Espresso Yourself Coffee & Cafe — Restaurant in St. Louis

The atmosphere inside is cute and cozy; and the outside patio is nice to enjoy coffee and food along with the live music. When you walk in, there's a cafe in front to order, and the coffee shop is in back to the right. Lots of bakery items to choose from, with seasonal flavors to try. Love the option for mint foam; they definitely have a lot more options here than most places we've visited. The coffee was decent, a little too acidic for my taste, but the sight of Monin syrups is always an indicator that the drinks will be good. My husband is very particular about having his drinks blended; he will search Google photos of a place to see if they serve blended drinks before visiting. For some reason most coffee shops don't serve them, so he asked the woman at the counter if our drinks could be blended like a frappé and she said yes. So he ordered a bananas fosters; and I told the woman I also wanted it blended: pistachio with white chocolate. She asked if we wanted them blended with regular ice or coffee cubes, and of course we opted for coffee cubes because how cool is that! 🤯 I also ordered a cinnamon coffee cake to go. Once we left we noticed our drinks were iced, not blended. We were pretty specific about the blending so the fact that both of ours were iced, my husband said they must not be able to do it, so we didn't go back and bother them to remake. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal but the coffee really wasn't worth the hour drive. Looking back, I wish we would have spoken up. Not a deal breaker for most, but the coffee was too acidic for me to enjoy so we probably won't be back; not necessarily their fault -- it's just too far of a drive to make the trip when there are other places closer. But if you're in the area and like that style of coffee, definitely give them a try! We didn't try their food in the front of the shop, but the options looked good; more on the lighter, healthier side. The coffee cake was unlike anything I've ever tried. It was hard and dense, at first I thought it might have been stale, but the only flavor you could taste was purely raw cinnamon -- which means they must have forgotten to add any sugar because I had to throw it out.

Our experience is probably rare -- the place has a 4.9 so it must be great. Like I said, if you're in the area and like that style of coffee -- definitely...

UPDATED REVIEW: I am updating because I previously rated this business as I would rate a restaurant, and in retrospect, it seems that may not be fair as this is a neighborhood coffee shop that has good coffee products, and offer some food items that are brought in. There is no kitchen.

They very friendly and also have open mike times that are great for the neighborhood.

I have tried cappuccino dry, which was excellent, and coffee which was good too.

All in all, it is a good addition to the neighborhood.

I would suggest that one change be made that would increase business and result in having customers present more consistently. (like me)

Make the space more internet cafe friendly. This means tables and chairs that are comfortable and stable so customers will want to hang out there work with their computer, drink coffee, and buy snack food. You might consider a long counter top for the same reasons.

I drive all the way to The Hartford coffee shop often, because they are internet cafe friendly. I usually spent $10 to $15 on coffee and snack eats. I would choose to go somewhere close if such a choice was available (I am 2 blocks from Espresso Yourself)

I did not stop there for many months, mostly because when I drive by (at least 2 times a day), there were no customers most of the time. That is not conducive to drawing a customer in. When I finally did stop, the experience was pleasant.

I want neighborhood businesses to succeed and support them over going out of the neighborhood and I wish...

My husband and I visit this place often, but today will likely be our last. The service was so off putting and made me feel unwelcomed. The barista (Shannon as noted on my receipt) didn’t acknowledge me, look my way, or say hello when I walked up to the counter. The shop wasn’t busy at all, and though she was making a beverage for the previous customer, she never paused to say a word of acknowledgment to me. I was the only person waiting at the counter; a “hello, we’ll be right with you” would’ve sufficed. But nothing. I was tempted to leave, but I really wanted to surprise my hubby with a midday latte. After finishing making the previous customer’s beverage, she finally approached me with a “what can I get you” - still no hello, hi, greeting- the entire interaction was dry, unfriendly and made me feel so uncomfortable. I believe one of the owners was also present and visiting with a seated party, and she didn’t say a word either. I try not to play the race card, however, as being the only Black person in the restaurant and witnessing the other white customers treated with kindness, it’s hard to believe that the unfriendliness and disregard towards me wasn’t intentional. Kindness goes a long way. Thanks for a good run, but we will have to pass on this place...