Just a block off campus, nestled between the neighborhood homes on Spring Street, is a charming brick building home to illy Coffee at Earth’s End. Adorned with red-accented furniture, European-style patio seating, and — believe it or not — a cigar room, illy is a popular destination for students, staff, and community members alike to grab a tasteful pick-me-up. Admittedly an illy patron and enthusiast, I stopped in for two hours, and this is what I observed.
12:11 p.m.
On my slow Wednesday afternoon, I dart to illy in need of some entertainment and an even more exciting beverage. As my study buddy and I enter the cafe, the lone barista greets us warmly and takes our order. The brisk weather prompts an extremely serious internal debate: iced or hot coffee?
Ultimately I go for a hot vanilla cardamom latte, part of their September specials, while my partner goes for the iced blueberry latte, illy’s drink of the week. The barista recognizes us as students and adds the 15 percent student discount. Surveying the empty surroundings, we sit at a quaint table looking out onto their open patio. As an autumn breeze drifts past us, I realize I might need a sweater.
12:15 p.m.
A couple, who I assume are Princeton locals, enter the cafe, questioning the barista about the complex monthly drink specials. They ask about the limitless options, ultimately pondering the classic coffee options before continuing their walk through the neighborhood. As they leave, a single older man enters, quickly ordering himself a simple coffee before sitting at a nearby table.
12:18 p.m.
A rowdy group of three students enters with backpacks in tow. They are clearly on a coffee run between classes or maybe on a study break from the stacks of Firestone Library. Distracted by the countless eccentric options on the menu, one of the students barters with the others to decide for him. As they debate I hear one proclaim, “This is too much responsibility,” at the request of her counterpart.
12:35 p.m.
At this time, our only cohabitor, besides the barista who’s rewriting the specials in beautiful calligraphy behind the bar, is joined by an older woman. Almost ignoring his companion, the man continues intently reading his phone before eventually getting up to order her coffee. He knows her order, only turning back to ask, “small or large?”
1:04 p.m.
Still silently coexisting, I observe the adjacent couple considering what their relationship to each other might be. Suddenly the woman picks a dandelion off their table before lifting it into the air to fly off in the wind. A moment later they rise, only lightly whispering to each other as the soft melody of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” resonates in the cafe. I reflect on the sweet lyrics, “Cause I feel that when I’m with you it’s alright, I know it’s right.”
1:09 p.m.
As a steady stream of students wander in and out the glass front door, a student walks in carrying a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers. Her backpack tips me off that she has just come from the farmer’s market in Firestone Plaza. After she grabs her drink, I watch her take a totally Instagram-able photo of her illy latte and beautiful bouquet.
1:30 p.m.
Two older men, maybe graduate students or professors, enter, quickly ordering before grabbing a quaint corner table. The colleagues pointedly chat over an excel spreadsheet which I can only assume stores significant thesis-making data. One dons a tweed blazer that emanates an air of professionalism.
1:40 p.m.
A staff member enters the cigar room adjacent to the cafe seating area to replenish the ashtrays and prepare it for guests despite the lack of smokers. I quickly google the age requirement of cigars to assure my memory. I suppose this is the “At Earth’s End” aspect — At Earth’s End being a cigar parlor and larger social club within the Northeast Trans-Atlantic region — but I stop to snicker at the fact that a coffee shop almost tailored to a college clientele also hosts a cigar lounge.
1:46 p.m.
A cute older couple enters, briskly ordering two espressos before perching on the patio. They quickly drink their caffeine shots, surveying the outdoor seating and making quiet conversation as if part of their daily routine. As I witness them, I can’t help but imagine a foreign city backdrop for the pair. And just like that, they leave, spending at most ten minutes in illy.
2:10 p.m.
A postal worker delivers some mail to a cherry red postbox located within the restaurant just as it begins lightly drizzling outside. While the rain seems calm at first, it begins to quickly pick up and the temperature drops. My study partner and I pack up as groups begin flooding in, escaping the downpour. As we leave, I thank the barista and suddenly remember my ordered croissant that never found me. What did find me instead was an appreciation for warm coffee and even warmer companionship at illy at Earth’s End.
Marley Hartnett-Cody is a member of the Class of 2028, a contributing writer for The Prospect, and a print designer at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at mh8519[at]princeton.edu.
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