Espresso Royale

I feel strongly obligated to update my review since I come in what seems like 3,299 times per week! The people that work here are awesome and now know me and my fiancé well. There is always a friendly face or two working and know our drink orders. They’re always helpful giving information about different drinks when I think about getting adventurous and trying something new. Love the ambiance — it’s super comfy now that they replaced some of their old padded chairs into ones that are in one piece. The music is always pretty chill and it makes for an overall favorite of mine!

Two dollar lattes! Delicious and the baristas were very helpful in explaining different options.

Fix the A/​C.

The $ 0.50 off for bringing your own mug is the best I’ve encountered anywhere. Plus they have eco friendly non plastic cups. It’s local and that’s another plus. Great place for me to sit and grade papers for hours, lots of people who are regulars and the staff is the type who learns their name. I like the other espresso locations too, but I can walk to this one and it’s pretty kid friendly. They never balk when I split a couple large hot cocoas for the four of us and are happy to give extra cups. They have all different types of milk for lattes and all different types of sugar and latte toppings. Only thing I would suggest is that they add organic milk or calder’s milk as an option.

So excited to hear that this location was so close to my workplace because I loved ER when I was a student. My favorites drinks have been the early grey almond tea, the mango and peach teas, and the strawberry lemonade. Their scones are also really good and reasonably priced. Now they have all these great weekly deals to take part in.
I was expecting the friendly service you get at the campus locations but was rather out off by the shortness of the cashier this morning. I was on a phone call and made a point to pause my call in order to be present while ordering and waiting for my order. Hoping for better luck next time!

Awesome staff, good coffee. Try the Spanish latte.

Tea was amazing but the service was kinda lacking. Still, I had an overall good experience.

This is hard to review. I have a love/​hate relationship with ERC.
On one hand, their weekly daily specials are awesome, like their double-​stamp days, reduced prices on lattes, etc.
On the other hand, as some other reviewers have mentioned, the noise volume is often loud and/​or the music playing is a bit rough on the ears. I think the employees at ALL ERCs get to pick their own music, and are often so in to it that they blast it, which is not cool if the customers are trying to work and/​or hear their own conversations/​thoughts.
The employees in general are usually pretty friendly and down-​to-​earth. Although one time at this particular location I ordered a green tea latte and was asked «are you sure you want that?» I replied, «um yes,» and the guy said «oh… you might not like it… usually only Asian exchange students order it.» How incredibly racist! I was shocked. I don’t get how some of these people get hired in the first place. But anyway…
Drink-​wise, I don’t find many to be ultra-​special. I like their chai tea and green tea lattes, as I’ve mentioned. Coffee is ok, but I like mine pipping hot, and in those containers they keep them in (whatever they’re called) they tend to cool down more than if the coffee is freshly made.
Food-​wise, the only thing that is even good enough to mention is the vegan zucchini bread. It is to die for. The banana bread is ok too. I don’t like their pumpkin bread though because it is always too heavily loaded with chocolate chips. You can’t taste the pumpkin very well.
When I first started writing this review I had 3 stars. But then I realized it’s really only worth 2. If you can’t stand to even be in a place because of the atmosphere, and the drink are only sub-​part, it really isn’t worth going when there are so many better cafes in Ann Arbor.

Prices are slight better than Starbucks… its a very casual enviroment. This place just needs to learn its daily specials… I always have to remind them on Thursday of their .50cent off of all tea :) Staff is really friendly.

When I lived in Ann Arbor I’d spend many hours a day studying year shortly after this ERC location opened. The location is good if you drive (harder to park by the stores on Main, State, and South U), although at the same time if you live in Ann Arbor it can be a big uninspiring to spend too much time in the strip mall next to Busch’s and Blockbuster Video.
But, despite those drawbacks, I do really like the product here. This is the only place in Ann Arbor where I can get a real chai latte that’s made from brewed tea, honey, milk, and spices — at Starbucks and other coffee shops that I’ve been to they use syrup instead. I also am a big fan of the coffee and was glad when they introduced the Solidario fairly traded brew. (Be warned, though, that Solidario changes from batch to batch, so if you’re a coffee snob you have to ask if it’s the same as you last tried.) In any case, though, I prefer the House blend.
Some people on here have said at they don’t like the coffee here, and so I should explain why that probably is. ERC roasts their own coffee, and it tends to be a little bit more lightly roasted, even in the dark roasts, than Starbucks, which roasts very heavily. I prefer the ERC method because I think that I can taste the flavor a bit better, but if you’re used to the Starbucks approach (which Starbucks detractors refer to as «burnt coffee») it will take some getting used to. As I said, I prefer the ERC coffee, but it’s just a matter of preference.

