but when they are more awkward than I am, that makes for a really bizarre experience. I miss the days when bookstores mainly carried books. Now, you'll find games, toys, video games, cd's, dvd's, magazines, coffee drinks, and pastries. I rarely find any books I need in stock. Sadly, if I were looking specifically for the latest vampire witch teenage alien love story...I'd be in luck. Unfortunately, I am usually looking for real books. When I ask, 98% of the time I am answered with "I can order it." Well, I can order it, too. The point of wanting to get my hands on it is in order to see if I actually want to spend the money on it. But hey...if you're in the market for the latest and most popular books and magazines, or maybe just a nonfatchaisoyskinnymacciatolatteccino, this may just be the place for you. read more

All you people who hate chains and rail about the little stores being squeezed: You do realize that you sound like the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 right? Hang on, you've probably never read that cause you couldn't find a tattered, dog-eared copy at your local library. For anyone who loves, you know, books and actual reading, this place is Heaven. Any book you could possibly want is there, and if it's not, they'll order it for you. I could care less about the wifi, the video games, the coffee, the people who go there and pretend to be students. The douche factor is admittedly high. But I don't care, I'm there for the books. Fiction, biography, true-crime, history, madlibs. It's all there and then some. And the money I spend each year on my reader's card is easily the best money I spend all year. If you don't like everything, fine, race in with your cloud of patchouli streaming behind you, grab a book on yoga, pay in sweaty one dollar bills and ride your bike back to your commune. Just don't take it out on the books. Not only have they done nothing to warrant your treatment of them, they're better than you. read more

I can't tell you how many hours I've spent at this B&N. This is the best book store you will find around Northwest Austin (now that the Borders at the Domain is gone). First, it has Starbucks, and they don't mind giving you cups of water for free. You can also have some coffee, read some books, and stay there for a LONG time. They won't kick you out. Second, there's a GameStop. I'm not a fan of video games, but I'm sure that's convenient to some people. Third, there's free wi-fi, so you can surf the net if that's your thing. The employees are also very nice, and most of them know a wide collection of books and I'm pretty sure all of them know the sections by heart. So they'll be able to help you easily, no doubt! And you don't even have to talk to the employees to navigate your way around the store, you can just use their computers to find what you're looking for, and there's a map of where the section is. That's pretty useful. They also play some pretty chill music (ranging from some classical music to modern music (such as Adele). I really like that. And you can always go up to the front desk and ask what song is playing, they won't mind! One thing you have to be aware of is that, there's quite a lot of people sitting on the floor, pretty much everywhere! So be careful not to step on anyone! This is a great place to go for all ages! read more

Though they have a pretty strong collection of books among other things it's a little bit too much on the pricy side for me. I've seen better deals on books than this place. Music pricing here is a lil bit better than most places, but still... your going to burn a hole in your wallet if you buy too many books here. Would not recommend. read more

I am a fan of most Barnes & Nobles because of how many things you can do there. Whether it is sampling music and magazines, browsing books freely and even hanging out at the attached Starbucks. Picking this location for the meeting I had to attend made a lot of sense. What makes this location unique is how much study space there is. No doubt that much of this is due to the influence that the University of Texas has. There is also a Game Stop entrance on the inside. Was jamming to the Beach Boys upstairs in the music section while I waited! read more

I love it here. They have escalators.. it's next to many (great) shopping and eating establishments. It's clean, the recipe/cooking section has an extensive collection of material to peruse... This location has my vote, for sure. I don't care if it's a chain, either....I'm still for it! read more

I love physical bookstores, but I am ambivalent about this location. I like the layout and the vast store footprint. However, WiFi is really bad/poor at this location, so don't even think about working or studying from here if you need reasonable internet access. Even though there are comfortable seats upstairs, I would not sit in them as they are so filthy. read more

