Little Tart Bakeshop’s Sarah O’Brien Will Bring Soft Serve to Summerhill

Sarah O’Brien of Little Tart Bakeshop is opening not one, but two new storefronts: a Georgia Ave. Little Tart location and her soft serve shop, Big Softie.

Little Tart’s Summerhill location will have a full espresso bar and pastry counter as well as “small, curated brunch and lunch menus.” Meanwhile, the adjacent Big Softie will sell artisanal soft serve made from Georgia dairy. They’ll offer both classic and seasonal flavors, and all toppings and cones will be made in-house.

“I have loved soft serve since I was a kid; I grew up less than a mile from our local Dairy Queen, which at one time was owned by my aunt and uncle,” O’Brien says. “With Little Tart I have tried to create the place I want to go every day to savor a croissant and a cappuccino. Big Softie came of out the same impulse to create a space where I want to take my family — and a place where I can finally get my soft serve fix!”

O’Brien says her impulse to expand comes from the Little Tart team’s skills.

“There is incredible talent on my team, and I know we can do more,” she says. “And all of them were very excited about soft serve when I floated the concept, so Big Softie was born.”

Choosing Georgia Ave. as a location was a no-brainer, O’Brien said:

“I’ve been driving past the strip of buildings on Georgia Avenue ever since I moved to Atlanta nine years ago, and thinking when is someone going to do something with those amazing buildings? When I heard Carter [& Associates] had bought the property I immediately reached out to them. Summerhill is right next door to my bakery’s (and my family’s) home base in Grant Park. Most of my employees live in the area. Expanding there was an easy decision.”

O’Brien hopes to open the shops in 2018. In the meantime, she anticipates soft serve specials at Grant Park’s shop in August.

• All Little Tart Bakeshop Coverage [EATL]