Polo Espresso, the bright pink coffee spot on Park Road in Milton, has been a local favourite since 2022, offering top-quality coffee and light bites. Now, the café is entering a new chapter under the ownership of 18-year-old Riley Mitchell, who took over the business in 2024 as his first venture into entrepreneurship.
Riley, a recent St Laurence’s College graduate, purchased the café earlier this year after developing a passion for business through various home-based ventures during his school years.
“Business ownership has always been a strong interest of mine,” he said in an email to Brisbane Suburbs Online News. He plans to build on Polo Espresso’s success by expanding its reach, to open additional container-based locations and coffee vans to serve events around Brisbane.
A Young Entrepreneur’s Journey to Business Ownership
From childhood ambitions of owning a zoo to running various small home-based ventures during his school years, Riley has always been drawn to entrepreneurship.
“I really wanted to get into something during my last year of school,” he explained, and after graduating in 2023, he found the opportunity to turn that ambition into reality.
Extensive research and learning marked Mitchell’s path to owning Polo Espresso.
“The research that took place was an endless amount of trial and error,” he said, reflecting on the countless entrepreneurial summits, networking events, and courses he attended. A turning point came earlier this year when Mitchell joined a business masterclass that introduced him to the idea of acquiring an existing business rather than starting one from scratch. This shift in perspective led him to pursue Polo Espresso, a business he discovered through a business broker, ultimately setting him on the path to achieving his self-set goals.
A Milton Favourite for Coffee and Snacks
Polo Espresso is known for serving locally roasted coffee from The Black Lab Coffee Co. The café offers its popular Platinum blend through espresso machines and regularly rotating single-origin batch brews. Alongside the coffee, customers can enjoy a variety of drinks, including Simple Juicery juices, StrangeLove sodas, and Pinnacle sparkling iced teas.
Polo Espresso’s food offerings range from quick breakfast options like bacon, egg, and pesto muffins to Bircher muesli and chia pudding. For lunch, the café’s cabinet is stocked with a selection of sandwiches, and pork bahn is provided by a local supplier.
Community Hub with a Bright New Look
Polo Espresso operates out of a cosy shipping container originally home to Wanderer Coffee before Polo’s launch in 2022. The café’s striking pink colour and outdoor seating, complete with pink and white-striped umbrellas, make it an eye-catching and inviting spot for Milton locals. It’s a perfect place to grab a coffee on the go or sit for a while and enjoy the neighbourhood atmosphere.
Riley loves the location for its community feel, saying he was looking for a place with “foot traffic, growth potential, marketability and something that connects with the local area.” With its new ownership and continued dedication to quality coffee, Polo Espresso remains a much-loved café in Milton.
Polo Espresso is located at 47 Park Road, Milton, and is open daily for coffee and light eats.