Espresso Royale Caffe
288 Newbury St
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 859-9515
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 859-9515
Espresso Royale Caffe
Restaurants, Coffee Shop
Green Tags: bagels, biodegradable cups, certified, certified green, coffee, corn cup, eco cups, eco-cup, fair trade, fair trade organic biodegradable containers, green certified, hot chocolate, local, music, organic, recycle, solidario kids, soy, vegan, Vegan Options, vibe
Good Tags: ambiance, ambience, art, bagels, breakfast, cafe, coffee, espresso, Food, lattes, Organic, pastries, tasty, tea, variety
I love Espresso Royale! They have such an awesome selection of beverages and snacks. Their bagels are great, and I love the fact that they carry several different flavors of soy cream cheese.
Espresso Royale happens to be a green certified restaurant, so I am giving it five stars for being green.
I usually visit Espresso Royale twice a day - before work for a bagel and soy latte, and after work for a soy yerba matte latte, which is hands-down the yummiest drink ever. I love that I can hit up one spot for Bagel Rising eats and organic coffee and tea.
The staff is always really friendly, and even when there's a long line I don't mind waiting as there's (frequently updated) work from local artists on display. Indoor seating is great for when I need to get some work done, and the outdoor tables are perfect for nice days.
On top of all this, I feel great about spending my daily coffee $ at Espresso Royale because they're taking big steps towards being as green as possible. Yay for Eco Cups!
Mmmmmm turkey avacado club !
This place is relaxed, reasonably priced, has great food and is certified has a green restaurant.
I live across the street and generally stop in to get an Americano and bagel for breakfast. I love their "frequent eater" card too. Buy 10 bagels or drinks and get 1 free. Cool!
There is always local art on the walls which is really great as well. A+
Espresso Royale is my favorite place to get coffee on Newbury Street. It's nicely lit and has a cozy atmosphere. I had the Yerba Mate latte with soy milk, which is to die for. Mate is my favorite type of tea (and ridiculously good for you, too) yet, I have such a hard time finding a cafe that serves it. I'm also quite partial to the green tea latte, and their pastries are also quite tasty.
Definitely gets green points from me, for several reasons. First off is their new eco-cup, which is derived from corn. I've seen these at my school and you can distinguish them from the green stripe. Besides that, they use recycled napkins and cup holders and pride themselves on being totally fair trade and organic. They are also very vegan friendly!
Next time you head to Newbury, just walk past Starbucks and go to Espresso Royale. It's better and greener coffee/food for the same price.
I love Espresso Royale. Not only do they make the meanest bagels around, have a comfortable atmosphere AND killer espresso, but they are also certainly green certified. And in response to the review above, it's true, all the cups they use are made from Corn. The feature about them on the website is the following:
Eco Cups are here!
What's an Eco Cup? Well the dirty secret of food service has for a long time been that the paper cups commonly used are lined with plastic, and plastic clear cups are plastic. Almost no-one recycles these because they are nearly impossible to recycle. So they end up in land fill where they will stay. We have been looking for this alternative for years and it took this long for the technology to arrive.
The Eco Cup is made from a bio-polymer derived completely from corn. It will breakdown and return to whence it came. The manufacturing process for the Eco Cups is much less energy intensive than the plastic counterparts too. Look for the green band at top and bottom of the cups and you'll feel good about using them.
Please do us a favor! Please tell your friends to try Espresso Royale. We think our coffee, tea, and Cacao is better by far and we try harder too. If we gained some new customers it would help us afford some of the initiatives we undertake.
Eco Cups, Solidario kids, Fair Trade, Organic, whole leaf tea all contribute to a better earth and happier life.
Espresso Royale is located on the basement level in the heart of Newbury Street. It's a small coffee shop that also serves a mean bagel sandwich. Oh, and really good hot chocolate! The ambiance is ok, but there's not much room to sit. They were playing the Pixies last time I was in there, one of my favorite bands from college, so that was a nice bonus.
As for green, they do recycle, and they ask that you only take what napkins you need and no more. I think they are certified by the 'green restaurant association' and remember seeing an ad somewhere online that mentioned them using a new biodegradable cup. Anyone have any more info?
