Gennaro Marino picked up more than a civil engineering Ph.D. during his time in C-U in the early ’80s.
“I’ll always remember the first time some friends of mine took me to the (former) Daily Grind on John Street. It was my first introduction to a ‘coffee shop’ and I knew I found my place in the world,” says the president of St. Louis-based Marino Engineering Associates.
“I became a regular ‘grinder’ and then espresso and wrote about two-thirds of my Ph.D. thesis in coffee shops.
“In short, from my love of coffee shops, my wife and daughter are now customers of Espresso Royale in Champaign-Urbana.”
