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A coffeeshop at 8:30 a.m. on a weekday is usually buzzing with business meetings, espresso machines, and chattering computer keyboards. But inside Park Hill’s Cake Crumbs, the patrons skew a little young. Okay, maybe a lot. Here, you’ll find moms sipping coffee in booths across from youngsters rolling toys on the table surface, and grandparents splitting breakfast sandwiches with impossibly quiet toddlers who (I suspect) must have been promised a tiny cupcake before leaving.
Owner Denon Moore says that when she opened her bakery seven years ago, they didn’t know what family-friendly looked like. “It is a work in progress,” Moore says. “We really just built it into our business plan. Park Hill is a family-oriented neighborhood.”
A mother of two children, Moore says it started with developing a kid-friendly staff. Along with an interview about baking, cooking, and service, Moore makes sure her staff enjoys the company of its tiny customers. “Kids are going to be here all the time,” Moore says. “They are high energy, and we need to make them comfortable.” The responsibility isn’t just on the staff, it’s on the parents, too. Signs around the bakery read, “Please be respectful of our café and other guests. Please watch over your children.” (A little different than the typical café mantra: “Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy.”) When little legs start feeling the urge to bounce in the booths, Moore and her staff are at ease recommending the back-of-the-bakery toy shelf, which has boxes full of durable (and washable) cars, Legos, and Fisher Price Little People sets.
The eats at Cake Crumbs also engage kids with the popular snack pack: a four-compartment sharable snack of ham, cheddar cheese, Ritz crackers, and grapes for $6.99. Oh, and don’t forget those mini cupcakes you may have promised…Go with the red velvet with tiny sugar hearts, Moore says they’re a don’t-miss. 2216 Kearney St., 303-861-4912, cake-crumbs.com
Follow assistant editor Lindsey R. McKissick on Twitter at @LindseyRMcK.