Coffee Tree

This is a really cute location on a corner in a neighborhood. Parking was easy. we bought our coffee and a couple of pastries and just started walking around exploring. We tried a couple Cuban pastries: they were unique with guava jam in it. The person working there was very helpful in explaining the pastries to us.

Wow. This place, the pastries/pastelitos, and the coffee — Denver is lucky to have this gem! My husband and I were staying in the neighborhood for a little over a week and came back each day they were open (Th-Su / 7a–1p) to try as many pastries as we could. My favorite was the coconut pastelito while my husband wanted the moreno (swirl) almost every time. The pastelitos are rich with flavor with the chewy density of flavor on the inside with flaky perfection on the outside. The cafecito is perfect — sweet as cuban coffee should be but perfectly balanced against the strong coffee. They also have really good non-cuban coffees (and have non-dairy milk options as well!). Other things to note — there's no inside seating but there are two big two benches outside. The staff were super-friendly and the branding and interior design is gorgeous — minimal but bold (love the cobalt blue!). Obviously, we'd highly recommend Café Tres and will definitely make the drive here next time we're in Denver.

I've driven by a few times and thought "I should try them" and then promptly forgot. Finally remembered today, and I'm going to need to forget about them again if I have any chance of sticking to my diet. The carne was hot and ready as we showed up, and it's dangerous. It's a slightly sweet biscuit sized pastry, about 40 layers, with a generous scoop of a seasoned ground beef in the center. The simple syrup baste added just a hint of sweetness to the first bite, complimenting the buttery pastry layers nicely. The next few bites happened without much conscious effort on my part, I only remember beefy goodness with I think a sweet pepper mixed into the mince? All I know is I was licking my fingers, debating going inside and buying another. I probably shouldn't be back to try the sweet varieties or whatever their next special is (a pulled steak in a tomato sauce this time), but I probably will. Man, that was good. Oh, so was the coffee, if you're into Cuban style.

I’ve been following Cafe Tres since their farmers market and delivery days, so it’s been great to see them open their own brick and mortar location. The food is consistently excellent. My favorites are the ropa vieja, the carne, the jamón y queso, and anything with guava. Everything is flavorful, well made, and feels authentic and thoughtful. They now offer cafecito and other coffee drinks as well, which makes it an easy stop for both breakfast and a midday pick-me-up. Definitely recommend going early because they do sell out. It’s a well deserved kind of problem.

Pastelitos might be my new favorite pastry thanks to Mike & Cafe Tres! They are light and flakey with fillings that add their own unique flavor profile to this treat. The carne has a nice variety of warming spices to elevate the flavor. But a tried and true to always snag is the guava and cheese! The guava is tart and sweet to compliment the cream cheese. Mike the owner is the kindest soul just here to share his family’s cuban recipes with Denver!