Uptown Coffee Co. coming to ballpark

Jack Roeder loves coffee, but that’s not why the Uptown Coffee Company will be setting up shop at Prospect Meadows this season.

Steve James, the general manager at Prospect Meadows, knows the owners of the Marion company and they all agreed it would be a good idea to expand the menu at the ballpark with enticing breakfast foods.

Starting this first weekend in May, the Uptown Coffee Company will be offering donuts, specialty coffees, breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos, with donuts supplied by Donutland.

Even if you love typical ballpark food, the idea of devouring a bratwurst at 8 a.m. is not as inviting as donuts, coffee and breakfast fare.

“We knew Prospect Meadows was interested,” said Lexi Matthews, one of the owners of Uptown Coffee that opened in Marion last June. “We kind of launched the idea and thought, ‘That could be interesting.'”

There’s a Game Day tournament at Prospect Meadows this weekend (May 1-2), and there will be a heavy diet of Perfect Game tournaments and other events this spring and summer.

Roeder, the president and CEO at Prospect Meadows, has a sign that says, “Coffee is not a drug, it’s a vitamin,” and now he won’t have to carry a thermos bottle around the ballpark.

Uptown Coffee Company will have a trailer at Prospect Meadows and open for business at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, in plenty of time for  players and fans to have a good breakfast before the first game or between games.

The company is located at 760 11th Street, Suite A, in Marion, just a short distance from Prospect Meadows. They opened their doors in the midst of the pandemic, but Matthews said things have been going well.

“Business has been picking up,” she said. “We’ve had great support from the community. Honestly, it’s been great.”

Matthews and her business partner, Rex Ruskauff, are looking forward to their opening day at Prospect Meadows.

“We’re really excited,” she said. “We’re ramped up and ready to go. I think it’s going to be a success.”