Espresso Royale

Three F’s: Fast and friendly but but f’ing awful. I think they made our drinks with dishwater and if not then I feel really sorry for them.
Go anywhere else even if you want coffee.
Heading to Starbucks which I really hate to admit but have to get rid of this awful aftertaste.
BTW. I am traveling with 5 others and there is unanimous agreement this place is not worth going to.

Erm. Well. Hm. How do I begin. I thank the stars for this shop for keeping me up into the wee study hours. Other than that, the food isn’t stellar and it’s overpriced. Same with the coffee. The chocolates they have on the shelves taste like they’ve been lying around forever, blegh. The espresso drinks are… atrocious. I haven’t ever experienced anything this bad. The cappuccino was so off and the foam was so… strange. The milk was so off. Everything is bad… Their tea lattes are bad, their frozen drinks are bad, their lattes are bad. I have a hard time expressing my thoughts concerning this Espresso Royale because I feel rather confused about it all. I can’t wrap my head around why everything tastes so bad. It’s a convenient location, but everything about it– coffee, food and baristas– scream, «What do you want.»

Small businesses such as Espresso Royale give Champaign-​Urbana its character. I visit the 6^th and Daniel location often.
The undergrad library location, however, is the undergrad library location. It’s full of tired and harried students and academic professionals, and most of us don’t want to be there. The UGL is pretty old and you can tell.
This place is usually packed and you’ll have to wait. In addition, I once applied for a job here. My friend of mine had worked there previously and told me the manager’s name. When I asked for the manager, I could see her behind the counter. She told the employee that I’d asked to tell me that she wasn’t around. I just gave them both a look of shock and walked away.
I later spoke with the employee (a friend of the friend) and she said she felt horrible because she could tell I knew the real story. We all laughed about it over a few glasses of wine.
Nonetheless, here’s the point: Espresso Royale deserves your money; the employees are kick-​asses and Espresso provides quality coffee. They buy beans roasted locally (Columbia St.) and always, always, always have hot, fresh, dark roast coffee on hand. So, Espresso Royale gets my vote over Starbucks every single day.
Note: parking around this location is not for the faint of heart.

I was glad to start working next to an Espresso Royale location when I was only near what I considered inferior cafes before. My main complaint is that everything is grossly expensive, even for the going café rates. $ 5 for a cup of (what tastes like sugar-​free) mediocre yogurt, dry granola, and one strawberry is a bit excessive. All of the drinks containing espresso that I’ve tasted are well done, and I appreciate being able to see them making the drink. I’ve tasted a few of the pastries, and they are pretty good, namely the mushroom swiss one.

This place is right in the middle of campus in the underground Undergraduate Library, so it is the place to go when you pulled an all-​nighter and need caffeine, but all the other coffee shops are too far away to get to your next class. Otherwise, I don’t recommend it. Drinks are the same as they are at all Royale locations, but it is always crowded and never terribly clean. I do give it bonus points for often playing good music, but otherwise I consider it a last resort.