I've visited this location a few times for various products and always enjoy taking a few hours to browse. Considering all of the other places you can purchase books nowadays, as well as the fact that most people use electronic devices to read books, I think the Barnes and Noble still offers a great selection of tangible books. I love the look of the store and it is always well organized, with the books being very neat and where they should be on the shelves. I've looked at fiction books and hobby oriented books (crochet and watercolor). You could spend hours looking through all the fiction they have and there are also a ton of various hobby related books -- both educational and instructional. I actually like that the store has a wide variety of products including magazines, puzzles, toys, activity packets etc. It would be a great place to get educational, yet fun, activities for kids. The staff has always been very helpful when I've approached them with a question -- even leaving the customer service area to physically take me to where the book is, instead of just pointing in the general direction of where I need to go. It would be helpful if they did have more staff, simply because the store is so large, but then again, I'm not sure how productive that would be for staff members to just be roaming around in the aisles. You can always find someone at the customer service/help desk area. The prices are a bit higher than you find in online stores, but there is something nice about going to the bookstore and being able to handle the books. There are some discounts available if you are a member with the store, sometimes up to 30% off (that I've seen). read more

I've enjoyed coming here for years mostly to browse or pick up gifts and have always had good luck finding what I need. They've got one of the largest selections for a physical bookstore around, a good amount of kids stuff, a solid collection of jigsaw puzzles, games, etc... and music/movies upstairs as well as a video game shop that is attached next door. I'm not sure if the game store is part of Barnes and Noble or not, but you don't have to leave the bookstore to access it which is nice. There's also a little cafe with desserts and sandwiches, coffee, tea, etc... to grab a quick bite while you read. The magazine selection is fantastic as well. Employees are friendly and there are ample cashiers and lines move quickly if there is one. The place is nicely laid out, clean and a great spot to browse and one I enjoy coming back to from time to time just to see what new things are out. read more

This B&N location is in the Arboretum, which gives it a certain uptown vibe. Between the giant book selection and the coffee shop, it's a great place to hang out and even to spend a family night or weekend afternoon, especially when it's really hot or cold and rainy outside. When my kids were small, I used to take them here to explore the kids' section. It looks like a kid-lure fairyland straight out of a storybook. When they reached the tween and "young adult" age, they preferred to slink down the youth chapter book and teen aisles and spent their allowances on the latest Harry Potter or Hunger Games series book or any number of anime or random seductive titles. Now that they're older and busy elsewhere, I find myself checking B&N online for their dreaded required texts. You can actually find out if they're available and put the book on hold remotely from your computer or smart-phone, and then pick it up later that same day. This has come in handy on many evenings, when they'll realize that they need a particular book for English class TOMORROW. This is not to say that I don't read or buy anything at B&N. I do. It's just that taking your kids there is a good excuse to grab a book for yourself. Or three. And there's something nostalgic and slightly romantic about sitting in the coffee shop reading across from the guy that you used to study with back in college. Call me a nerd, and I'll answer. read more

Always a great resource for books and information. Music and reading areas make this like a visit to a library. Very pleasant atmosphere.

Shushhhhhh!!! Keep it quiet! Okay okay, this isn't a library and it isn't quiet as one would like. What I'm saying is, keep this place on the down low. I want to keep this B&N as my escape from the madness of school, work, stress, etc. Its really my cloud nine for peace and tranquility. Grab/buy a book, a cup of Starbucks and a snack and you, my friend, ARE SET! Even better on rainy days! Nice A/C is a plus, especially given the Texas summer heat. [You won't freeze either] Also, personally this is a really productive place. read more

I hate financially supporting big box booksellers like B&N. HOWEVER, this is an awesome place to take advantage of their mega-corporate customer service policies. They seriously believe that the customer is always right, or at least they act like it. So if you feel like wandering into the place to find a bunch of great books you would never want to pay for, and hanging out in the really comfortable chairs for hours on end while reading these books for FREE, go for it! I basically think of this place as my personal library, except better lit and with WAY better selections than any of the public libraries in Austin. ALSO: free public bathroom and free water fountains. A couple downsides of the place: 1. It is very, very popular. Can be hard to find a seat (or even a good floor spot) in the evenings. 2. There is this one woman who works there who has a really mean spirit, and she glares at me every time she has to pick up someone's left behind magazines nearby. (But she'll never say anything to me, because B&N has all their employees by the neck!) 3. Their selections of economic development books, gay fiction, and documentary films are seriously lacking. read more

This is an ok place to study and get coffee. Just don't run in and ask for help near closing time and not expect to get major attitude. I'm sorry that I asked for help and would have quickly purchased said book and been out of your store in under 3 min flat. I'm sorry that paying customers annoy you. I'll gladly order from Amazon and have it here in 2 days, sans attitude. read more

