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A great breakfast bakery solves a number of culinary dilemmas, whether you’re looking for a morning hangout spot without the rigmarole of sit-down service or need goodies to fill your table for a brunch at home. Regardless of what situation you’re in, these 10 bakeries in the Denver metro area will help you get your day started right.
House of Bread
Head to House of Bread on South Parker Road for a glimpse of the delicious pastry traditions found in the countries of Armenia and Georgia. Its cases are filled with a sprawling selection of cakes and handheld sweets like the doughnutlike ponchik stuffed with custard, Nutella, or jam. But don’t pass up the savory menu: Sini mante (mini beef dumplings cooked in tomato sauce), lahmajun (a thin, crispy flatbread topped with ground beef, cheese, or za’atar), and ajarski khachapuri (a bread boat filled with feta, mozzarella, and two eggs, plus extras like Armenian-style beef prosciutto) are all sure to satisfy. 2020 S. Parker Road
Jeannot’s Patisserie & Bistro
Two-year-old Jeannot’s is the brainchild of French pastry chef Julien Jeannot, who started his career attending culinary school at the age of 14. He then went on to hold pastry positions in his native Provence region, Las Vegas, and California before settling in Colorado in 2018. His years of experience is reflected in his top-notch viennoiserie, a category of French baked goods which includes brioche and laminated pastries like croissants. The Lafayette bakery’s cakes and tarts are also worth exploring, although if you’re seeking a savory brunch, we recommend the quiche Lorraine for a ham- and Gruyère-studded taste of Jeannot’s home country. 2770 Arapahoe Road, Suite 124, Lafayette
Bánh & Butter Bakery Café
You might’ve recently seen pastry chef Thoa Nguyen compete on season 10 of Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. Her crave-worthy desserts got her all the way to the final round of the show, and you can sample them for yourself at Bánh & Butter Bakery Café in Aurora. There, Nguyen prepares creative takes on classic French desserts, oftentimes drawing inspiration from Vietnamese and other Asian flavors. That means you’ll find photogenic crêpe cakes in flavors from vanilla brûlée to ube, as well as baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese coffee, and the ever-popular strawberry croissants filled with fresh fruit and a light vanilla cream. 9935 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora
La Fillette Bakery
La Fillette Bakery, whose first full-service space opened in Montclair last year, doesn’t mind putting an American spin on French patisserie traditions. Case in point: One of the signature items on the breakfast menu is a take on a smash burger that swaps out the typical burger buns with two fat pucks of flaky croissant goodness. Owner Keturah Fleming’s confectionary prowess is also on display with decadent treats like the croissant muffin and the kouign-amann, a traditionally Breton pastry that’s flaky like a croissant but has a much softer, butter-laden interior. While La Fillette provides a full dine-in experience, you can also sit at the bar and just order a pastry and a drink (perhaps an espresso martini?). 6217 E. 14th Ave.
LaTinto Café
Since 2017, chef Jorge Aguirre has been a vanguard of Colombian cuisine in Denver with his South Broadway restaurant, La Chiva, and last February, he expanded his reach with LaTinto Café, which serves Latin American baked goods and breakfast plates in La Chiva’s original space. Decorated with a colorful mural and plenty of plants, the eatery is a bright spot to enjoy your first meal of the day. We recommend ordering the pastel gloria, puff pastry stuffed with dulce de leche and guava paste, and the cheesy pandebono, a small bread that owes its chewy interior and crisp exterior to a dough made from yuca flour. 1417 S. Broadway
GetRight’s
After years of developing a fervent sweet-toothed fan base through pop-ups and an at-home operation, husband-and-wife-duo Matt Dulin and Lindsey Judd debuted their first brick-and-mortar version of GetRight’s last May. Head to the Wheat Ridge bakery to understand why Dulin’s desserts became so popular: The Basque cheesecake, purposely burnt on the top to achieve a deep, caramelized flavor, is a must-order. The couple has also introduced savory options ranging from Roman-style pizza to sandwiches made on house-made focaccia, baguettes, and croissants (truffle-topped breakfast sando, anyone?). Either way, you really can’t go wrong. 6985 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge
Trompeau Bakery
Trompeau Bakery in Englewood just debuted its second location last month on 16th Street Mall, giving downtown Denver residents a new way to fill up on crispy croissants and simple sandwiches. Some of our favorite items to order at either location are the ham and Swiss cheese croissant; the turkey, apple, walnuts, and Brie sando on house-made brioche; and the gluten-free amaretti, small almond-based cookie sandwiches filled with apricot jam. While the Denver outpost does not serve alcohol—there’s a small selection of canned wines at the main location—it does have the added benefit of being open on Sundays. 2950 S. Broadway, Englewood; 934 16th Street Mall
Black Box Bakery
This croissant-centric bakery situated in Edgewater Public Market is a great choice whether you’re dashing away with a dozen box of sausage rolls or compiling a breakfast out of plates from a bunch of Edgewater’s stalls. The namesake Black Box pastry—a monthly rotating mystery croissant whose flavor you won’t know until you open its box—is always fun. There are plenty of other options, too, if you’re not willing to take that risk, from classic chocolate, almond, and pistachio pastries to a Reuben-inspired savory croissant which, yes, comes filled with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing. Edgewater Public Market, 5505 W. 20th Ave., Edgewater
Izzio Bakery at Denver Central Market
This food hall locale is the perfect setting for its most eye-popping pastry: La Roulette, a spiral croissant which comes in inspired flavors like matcha crunch, salted almond chocolate, and mango-passionfruit Pavlova. Developed by owner and pastry chef Yasmín Lozada-Hissom, the Instagram-worthy treat is the sort of thing that’s almost too pretty to eat (but just almost—they really are delicious). Bonus: Izzio is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, so while we recommend visiting for breakfast, that doesn’t mean you can’t have breakfast for dinner. Denver Central Market, 2669 Larimer St.
Poulette Bakeshop
Who says a bakery can’t constitute destination dining? Despite Poulette Bakeshop’s out-of-the-way location for most Denver residents, owners Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos’ James Beard Award nomination this year for Outstanding Pastry Chef/Baker indicates that this place is worth the drive. Seating is limited at the Parker patisserie, which is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, so we recommend taking a grab-and-go approach and building a beautiful brunch at home. The bakery makes that extra easy with its breakfast box, a half-dozen sweet and savory pastries made with best-of-the-best ingredients, such as Valrhona chocolate and Norohy Madagascar vanilla beans. Tip: Pre-order it on Poulette’s website in advance. 19585 Hess Road, Suite 107, Parker
