If you love good coffee then you undoubtedly have your favoriate cafe(s) which you visit frequently, but what do you do when you find yourself out of town or in a strange neighborhood?  You can just take your chances or you can do one simple thing to assess the quality of the place.  What is that one simple thing, just order a cappuccino.  If the "barista" responds with something along the lines of "what size" you know you're dealing with someone who has no clue how to make good espresso.  You're best to stick with the drip or order a huge latte.  The milk will water down the bad espresso.  I suggest you order it iced too.  The cold will mute the espresso.  If you're lucky though the barista says, OK, and reaches for a cappuccino cup.  Now you know you can order anything you like and you'll probably get something reasonably good.