As some people have mentioned, the main photo here is of a different location, downtown Ann Arbor, so I think some of the reviewers comments may be confusing the two.
I actually strongly prefer the ER on Main Street downtown vastly to this one. Sure, there’s easy parking at this location (it’s in a mini-​mall), and the location is convenient if you need to stop by Busch’s or are going to/​from downtown to some of the «big box» stores. However, this café always seems much louder than the one downtown. Maybe it’s because it’s a smaller space?
Both are filled with students — both grad and undergrad. What’s funny is that multiple times when I’ve been here, I’ve had to overhear grad students (med, law, business) gossiping really loud for a reeeally long time instead of studying. Hey, it’s their business to gossip… just be forewarned to bring some headphones. Added onto the consistently gossipy crowd, the music they play in here is often kinda of grating.
I’ve never necessarily found headphones in order at the downtown Main St. location, and it’s generally a nice place for quiet meetings or meet-​ups.
This location, however does get some point for convenience. They also serve the same good-​tasting chai and ok food as the downtown Main St. location. Overall, it’s a decent place to camp out for awhile, but given the choice, I’d rather head to the downtown location.

This picture is the one on Main Street downtown, not the one on South Main next to Busch’s. My review is for the latter.
I wasted many a Saturday here thinking that I would do school work, work on my resume, or search for jobs. I really ended up doing not much but abusing the free internet and my endless cup of tea. For less than $ 6 bucks, you can get the combo special (sandwich or wrap, soup, and a drink of your choice). I don’t know if it is really the special or just special for me, ’cause you know, I am cute and chubby.
The Chicken Salad Wrap is my favorite. They never mess that one up. The soup can be curiously salty but for less than $ 6 including a drink and a sandwich, I can deal.
There is parking which makes ERC South Main a more appealing place than anywhere downtown.
The staff is super friendly and helpful. It’s mostly a quiet place which is why it’s my favorite ERC. Sometimes, my peace is disturbed by these gregarious med school Koreans, who really like to show off too much by yapping about everything and everything’s mother. I don’t know how these Korean girls seem to have the monopoly on the princess voice, after a while they’re like a whole bunch of mosquitoes buzzing around… and around… and around…

Espresso Royales are mediocre cafes in general, most get two stars, but the one on State St and this one get an extra star for location. Specifically, this Espresso Royale is in the Shopping Center on the corner of Main St and Main St (that is not a typo) with Busch’s supermarket and Blockbuster video. So there is a convenience of working for a few hours at ERC and then get a movie and some dinner and head home. Nice. It also means that there is PLENTY of free parking, not too many cafes in Ann Arbor can be reasonably driven to. If it’s rainy or snowy or both and you don’t feel like walking or riding through the punishing weather then you can drive here and still have your café experience.
As noted by others, free wireless, lots of plugs, usually not crowded, and generally cool baristas. The music is variable, depending on who’s working and they are rather flexible if you’re annoyed. They’ve even played music that I brought in for them. And they are open until 11:00PM; not as late as some others but only by an hour and that’s pretty late for Ann Arbor anyway.
Like the other cafes in this chain, the coffee is undrinkable… and I really like coffee (I order redeyes in other cafes because their normal coffee isn’t strong enough in flavor or power). I got espresso at an ERC once and it literally made me nauseous. I usually stick to the teas.
There is AC, but it is not strong enough for the really hot summer days. It’s usually fine in there.

The lack of windows is a bit unnerving. The lack of cleanliness also. I’d advise going around the corner to Sweetwater’s (just stay in the room with the windows.)