Compass Point Drops a Pin on the Specialty Map of Pennsylvania

Inside the new Compass Point Coffee shop in Millvale, Pennsylvania. All images courtesy of Compass Point Coffee.

There’s a new direction for specialty coffee outside of Pittsburgh with the opening of a roastery and cafe called Compass Point Coffee in Millvale, Pennsylvania. 

Founded by a pair of musicians and their spouses, the 540-square-foot shop features a San Franciscan SF-25 machine behind the small service counter. Freshly roasted coffees result in espresso-based drinks, drip and cold brews with house-made syrups served alongside locally sourced pastries. 

High-top tables and stools offer seating beneath a fresh stripe of sage green paint beneath the shop’s original crown molding and vintage ceiling. Black-and-white checkered flooring helps to visually stretch out the tight shop. 

“Our initial objective was to have a place to roast beans. We had difficulty finding an industrial space to do so,” Compass Point Co-Founder Eric Hodos recently told Daily Coffee News. “Knowing the roaster would take a few months, we placed the order for the roaster and the very next day we found this space available purely by chance.”

With black-and-white photos on the wall behind the bar, the location also carries some nostalgia for both the owners and the surrounding community. It previously housed an ice cream and candy shop that Hodos frequented as a child in the 1970s. 

Hodos now comes to the space having roasted more than 400 pounds of coffee over the past decade with a Behmor home roasting machine. That was followed by a Gene Cafe home roaster, then an Aillio Bullet. 

With the Bullet, a plan for a professional roasting business began to form, with the group of founders eventually including Eric and Audrey Hodos, and Rebecca and Paul Pietrusinski. The company began selling coffee about two years ago, sourcing green coffees primarily from Coffee Shrub. 

Eric Hodos and Rebecca Pietrusinski previously worked in tech jobs at the same financial institution, then formed The Altered Egos rock band in 2021. 

“We approach our band as a business, and it was the proof of concept for taking the next step with the coffee business,” Rebecca Pietrusinski told DCN. “Getting things right and doing it to the best of our ability is what makes music and coffee fun. We want our customers that come see us play and that come into our shop to have the best experience we can deliver and know that their investment of time and their money was well spent.”

Eric Hodos.

As the beat goes on, Compass Point plans to host more educational events in the shop, while also moving its single-group espresso machine into a new mobile truck and upgrading to a 2-group machine. 

“We’re currently focused on making our café the best it can be while we invest in the local community,” said Pietrusinski. “Millvale is a great location that is treating us well so we want to give back and help it grow too.”

Compass Point Coffee is located at 1149 Evergreen Ave. in Millvale, Pennsylvania.

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