Espresso Roma (or just Roma, to frequent visitors) is a chain of coffee shops located throughout the western United States of America. The chain caters mostly to students of local Universities. Roma, unlike mega franchises which shall go unnamed, concentrates on a relaxed atmosphere where people can imbibe their caffeinated refreshments, while at the same time just hanging out or studying or chatting with friends. Throughout my journeys I have noticed that each Roma location has its own attitude unlike all others. That attitude is a reflection of the community that supports and enjoys Espresso Roma's products.
The Espresso Roma Corporation was started by Sandy Boyd at the University of California, Berkely, in 1980. I don't know anything else about the company behind the shops I've come to know and love.
During the week of September 24 - October 1 2001 I went on a trip
down the west coast and visited as many Espresso Roma shops as could
conveniently be done. I was unable to make it to all of the shops,
but I was able to get to four stores. I live in Seattle, so the shop
I frequent is the Seattle store.
There are surprisingly few searchable sites on the Internet that make mention of Espresso Roma. Below are some sites (there are other fans!) that mention Roma. There are some other sites linked on the pages discussing specific Roma locations.
I wish Espresso Roma (the chain) would make more information available to customers. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments about anything you've read here.
Today (10/15/2004) I discovered there's an official-looking Espresso Roma web page. There is location information for lots of Espresso Roma stores. Not much content about the chain, though.