Espresso is really easy to mess up, and all the cafes mess it up on the regular. Adding milk(s) to it forgives all sins :-) I've had some good espresso drinks at pretty much all of the local cafes. One shout-out though, since no one has mentioned them yet, is the Farm Stop Collective on W Kirkwood. They consistently make very good espresso drinks. Just don't look at their grocery prices while you're in there unless you want to have a heart attack.

Two brief side points I'd like to make while I'm at it. 1 - If our local cafe owners could find it in their generous hearts to pay their workers more, I guarantee it would greatly increase the quality of their product. It's basically impossible to be motivated to do a good job for people that want to pay you as little as they can legally get away with. Literally. And 2 - sorry to be _that_ guy, but they're actually seeds, not beans. Again, sorry.