Coffee Shop Opens Downtown

For almost seven years, Joan Evans has poured her heart and soul into the . The restaurant in downtown Powder Springs reflects on feminine elegance, as it’s filled with tablecloths and beautifully crafted teacups, floral arrangements and fancy round-brimmed hats. 

Evans said all these girly concepts got her husband, Larry, thinking: The men in town need a “man cave.”

Countless hours of hard work and determination later, Larry Evans had his wish. 

“This was his dream to have a place where the men would love to come to,” Mrs. Evans said at Tuesday’s grand opening of the couple’s new venture, the .

Despite his desires to see the shop open for the first time, Mr. Evans, a teacher at a technical college, had to work Tuesday.

“He would love to quit his job and be here all the time, but for a little while, he has to keep working,” his wife joked.

And work he has. While away from his teaching job, he hand-built the shop’s smoothly crafted bar, raised the flooring by the windows for an elevated-patio feel, and did other various remodeling work.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans had some help from their friends, Heather and Tres Barnes, who also worked on the shops innards. Mr. Barnes is the restaurant’s manager.

Armed with affordable prices, the team serves up pastries, sandwiches, soups and various drinks including, of course, coffee. 

“We have all kinds of coffee,” Mrs. Evans said. 

The shop is in the same building as the Tea at Seven Springs, with a kitchen in the back serving both. The Evans, who own the building, once rented the coffee shop's side before renovating it for their new business.

The two exposed brick walls accentuate the woodwork and red-yellow color scheme in a way that creates a skillfully intentioned, simplistically original interior—the type that has been thrown to the wayside by today’s corporate chain-ism. 

The building that houses the two restaurants is roughly 110 years old and has been touched up with a little 21st century—wireless Internet (which is free) and a flat screen TV.

The century-plus roots—not only of her building, but also of the entire historic downtown area—mean more to Mrs. Evans than the business and technological aspects of her new venture.

“I love seeing things of the past that happened here,” she said.

Mrs. Evans recounted how her building was once a grocery store and also once housed the Powder Springs Push Rods. Going back even further and more in general, she described how the city was known as a resort town famous for its seven medical springs.

“I love being a part of the new history making of Powder Springs,” she said, “and I believe this is going to be new history right here at the Powder Springs Coffee and Bake Shoppe.”

The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.