Came here because i thought it'd be good to come a bigger store and not the regular store i visit. Unfortunately, all the cashiers were speaking at me and not to me, i felt a sense of belittling and well.. very disappointed. They didn't want to price match either. Very sad , I'd recommend half priced books instead read more

This is more about the Starbucks than the B&N store: For some reason, it seems that the Starbucks within B&N are sooooo much better than the stand alone SB's. Better selection for food and drinks (they seem to somehow always have all the frappucinos I like). I recently enjoyed a Green Tea Frap here - 1st time I've had it in the US in about 3-4 years. Here's the interesting thing: The Green Tea Fraps in the US are slightly different than those in Japan. Not a bad thing - just.. interesting. Cookies are always excellent. - The best is when you get one mouthful of chocolate chunk cookie, that has a good 3-4 massive chunks of chocolate! Yummmmmmm The free Wifi is a massive plus as well. All in all - a great place to get some work or studying done (when it's not too crowded). Added to the wifi list, and will be back! read more

Best bookstore in Austin, hands down! Tons of seating, very clean and organized, and the staff ALWAYS knows the author, title, and section by heart! Talk about a well-read staff! This is the place to go if you ever have a "waht's that book again" moment! They'll help you. read more

I went today for a 2 and 1/2 tutor session at 5:30, so calm and I could focus! I sat in the Starbucks Cafe area. Spacious and plenty of seating. The Barnes and Noble as a whole is excellent. 2 stories and spread out perfectly. Clean bathrooms and plenty of nooks for you to sit and read. Will be going here many more times for study sessions. read more

Barnes & Noble - Austin - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

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No one is answering the phone, been trying all day and have been hung up on 4 times. Cool cool cool.

This store is REALLY NICE. Then again, if you realize where in Austin it is, you'll understand why. That said, the parking situation is TERRIBLE. Driving through this maze will cause anxiety, anger and sadness. Then again, what would you expect being in the land of the privileged? One time I was here and perusing the magazine section, this older dude just literally started damn near knocking me over to get something in front of me. This wasn't Black Friday or anything. More like a typical Monday or Tuesday morning. I said to him "Do you need to get by? A simple excuse me would've worked just fine." People these days. read more

Starbucks is filthy. Servers are blah, tables askew, most sticky, floor is grimy and edged with crumbs.

Awesome selection!! I love how big this place is =) Friendly staff. Only Con is their parking lot is always full, but that's a good thing. Great place to study or read if you can find an empty sofa =D read more

This place is amazing!!! Probably my favorite Barnes and noble, ever. All the employees were very helpful, and I didn't see a single one standing around doing nothing. The store was very VERY quiet, which is a key necessity for me when it comes to book stores. Highly impressed! read more

The staff who pull reserved books are careless. I reserved a book online for in-store pickup. At the store, they gave me the wrong book.

Jackie, (for this review, I'm going to call you Jackie, because, for some reason, you just look like a bitch.) Jacqueline, One overcast mid-morning, I visited your fine establishment simply to pick up a book I had reserved online. I scampered up to the counter right when you summoned me, because with my superhuman powers of sensitivity, I deduced that you wanted the next customer to arrive at your register POST HASTE, mostly by the completely bookstore-inappropriate volume of your voice. I was being my usual unecessarily extremely polite self, yet you treated me with the sort of contempt you treated the ponytail you wore, pulled back so tightly I was afraid your eyeballs (already pretty buggy might I add) would launch out of your face into the bargain book section. I was prepared to fetch them for you should this happen. I relinquished all information you demanded of me-my name, the name of the book, and yet the pure blackness of your heart still spewed from your naked eyeballs into my pure, forgiving heart. That's right. At this point, me, being the patient, compassionate, near perfect person that I am, was still willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and forgive you for your hurtful ways. But then you just pissed me off. "Are you a Barnes & Noble member." (Fear not! I have not mistakenly used a period in place of the correct question mark, children. For you see, Jacqueline stated this flatly and with pure malice. Still hanging on to the hope that my loving aura would somehow snap you, Jacqueline out of your dark, dark place (and also just wanting to get the fuck out of there) I said, in my kindest tone: "No, no thank you." (Thinking your next question might be 'OH THEN DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING SIGN UP YOU WEIRD LITTLE PERSON.") Then, Jacqueline, you quietly spat, with the full force of your venom: "I DIDN'T ASK YOU IF YOU WANTED ONE, I ASKED IF YOU HAD ONE." Dumbfounded by your refusal to conduct yourself like a human being, I replied "N-no, I don't." You rung me up in deathly silence, and I left. I mean, of course I muttered 'bitch.' just loudly enough for you to hear. I was the least I could do. What the fuck is wrong with you? I don't care who just died, what just crawled up your ass and croaked, or how rude someone just was to you, you DO NOT TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THIS. Look, I'm used to Barnes & Noble employees being a bit inhuman. I just goes with the brand. But this. This is inexcusable. I felt violated, beaten, stabbed in the heart. Come into the light, Jackie. It's beautiful here. We love each other. No more hate. No more sadness. You never have to be constipated ever, ever again. read more

