On a Sunday afternoon in Austin, Marcus McNeil moves through the crowd with ease, stopping to dap up friends, pose for photos, and check in with the DJ before the music shifts into the next set. Plates of chicken and waffles weave through the room as conversations buzz over the bass line. For McNeil, this is more than brunch. It is community in motion.
As CEO of The Brunch Club & Co., McNeil has built a following around curated events that center Black joy, creativity, and connection. What started as a casual gathering among friends has grown into a vibrant space where students, young professionals, and creatives come together to celebrate culture. In a city like Austin, which is known for its music and innovation but often criticized for sidelining its Black community, spaces like these carry a deeper meaning.
Across Central Texas, from student organizations in San Marcos to community collectives in Austin, Black-led groups are carving out places to belong. These gatherings go beyond food and music. They are about visibility, support, and representation in environments where Black students and young adults do not always see themselves reflected.
McNeil said the idea for The Brunch Club came from noticing a gap in the city’s cultural landscape. “A lot of it came from looking around and realizing there weren’t enough spaces where Black people in Austin could just show up, be ourselves, and feel celebrated,” he said. “I’ve always loved bringing people together, and brunch felt like the perfect medium, because it is food, it is conversation, it is community.”
McNeil’s path to building The Brunch Club started back in 2018, when he was a student at Texas State University. According to McNeil, what began as small Sunday brunches with fewer than ten friends in his apartment grew steadily, moving from living rooms to restaurants like Industry in San Marcos and Austin. From the beginning, these gatherings stood out as Black-led and Black-centered spaces where students could enjoy themselves and build community.
Over time, the brunches evolved into Brunch Club & Co., a collective known for themed events that combine style, culture, and creativity. Past concepts have carried names like The Blueprint, Brunch on Bourbon, and Brunch Nation. In 2023, the group hosted an event during Texas State’s Black Homecoming with the theme Black Rodeo, continuing its tradition of tying into campus culture and community celebrations.
What started among a handful of friends is now sustained by a team of more than 15 members who help organize, promote, and execute events. The vision has grown beyond weekend gatherings to building long-term community partnerships and, eventually, establishing a permanent home, whether that means a lounge, a restaurant, or a multipurpose cultural space. At its core, The Brunch Club is about visibility, connection, and building a legacy for the Black community in Austin. What began with a few friends has grown into events that draw anywhere from 400 to 600 people, often selling out in advance. Planning one requires months of preparation, from booking a venue to curating playlists and menus.
Organizing for the next generation
McNeil’s vision has also inspired others to create spaces of their own. One of them is Felix Etugbo, founder of MoBoyz, a group that began in 2022 with parties aimed at Black college students and has since grown into events for young adults across Austin.
Etugbo said watching Brunch Club take off showed him what was possible. “I saw how they built something bigger than just an event, and that pushed me to do the same in my own way,” he said. MoBoyz leans more into nightlife and high-energy parties, but the goal is similar: to give people a place where they can both have fun and feel like they belong.
“People come to have fun, that’s always the first thing,” Etugbo said. “But once they’re in the room, they realize it’s bigger than that. You meet people who become your friends, your collaborators, even your support system. That’s what keeps me doing this.”
A community to return to
For attendees, the impact of these spaces can be deeply personal. Kiara Simon has been attending Brunch Club events since the very beginning in 2018. Back then, she was a college student who loved any excuse to dress up and spend her weekends surrounded by music, food, and friends. “It was the spot,” Simon said. “If you wanted to see people or you wanted to be seen, you went to Brunch Club.”
In 2021, Simon moved away for work, but when her career brought her back to Austin, she quickly found herself back at Brunch Club. Coming back felt familiar, but also different. “We grew up right alongside the brand,” she said. “When I was younger, it was just about turning up and being around people my age. Now, it’s still fun, but I also want events that feel grown and more intentional.”
Simon describes herself as social by nature. She’s the type of person who is always bringing friends along or hopping between events. These days, she mixes Brunch Club with Auntie’s House events, part of a network highlighted by WhereyallatthoughATX, an account that posts weekly carousels of Black events happening in Austin. “I love that I can check my feed on a Friday and know what’s happening for us that weekend,” she said. “It makes Austin feel smaller, in a good way.”
For Simon, the magic of these spaces is how they evolve with the community. “I can be in a room with creatives, professionals, people I’ve known since college and people I just met. That’s the beauty of it. It’s fun and social, but it also feels like home.”
Holding space in a changing city
The work is not without challenges. Securing venues, handling costs, and promoting events take significant effort. Beyond logistics, there is also the weight of history: Austin’s Black population has declined in recent decades due to gentrification, which has pushed many longtime residents out of historically Black neighborhoods on the city’s east side.
“That is a reality we cannot ignore,” McNeil said. “A lot of historic Black neighborhoods in Austin have been pushed out, and with them, some of the spaces where culture lived. We cannot bring those neighborhoods back, but we can create new spaces that carry that same spirit. The Brunch Club is one way of saying: we are still here, we are still building, and we are not going anywhere.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Austin’s Black population dropped from about 15 percent in 1990 to less than 8 percent by 2020, even as the city’s overall population grew. This broader context makes efforts like McNeil’s even more significant.
Even with those challenges, McNeil sees opportunity. For him, the decline in Austin’s Black population is not just a statistic but a call to action. The Brunch Club, along with other groups across the city, represents a way of holding space in the present while also imagining what comes next.
Looking ahead
As the night winds down, the music shifts into a slower groove, but the energy in the room doesn’t fade. Guests linger, laughing and planning where they will meet again. McNeil moves through the space the same way he did back in 2018, greeting people, checking in, making sure everyone feels welcome. What began with a handful of friends in a small apartment has grown into something larger, a community that shows no signs of letting go.