Restaurants
Big Picture
When you go out to a restaurant for your food, it's easy to assume that restaurateurs care about the food they are giving you – where it comes from, what’s been added to it, and how far it had to travel to get to you. But what's going on behind the scenes? It’s time to explore the art of dining out and being green – not so easy in Boston, but getting easier. The more questions we ask, the more we will inspire change.
Factoids n' Stuff
- Your average cheeseburger accounts for approximately 6.3 - 6.8 lbs of carbon emissions. (Jamais Cascio, "The Cheeseburger Footprint" January 2007)
- Reusing a glass jar 5 times at home can save about half of the energy a commercial packager consumes to make 5 disposable containers. (Pimentel, David, and Marcia Pimentel. Energy use in food processing for nutrition and development, accessed September 1, 2006.)
- In 2005, American farmers used more than 22 million tons of chemical fertilizers, turning agriculture into a leading source of water pollution in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service,"U.S. Fertilizer Use and Price. September 25, 2006, accessed October 13, 2006.)
- Approximately 80% of U.S. ammonia emissions come from livestock manure on factory farms. (Doorn, Michael R.J., et al. Review of Emissions Factors and Methodologies to Estimate Ammonia Emissions from Animal Waste Handling, Research Triangle Park (NC): Environmental Protection Agency, 2002: ii.)
- Herbicide tolerant GE (genetically engineered) crops have created weed resistance, causing pesticide use to increase by 70 million lbs between 1997 and 2003. (SustainableTable.org)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, found in Teflon (a chemical used to make nonstick pots and pans) and paper plates, has been found to cause cancer in animals. Once released into the environment, PFOA does not break down and remains there indefinitely. (Environmental Working Group "Is There an Extra Ingredient in Nonstick Pans?" July 2005)
What Goes In?
Where does the food come from? What kinds of chemicals or drugs are already in the food? Are there steroids, antibiotics, or hormones in the meat? Is the food fresh or did it come from a can? How is the food prepared? What kinds of pots and pans are being used?
What Comes Out?
Does the food taste good? Are the portions too big? How much food is wasted? What do they do with that wasted food? Throw it away? How is the food being served – are they served on plastic, paper, or real dishes? Do they use paper or linens for tablecloths, napkins, and place mats? Do they recycle? Are they encouraging you to recycle?
How's it Run?
Do the employees seem happy and healthy? Do they take the time to explain what you are getting – i.e., do they know where the food comes from and are they happy to tell you about it? Do they have a genuine care for quality rather than quantity? What is their dishwashing process? How do they clean the restaurant? What do they use to wipe down the tables/bar? How do they wash their linens?
What They Care About
Do they understand the interest in organic and local foods and do they know why that’s important? Have they researched local suppliers and do they think about meeting the farmers or fishermen who provide them with food? Are they thinking of ways to offer more natural choices, or do they just care about making a buck?
What to Ask
- What’s been added to my food?
- Where does my food come from?
- Is this food local, organic, or both?
- Does this meat come from a factory farm, or was it naturally raised?
- How far did my food have to travel to get to my mouth?
- How was my food prepared?
- What do you do with the leftover food? Do you compost it?
- What kinds of chemicals do you use to wash dishes and clean the restaurant?
- What are you doing to help the negative impact that the mainstream food supply currently has on the environment?
- Do you know what your carbon footprint is (given all the different foods you are providing) and what are you doing to offset your carbon footprint?
- What are you doing to conserve the energy, water, and resources your restaurant uses?
What to Do
- Buy local – find out what on the menu is local and choose that!
- Choose organic items from the menu.
- Eat a little less animal protein, and get high quality naturally raised meat – you saw the stats above – you CAN make a difference.
- Ask a lot of questions – you’ll know what’s up by how your questions are answered and it’s the only way to make the restaurant aware that their customers are paying attention.
- Take your own bag or container for leftovers – pretty self explanatory but this makes a huge difference.
- Split your meal – most restaurants provide us with out of control serving sizes – split more and waste less!
- Get an appetizer instead of an entrée – saves you money and the serving sizes are smaller so there is less wasted.
- Look for restaurants that use cast iron or stainless steel pots and pans.
