Espresso Roma — Restaurant in Eugene

I love coffee and cafes. Give me a latte and a place to sit and I’m happy. But Espresso Roma is one of the only cafes I’ve ever been to that I can say I dislike. I’ve been multiple times now and I am so disappointed every visit. First, the place is a mess, and just really gross. There are always tons of flies buzzing around the seating area. The building itself and the inside is dilapidated and clearly needs work. And not in a fun rustic way, in more of a “oh god this building is collapsing” way. I’ve also seen food prep remnants like egg shells sprawled on the ground. The coffee is not worth it either. It’s either incredibly burnt for me, or super watered down and bland. I saw someone say they poured espresso out of a pitcher and I wouldn’t be surprised lol. Lastly, the service is really poor. I am not one to care about customer service and I know baristas have a hard job. But holy cow, every time I order, it feels like I’M doing them a disservice!

I did some digging, and it turns out that Espresso Roma received failing health safety scores recently. There were concerns about food being kept at dangerous temperatures and being prepped in the presence of bugs. They were instructed to order pest control, and they actually didn’t even do it until the health inspector checked in weeks later and asked them about it! Given the number of flies I see inside, this does not surprise me. So gross.

I really want to like this cafe. The location is awesome and it has huge potential. But I cannot recommend it. There are no redeeming factors. You will be disappointed - take your...

STAY AWAY

Ended up here at 6:15 am on a Saturday as it’s the only locally owned coffee shop in the immediate are. I ordered an americano, it was maybe coffee I’m not entirely sure. It was a hot brown liquid for sure. No flavor, definitely no caffeine. My wife ordered a soy chai, which was maybe hot water with cinnamon and sugar? Absolutely the worst hot beverages I’ve ever tried. We ordered two toasted bagels with cream cheese. It appears what we were served was a raw Costco bagel cut in Half with a SLAB of cream cheese haphazardly chucked into the middle, then smashed in a greasy panini press for a few minutes. Barely edible but we choked it down (and so far haven’t gotten sick). In addition to the terrible excuse for consumables place was very dirty. Multiple OBVIOUS health code violations. Immediately upon walking in I noticed the pastry case (which was stocked with flat soggy looking ‘from frozen Cisco products’ was full of flies, the 1/2&1/2 was room temperature, among other sanitary concerns. I regret having spent any money here but it is what it is. Hopefully this review can save someone else from the same experience. The service was flat but not rude, pretty sure the middle aged man and younger staff member were family and...

After going here for over a year, there has been a MASSIVE decline in the quality of both the food (which was already stale on a good day) and the coffee over the past month and a half. I don't know why, but every coffee drink they make tastes horrifically burnt, like they brew one massive pot in the morning and let it sit on a hot plate all day. This strategy may work when you've got lots of customers like they used to have and you're going through a lot of coffee, but they clearly either don't know how to cope with a decline in customers, or don't care enough to do the slightest bit of work and brew-to-order instead. The tables and chairs were always filthy, but I used to be able to overlook that for the charming atmosphere and cool vibes the place has - even when there were flies buzzing around my head and landing in the food display. Unfortunately, with horrible coffee and the inability to heat up any of their refrigerated sandwiches for more than 15 seconds, I just can't recommend this place anymore.

Vero Espresso down the street has better coffee, an equally nice outdoor seating area, and is a HELL of a lot cleaner, all for...