I am a avid Barns & Noble customer, I have been since I was a kid, and now as an adult with a family I expected this location here in Austin would be a pleasant experience. When looking for a place to settle with our books we went upstairs to search for seats. We walked upon couches filled with people and one couch being occupied by a dog. The owner sat across the lobby nowhere near her Shih Txu. We decided to grab some empty wooden chairs since a non service dog was taking up a desirable seat. We sat in front of an empty counter which was out of the way of the aisle. The computer was off and no employees seemed to mind as they weren't using that computer. After about an hour we were told by an employee that we needed to move since that location was for "employees" and absolutely needed to be open if an employee needed it. She did not need to use that computer at the time and numerous other computers were nearby. Even though we were there at a very slow part of the day during the week. So the dog on the couch didn't need to be bothered, but a small family with an infant absolutely could not be seated in that aisle near the counter. My husband also encountered a number of vagrants near the bathroom while trying to change our young sons diaper. Not exactly a safe or warm feeling. Management did nothing to remove the vagrants or dogs. Vagrants and dogs were more valued than me and my family. I dropped the books I was going to buy and walked out. Seems to me that dogs and vagrants are more catered to at this location than a family who was actually planning on buying books. We will never visit this location again. read more

Not a bad selection of books and fairly knowledgable sales people. There are tables and places to sit for hours which encourages people to sit their lazy asses down and read magazines forever. I'm just pissed because there were no seats for my lazy ass to sit when I got there. But other than that the cafe was the usual tin can outfit that dispenses mediocre coffee and eats. Nothing spectacular to rave about. The service was helful and friendly. Blah blah. It's stll just another huge chain bookstore with no personality. read more

This particular book store to me is like a Cracker Barrel breakfast, comforting, full of good stuff and makes me happy. Could they do better on prices? Definitely. Maybe hire some more helpful people, that you could find, or even acknowledge you're there? Yes, please. I would love to see some lounge chairs downstairs, make it more comfy, maybe buying a book would be easier if you could examine it better. I believe they would sell more books if they were a little more competitive, especially with Amazon. read more

Coming here is always a nice little getaway from reality. A little escape if you will. It is peaceful back in the coffee bar area. A few plugs for your laptop/phone charging needs. Wifi that hasn't failed me yet. There is also a nice sitting area upstairs if you want it even quieter. I have only ever found one plug, though. Anyhow. Aside from being able to come in here on a work day when I need to get away and set up my laptop and take care of business... I suppose my favorites would include, the children's section. They have a lovely section for the kiddos. A train table. A nature stage for story time and small events...also a place where your little can explore and pretend. It is very inviting and the kids love it. I also appreciate their Harry Potter section, though smaller, I still gawk over it every time I walk in. My kids thoroughly enjoy that section as well. Sometimes they have HP events, which are wonderful as well. It is a great place to find a quick present... chances are you will be the only one at the party with the gift you bought from here....and the kids will LOVE it. Who says educational toys aren't fun? They are the best. And they aren't all educational.. but still many of them are of a different variety and class than you would find at a department store. The staff has always been friendly and helpful, including when I had to return a book light that decided it did not want to shut off. Uh-oh. read more

Came in for coffee and a quick bite. No salads or protein boxes. Do not order any of their pizzas. The pizzas are DISGUSTING and a complete waste of money. If you're gonna splurge, get a cupcake. read more