Espresso machines are like more things in life;  you get what you pay for.  You can get a $90 "espresso" machine from Wal-Mart or Costco, and it probably makes a coffee concentrate, but we here at Sweet Maria's would be hard pressed to call that espresso.

No, if you want to make espresso at home, you need a decent machine that has the boiler press to push steam through a compressed puck of coffee. In our experience, you need to spend upwards of $400 to even get close.  That is a lot of money!  And it does not include a decent grinder, which is absolutely a must if you are trying to make espresso at home. I have always advised folks that if you need to skimp, spend more to get a really good grinder, and maybe less on the espresso machine; the other way round and you are just shooting your self in the foot (or cup maybe?)

We sell only semi-automatic machines, ones that require a separate grinder. There are decent fully automatic machines out there, but you lose a lot of control over the process with a built-in grinder.