By Alicia Seewald (Whetstone Staff Writer)

For an authentic café experience – away from the Dunkin’ Donut chains and money-hungry Starbucks – look no further than the Food Lion shopping center, west on Route 8.

Espresso-n-Ice is a locally-owned café well worth the short trip. It has only been open for a little more than four months.

The café already serves an array of frequent customers.

“The atmosphere is very relaxing,” said Tawana Riley, co-owner with her husband Sean. “We always like to take the edge off of the customers who have just left work or school. They can listen to music, go on the Internet or just socialize.”

Their chai tea latte is what the clouds in heaven taste like.

It is smooth and rich, served in a cup about the size of a soup bowl and well worth $3.

Each day they have fresh sandwiches grilled to perfection as soon as it is ordered.

For every sandwich, the customer may choose basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes or Dijon mustard.

The tomato mozzarella with basil pesto is amazing. For a more traditional sandwich, smoky ham with cheddar cheese and mustard is always a good choice, as well as any other sandwich they have for that matter.

“The most popular drinks are crème burley latte, the Milky Way mocha and the E & I mocha, which stands for espresso and ice,” Riley said. “For those who don’t like coffee, we serve hot chocolate as well. The white velvet is liked the most.”

The coffee is freshly ground on sight. Organic teas are offered as well. And the best part, authentic Italian water ice, is served year round.

Desserts are also available. They offer an assortment of cookies and biscotti as well as muffins and the best cranberry orange walnut pound cake ever made.

I had to go back for seconds. Well worth gaining a pound.