A tale of two coffee shops...

With three Starbucks sharing Boston University's campus, Espresso Royale Caffe's fight for business involves maintaining its arty atmosphere to addict its regulars and employees.

"You've kind of got to compete," said manager Will Pratt, who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences with a philosophy degree in December.

However, Espresso Royale doesn't try to beat Starbucks at its own game.

"We're trying to offer an alternative," Pratt, 23, said. "It's very relaxed, but very organized at the same time."

Despite being part of a franchise that includes 18 stores in six states, the Espresso Royale on Commonwealth Avenue maintains its autonomy. While the menu and pricing is the same at every location, everything else is up to employees.

"The owners want the managers to make the store their own," Pratt said. "It's nice."

For the on-campus Espresso Royale, that means bright green and red walls lined with art from local artists and lit with long banks of track lighting, a section in the back with overstuffed couches draped in tapestries, tabletops in the main section covered with paintings and an eclectic mix of background music drifting through the caffeinated air.

"It's really arty. It's not like other coffee houses," Carol Fahey, a 20-year-old employee, said as she sat at a square table with a bright picture of a blond woman painted on the top.

Fahey said she appreciates that employees don't have to wear uniforms and get to pick their own music to play in the store - unlike employees at, well, Starbucks.

Marisa Charles, a CAS senior who worked at Espresso Royale last semester and over winter break, agreed with Fahey.

"Basically, at Starbucks, they teach you how to breathe," said Charles, who worked at a Starbucks before starting at Espresso Royale.

As temperatures rise during spring and summer, Pratt said sales usually dip.

To boost the sagging summer sales, he's looking into serving milkshakes with espresso shots and applying for a permit to have live music. (Though the shop has procured one-day permits in the past, Pratt is interested in something more permanent.)

Espresso Royale's hip, laid-back ambience attracts a devoted group of customers.

"Meaning they're here all day, every day," Charles said. "These people see us every day, know our names."

CAS senior Kathleen Nuffort, another Espresso Royale employee, said the customers contribute to the store's ambience.

"The people who come in here make it cool," said Nuffort, who has worked at the coffee shop since her sophomore year. "I get to meet a lot of people I wouldn't. We definitely develop relationships with customers."

Nuffort said she also likes her co-workers.

"We're just lucky to have people who really get along," she said.

But Nuffort said working at a coffee shop does have some drawbacks - the hours are bad, and she often reeks of coffee.

Overall, however, Nuffort said she's seen the shop develop a relaxed atmosphere that she enjoys.

"You're still allowed to do your own thing," she said. "I hang out at my job."

Natan Press, a 2003 CAS graduate who now works as a secretary for the Big Dig, said he frequents the shop habitually.

"When I was in school, a lot of my friends worked here and hung out here," he said.

College of Communication senior Zach Blas said he has been hanging out at Espresso Royale since his sophomore year and started going there on a daily basis during his junior year.

Blas said he doesn't like hanging out at the George Sherman Union because it's too big and too busy, and he called Starbucks lame. The only complaint he has about Espresso Royale is that he sometimes struggles to find a seat when it nears its capacity of 110.

"It's the only place to go on campus that's acceptable," he said. "And all my friends come here."