There are plenty of places serving good coffee in this town, and one place that’s lots of places is Espresso Royale with six locations across Champaign-Urbana. C-U’s Espresso locations are the only ones left in the country. During the pandemic, other locations of Espresso Royale closed for good, but C-U’s Espressos were saved by Cafe Kopi’s owner and former Espresso Royale barista Douglas McCarver. Read that story here.
Each Espresso Royale offers a similar menu of hot and iced drinks with grab-and-go sandwiches, muffins, scones, salads, wraps, yogurt, and more, but each location has a different atmosphere. I’m a Stadium Plaza gal myself because it’s right there on Neil Street on the way to everything. I’ve been to a few others before, but I thought it might be fun to do an Espresso Royale crawl, ordering a different drink at every location.
Drip Coffee︱The C-U Original Espresso Royale: Krannert View
At the corner of Goodwin and Oregon Street, the Krannert View location is the original C-U Espresso Royale and the most iconic. Espresso opened in 1987 in this original location as C-U’s first cappuccino and espresso bar. With bar seating along the windows and lots of tables throughout, the Krannert View location is a good campus spot to linger over a cup of coffee. As such, I ordered a large mug of medium roast fair trade drip coffee ($3.25). Served not too hot, it was immediately sippable. With a dark, roasted flavor, the bitter coffee notes had a smooth finish. It was a good cuppa.
The café’s vintage arches, cool tiled floors, nicked up wooden tables, and view of Goodwin Avenue make for cozy ambiance. Sometimes it’s even possible to smell wafting pizza aromas from Manolo’s next door.
Espresso Royale Krannert View
1117 W Oregon St
Urbana
M-F 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sa+Su 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Creme Brulee Latte︱Champaign’s Village Green
On Latte Wednesday, I ordered a medium hot creme brulee latte ($3), and if it wasn’t a Wednesday, it’d cost $4.75. Served in a real mug, my latte had a layer of whipped cream with big sugar crystals floating on top. From the first sip, it was sweet, and because of the rich whole milk, there was barely any bitterness to the coffee. Like creme brulee, this latte had a creamy sweetness and a nice sugar crunch. More like dessert than coffee, this one was a decadent winter sip and a very good latte.
This café played good jams and had plenty of free parking. With big windows and 12 tables (mainly for two plus a bigger table), this location is great for meeting up with a friend over coffee. All lattes are part of the weekly $3 deal, including seasonal specials and the usuals like the caramel latte, too.
Village Green at The Crossing
2401 Village Green Place
Champaign
7 a.m. to 8 p.m., daily
Frosted Gingerbread Mocha︱Daniel Street Espresso
Espresso Royale’s second location to open was the Daniel Street location. The original closed in 2019 and Espresso reopened in December 2022 at the same corner of Sixth and Daniel in the newly constructed The Hub. When I visited this location, it was packed; no tables were open, and the line was long. So I actually ordered my phone, and my drink was ready faster than the people in line before me could even order at the register. That afternoon, I had a medium frosted gingerbread mocha ($7) with oat milk (80 cents extra). The drink could be made hot or iced, and I chose iced. Honestly, this drink was just okay. My cold mocha had a subtle chocolate flavor, an alright coffee flavor, and a bitter gingerbread flavor. Though it was creamy, it lacked that sugary taste like I expected for a drink called frosted gingerbread.
This campus location has eight tables and counter seating, plus barstools along the front window and windows connecting to The Hub. Here, the baristas are very busy making drink after drink. Since it’s a popular spot, it makes sense to order online and skip waiting.
Daniel Street in Campustown
604 E Daniel St
Champaign
M-F 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sa+Su 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Iced Bourbon-Barrel Americano with Cold Foam︱Stadium Plaza
Meet my go-to Espresso order: iced bourbon-barrel Americano with cold foam ($5.50). I already told you about it, but it’s so freaking good. This coffee had a toasty caramel flavor, and that silky cold foam took it to luxury status. That contrast of sweet vanilla against bitter Americano tasted amazing. And the mouth-feel variation, too: a cloud of fluffy foam on top and thinner iced coffee below. The first sips tasted like a coffee milkshake because of the creamy cold foam, but then the coffee’s flavor dominated. And that delicious caramelized bourbon from the espresso really came through.
Stadium Plaza is my favorite Espresso location for a few reasons. It opens the earliest, has a comfy couch, and there’s a drive-through. Inside the café, find wooden tables for two, three, and four in addition to two cushy armchairs (and said couch) in front of a fireplace. One little table even has a basket of chess pieces and a built-in chessboard, and in the small parking lot off Neil Street, there are two spots for 15 minutes or less for grab-and-go coffee situations.
Stadium Plaza
1411 S Neil St
Champaign
M-F 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sa+Su 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Iced Green Tea︱R&D Lab on campus
Ope, this one’s not coffee, but it might be the sleeper hit of this drinks list. On a Saturday afternoon, I ordered a medium iced green tea ($3.95) from the Espresso Royale inside the CIF building. Iced green tea, how good could it be? Well, it was great. Super refreshing, the citron green tea was smooth with nice flavors without being sweet, tasting floral and a little fruity. With ice but not too much, my drink was mostly cold, wonderful green tea.
The newest Espresso Royale location, the R&D Lab café is visible from Springfield Avenue from the giant windows, and inside, there are several wooden tables. To not look as stupid as I did when ordering: join the line from the far right, not the left (unless you want to accidentally cut the whole line) — or put in a pre-order and skip the line legitimately.
R&D Lab
inside Campus Instructional Facility
1405 Springfield Ave
Urbana
M-F 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sa 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Su 12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Ginger Dragon︱Grainger Engineering Library
Lastly, I’m ending this drink tour with my order of a ginger dragon ($4.50), hot. Made with fresh lemon and steeped ginger, this drink was sweet, tart, and absolutely delicious. It had a zing from the ginger and some sour from the lemon, but the drink tasted mostly sweet. Sometimes ginger flavors can be too much, but I loved how strong citrus matched the intensity of the bold ginger. Served positively burning hot, it warmed (almost burnt) my hands and was satisfying to sip outside on a cold day. A hot ginger dragon would be a comfort to sore throats, for sure.
Located inside of Grainger Engineering Library, this location seems best for library go-ers as it’s tucked inside the library, but it does have a small sitting area with wooden tables.
Grainger Engineering Library
1301 Springfield Ave
Urbana
M-F 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sa+Su 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
While I was at the Grainger location, I saw this chalkboard full of favorite drink orders by the baristas, so for more drink inspiration, check it out.
