Signature Sips, Snacks, and Service at Spiller Park Coffee

Spiller Park is one of the newest coffee shops to hit Atlanta. Pitched as a “major league coffee shop,” it started out as a little pop-up shop selling coffee and donuts in the morning. In October of last year, they opened their permanent location smack in the heart of the hustle and bustle of Ponce City Market, just down the spiraling staircase to the BeltLine.

The gentleman behind the counter suggested I try a piccolo, an espresso based drink similar to a cortado. Since developing a recent love of cortados, I took him up on his suggestion and went to wait for my coffee at the counter. Their seating arrangement is similar to a low counter at a diner. As a shorter person, I appreciate my feet being able to graze the floor when I sit and the stools allowed for me to sit comfortably without feeling like a little kid in a high chair.

My coffee arrived in about two minutes, just after I had gotten myself comfortable and situated. They had given me a little tray with my coffee, raw sugar, a glass of water and a spoon. The boon of dining in is truly not having to get up to put anything in your coffee! I took a sip of my drink before adding any sweetener and it had a nice robust flavor with a nutty finish. The larger ratio of coffee to milk made it a little on the bitter side of things, so I added just a small amount of sugar to take the edge off. The thing I love about cortados (and piccolos, too, I guess) is that larger ratio of espresso. With the weather being so humid and muggy, I can’t knock back big cups of steamed milk and expect myself to feel as great as I did before making that decision. So if you are looking for a special drink that has a lighter amount of dairy, I highly recommend it.

As I sipped my coffee and browsed the counter, I saw another patron eating a piece of toast with avocado and some of the most picture perfect fried eggs I had ever seen. Had I not eaten at Taqueria del Sol just an hour before, I would have totally gotten some of their food. I asked about their morning affogato and it sounded the most enticing. Traditional Italian affogato is vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso poured over it, so while I’m all about bucking conventional breakfast options for whatever sounds appealing at that moment, I had my doubts that my philosophy was trending. The barista said their morning affogato is made with Atlanta Fresh Creamery’s vanilla Greek yogurt with a homemade espresso cream and granola. It sounded so good that I really wished I was hungry at that moment!

Spiller Park has a baseball theme that I don’t entirely understand because I’m not familiar with baseball enough, but I always appreciate a cheeky aesthetic. Their tagline — “Coffee so good we drink it ourselves”– conveys a perfect blend of sarcasm and sincerity, a confidence in their product that doesn’t need to be affirmed by anybody else. The staff is professional, helpful, and genuinely sweet. I will definitely go back and make extra trips to PCM just for their coffee.