89 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | SHOPPING & SERVICES | SPORTS & RECREATION | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD & DRINK | MUSIC & VENUES | Best Place for Coffee in the Morning and Cocktails in the Afternoon The Secret Garden 1290 Williams Street 303-830-1651 secretgardenbarandcafe.com The Secret Garden opened in 2024 and borders Cheesman Park, making its patio feel like an extension of the public outdoor space. The building is an annex of the his- toric Tears-McFarlane House, which was built in 1898 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Fit for the setting, the Secret Garden boasts a list of classic cocktails and seasonal selections like mezcal Mexican hot cocoa and mulled wine. If it’s too cold to sip outside, the interior feels like a secret garden, too, with wall-to-wall green paint, cozy patio furniture and a green bar. Open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., it’s an ideal stop for a caffeine fi x in the morning or a cocktail after work — or both. Best Pastries at a Coffee Shop Hearth 2500 Lawrence Street 1300 East 17th Avenue 303-975-6138 hearthdenver.com Hearth, which started as a bakery, has since expanded to a coffee shop with two loca- tions and its own line of coffee. That may explain why, though the coffee is good, the baked goods are the star of the show here. Owner and baker Matt Quinlisk fa- vors locally milled fl ours, and his pastry dough is laminated over multiple days with French butter to create a fl aky, crispy crust. Although there are staples, like the white chocolate raspberry scone and almond croissant, the best part of visiting Hearth is tasting whatever seasonal creations are available, whether it’s a maple-pear pecan pastry, potato chive Danish or chocolate tahini cookie. The selection leans more savory than sweet, but even more sugary treats, like the brownies, are well balanced. Best Baguette Bakery Four 4150 Tennyson Street bakeryfour.com Founded in 2019 by Shawn Bergin and his wife, Alex Urdanick, Bakery Four started as a small operation but has gained many loyal fans who followed it to its new home when it opened on Tennyson Street in 2022. While it’s consistently recognized as one of Denver’s best bakeries, we’re par- ticularly fond of its rendition of a classic: the baguette. Bakery Four’s version is long and narrow, light and airy, with the unmis- takable aroma of well-fermented dough, and the chewy, soft interior is perfectly complemented by the satisfying crunch of the crust. Bonus: Bakery Four is adding a second location on Colfax this year. The more baguettes, the better! Best Shop for Pie Lovers Legacy Pie Co. 4000 Tennyson Street 303-635-6748 300 East Alameda Avenue 720-626-2057 legacypie.co Pies can be hot, buttery and full of fruit, like cherry or strawberry-rhubarb. They can be cold, silky and smooth, like Key lime. Or they can be savory and full of meat. Legacy Pie Co. has all these and more. The Lehnert family has been making pies since 1929, when Great-Grandma Katherine opened a pie stand. Fast-forward nearly a century, and the family’s Legacy Pie Co., an offshoot of the OG business Colorado Cherry Com- pany, has two locations serving up classic, new and seasonal pies. With gluten-free and take-and-bake options as well as hand- held pies for lunch or a mid-day dessert, Legacy Pie Co. has a little something for everyone — or a big something, if you have the appetite. Best Savory Food at an Ice Cream Shop Right Cream 2423 South Downing Street rightcream.com Right Cream makes some of the best ice cream in town, but owner David Right wanted to do more than serve scoops and pints, so in 2023, he began dishing out smartly priced smashburgers a couple nights a week. Those burgers sold out fast, so Right added more burger nights and branched out to breakfast burgers and bacon, egg, cheese and hashbrown sand- wiches on weekend mornings. These days, you might come across such creations as a cheesy rangoon and egg roll burger, honey- butter chicken biscuit or wagyu burger with truffl e dijonnaise on a house-baked mill roll, depending on what night it is. After walking out with some of the city’s best smashburg- ers and ice cream in your belly for less than $20, Right Cream might become part of your weekly rotation — along with a few sit-ups. Best Lunch Break Sandwich Stop Mr. Lucky’s Sandwiches 711 East 6th Avenue 303-861-5825 3326 Tejon Street 303-955-0972 mrluckysco.com Denver has no shortage of sandwich shops, but Mr. Lucky’s reigns supreme for the lunch crowd. This continued on page 90
