Cuban bakery filling space as Curtis Park coffee shop closes

Michael Keen s rivers and roads have led to closing his Curtis Park coffee shop But his friend Mike Solis will bring Cuban bakery Caf Tres to Champa St in its place It s kind of a sweet blessing that we re setting up our friends with their first brick and mortar stated Keen But we re pretty sad about it Keen and wife Desiree opened the original Rivers and Roads Coffee eight years ago at Bruce Randolph Ave in Denver s Clayton neighborhood They added the -square-foot caf in Curtis Park about three years ago but Keen revealed he knew it needed a change a year in They experimented with the grab-and-go model different hours menus staffing setups but it never saw the success of the original location Michael Keen revealed it was never profitable during its run and only broke even a handful of times during peak summer months It s a very hard time to operate in the city of Denver right now and we ve been subsidizing this one through the other location Michael Keen mentioned It never could do the amount of business that would justify the labor costs In Clayton Rivers and Roads offers breakfast and lunch cooked in its on-site kitchen which Michael Keen runs Having food and space for people to sit and work is a major reason it did million in sales each of the past two years That gave way to daily returning customers which he explained wasn t practicable at the smaller Curtis Park location And having to pay staff to run it rather than being on-site also didn t help the shop s balance sheet We had the idea that it would act like a coffee cart with a permanent home a pastry and coffee utility Michael Keen reported But both he and Solis are optimistic that Caf Tres which is slated to open late this summer or in the early fall will fare better with that model Solis sells his pastelitos a Cuban puff pastry that translates to little pies at a limited shops around Denver like LoHi s Little Owl Coffee and the City Park Farmers Sector In Curtis Park the sweet and savory delicacies will be served alongside Cuban coffee drinks such as colada a sweetened espresso shot Solis commented the best-selling pastelitos are carne his favorite and guava and cheese He anticipates having six or so flavors of pastries each day When you do pop-ups it very much still feels like it s a side gig Solis who built a career in advertising before going full time on Caf Tres With this being the next step I m a baker and that s what I am he commented through a laugh Related Articles A favorite Golden burrito shop is growing with two new locations Historic Denver school reopens as a cafe and beer garden Venezuelan restaurant opens in Greenwood Village Denver restaurant on track to open despite death of much-loved chef owner My vision of retirement Sushi Den co-founder opens small chef s counter restaurant Though this is the first physical location for Solis baking has been a part of his family since his great uncle and grandfather emigrated from Cuba to Miami in the s They opened one of the first Cuban caf s in the Florida city Solis noted but closed during the Great Recession in After he moved to Denver in Solis revealed the need for a similar-styled shop was evident but he didn t jump in until He first started selling on the farmers field circuit baking out of a commissary kitchen before getting into other local eateries Now that he has the space Solis reported he hopes he his girlfriend and future daughter who is due in August can re-create the family vibe he grew up on Is this girl gonna grow up the same way I did at the bakery he mentioned How crazy full circle that would be Subscribe to our new food newsletter Stuffed to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox