Craft Coffee, Breakfast Sandwiches, and Toasts Are On the Menu at Frank & Roze

Move over, Starbucks—there’s a stylish new coffee bar and cafe in town. Frank & Roze opened on November 22, bringing its own brand of house-roasted, ethically-sourced coffee and a morning-to-night menu from chef Tom Coohill to a prime corner in the burgeoning 9+CO development off 9th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

Co-owners Brenda Godfrey and Frank Sica—food and beverage industry vets with tenures as (can you guess?) Starbucks executives—pooled their expertise to turn Frank & Roze into a versatile neighborhood hangout. Inside the light-filled space, leather-lined benches and mid-century-modern-inspired couches and velvet chairs invite patrons to linger, while plenty of work spaces with power outlets welcome those with laptops. “This has been a dream of ours for decades.” Godfrey says. “We wanted to create an environment where guests would be inspired by their surroundings and the hospitality.”

Godfrey and Sica also knew that their food and drink offerings had to stand out from the typical coffee shop. Frank & Roze’s coffee beans are sourced from small farmers in countries along the Coffee Belt, such as Nicaragua, Kenya, and Indonesia, who are committed to sustainable growing practices. “We tasted hundreds of coffees to get the blends just right,” says Godfrey. The beans are roasted in-house for the shop’s pour-overs, espressos, and cold brews. Frank & Roze also serves beer and wine, and offers happy hour pricing from 3:30 p.m.–6 p.m. on weekdays and mimosa specials on Sunday.

As for the bites, Godfrey and Sica turned to their longtime friend chef Tom Coohill (Coohills), who crafted a menu to satisfy cravings at any time of day. Breakfast sandwiches, frittatas, and steel-cut oatmeal bowls cater to morning commuters (or remote workers), while tartines, toasts, charcuterie boards, and the like are ideal for lunch or to pair with a drink at happy hour. All of the breads and pastries are baked in-house with dough prepared at Coohills by pastry chef Nikki Baldacci. 

Early tastes proved promising, particularly the sausage breakfast sandwich which layers a perfectly runny egg, house-made pork breakfast sausage, and tangy tomatillo salsa inside a fluffy brioche bun; pair it with an ultra-smooth spiced cold brew. Coohill’s avocado toast is also delicious, featuring seven-grain bread piled high with chunky smashed avocado, tomatoes, onions, and microgreens. And don’t even think about passing on the crispy-edged, chewy-centered, salted dark chocolate chip cookies. 

If you go: Frank & Roze is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with plans to extend its hours come summer 2020; 4097 E. 9th Ave.