I've added Espresso Royale on Broad Street downtown to my list of favorite Athens GA hangouts. During my hour-or-so sipping a delicious chai tea with skim milk in a weighty glass, I flagged down a number of old friends as they waited in line to order -- Russell Gabriel, Lonnie Brown, Ron Warren, and five lovely ladies from the law library. Espresso Royale has the cozy, intimate feel of a local operation, but it turns out to be a family member in a group of college-town java joints with stores in Champaign-Urbana, Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Madison, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Photograph: Watering the window plants at Espresso Royale in Athens GA. Bob Brussack.