Our Story
The history of Espresso Royale dates back to the coffeehouses of North Beach, San Francisco and the early coffeehouses of Berkeley. The emphasis on great coffee and the ambiance of espresso bars in the early 80's was the catalyst for the style and traditions of Espresso Royale. The early influences go back to Café Roma, Caffe Trieste, and the "Med" on University Ave in Berkeley. The glassware, recipes, roasts, and café design all descend from those early days.
The name Espresso Royale came from the desire to include the main product in the name, and from a cool restaurant in Berkeley called Café Royale that housed a toaster museum.
Today, nicknames for Espresso Royale are "ERC", and just "Espresso". There was a time back in the early 90's when ERC was called Café Pretentious, and Café Depresso but these were tags given by people who really weren't customers and didn't get that ERC was a very cool American coffeehouse without any pretention, which made us sort of pretentious in those days.
For a time espresso Royale went by Espresso Royale Caffe, but it was hard to say three times fast so nicknames are fine.
The first Espresso Royale was opened in 1987 and more sprung up across the country in college towns such as Manhattan, Urbana, East Lansing, Minneapolis, Madison, Boston, Ann Arbor, Bloomington, Athens, Charlottesville, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara Ð even Seattle!
The Espresso Royale house blend was formulated in 1987 and was designed for drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes with its full body, color, and flavor.
Espresso Royale has always been known for its friendly staff, unmatched drink quality and a service style that is casual and welcoming. That friendliness comes from a heartfelt philosophy. Not a company driven philosophy, but more a people driven philosophy. These days, customers are a part of designing cafes, products and new directions. "We don't tell customers what they will like and what they will buy" says Marcus, the company's founder, "they lead us to understand where they are going in life and how we can do things better."
The company has continued to evolve with new store designs, products and customer services. Today ERC is developing cafes for more than just college students. "We are taking our cafes on the road to serve more than just the college market with stores on main Streets, tourist areas, and shopping areas" says Marcus. Looks like traditional malls are not part of the company's plans. "Malls aren't true public spaces like outdoor cafes, walking towns, and just aren't place we like."