Breakfast in Estes Park is a plan, not an afterthought. People come to be on a trail or in the Park early, and the cafes know it. Twenty-three spots are listed here, from diners with full bars to bakeries with a case of pastries, and every one of them is in the valley.
Cinnamon rolls are fine, but a hot plate before a long day is better. I pick a sit-down place when the weather is bad and a bakery when I am already late. Either way, go early.
Hours drop in winter. Call ahead before planning a morning around one place.
Downtown
This used to be the Egg and I, and the menu still leans on eggs Benedict, in Hiker's, crabcake, Parisian, veggie and classic versions, with the hollandaise getting its own share of praise. Skillets, biscuits and gravy, ranch potatoes and waffles fill out the rest, and the cinnamon roll French toast is the sweet order.
Gluten-free options come up more than anything else at this breakfast and lunch cafe on Wonderview, and the portions are big. French toast comes two ways, cinnamon roll and croissant, there's an Irish Benedict, and trout makes the menu too.
On a cold morning the green chili is the thing to get, and the huevos rancheros are the other order that keeps coming up. This small, quiet breakfast and lunch cafe on Wonderview, a short walk from the Stanley Hotel, also does chicken fried steak, migas, three kinds of Benedict and French banana pancakes with real maple syrup.
Portions are the first thing people bring up here, followed closely by the salad bar. Big Horn is a family-run restaurant at the west end of downtown on West Elkhorn, and breakfast is its reputation: chicken fried steak, biscuits and sausage gravy, hash browns, eggs Benedict and numbered combos like steak and two eggs.
Peach and strawberry rhubarb are the two pies that come up most, but the selection runs deep: peanut butter, blueberry and plenty more, and they do wedding cakes too. Breakfast is its own reason to stop, with biscuits and gravy, corned beef hash and breakfast burritos, and the chicken pot pie carries lunch and dinner.
Right beside the Historic Park Theatre on Moraine Avenue, a few steps off Elkhorn, River Walk Café has tables by the river and a menu that leans on paninis. It opens early and stays a daytime place.
Right at the junction of Highways 34 and 36, in Lower Stanley Village, Village Bagels bakes bagels and flatbreads fresh every day. The everything and asiago bagels are the ones people go back for, with rosemary not far behind, and the sandwiches carry as much weight as the bagels: cold smoked salmon, brisket, a Reuben, a Cuban, falafel and the Avocado Gobbler.
If the plan is sunrise in the Park, the Starbucks on Big Thompson Avenue is already open: the doors unlock at 4:30 every morning. It's the chain's usual menu of espresso, tea, the seasonal iced drinks, breakfast items and pastries.
Scones with clotted cream are the thing people remember here. They arrive on a three-tier stand with tea sandwiches, homemade desserts and an unlimited pot of tea, and afternoon tea is served all day, which takes the pressure off timing.
The cheesecake is the order that keeps coming up at this small bakery on East Elkhorn, by the Riverwalk and next to Rocky Mountain SereniTea. Cinnamon rolls, carrot cake, red velvet, hand pies and cupcakes follow close behind, all baked from scratch.
Inside the Safeway on East Wonderview Avenue, about a quarter mile from the Stanley Hotel, the bakery counter handles the cakes nobody wants to drive to the Front Range for: birthdays, graduations, baby showers and weddings. Custom orders go in online or through the Safeway app, which matters when the party is at a rental cabin and the date is not moving.
Organic sourdough made with freshly milled flour shows up twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, in a bread box inside Bart's Liquor on East Wonderview. Doughlicious is the micro bakery behind it, and other baked goods turn up too.
Around the valley
Get in line early, because the rolls sell out and the window is short. Cinnamon's, about a mile out West Elkhorn toward Fall River, bakes one thing and does it right: the classic cinnamon roll from a family recipe, with cream cheese butter frosting in whatever amount you ask for.
Margaritas are the first thing most tables order here, and the cucumber margarita has a following of its own. Head chef Miguel Santana's kitchen makes its tortillas fresh and grinds salsas in a molcajete, and the plates people keep coming back for are the chimichangas, street tacos, pozole and chicken tortilla soup.
Tortas, carne asada fries and a spicy burger come out of a kitchen inside a gas station on Moraine Avenue, next door to Donut Haus. It's a quick counter with a drive-thru, curly and fresh-cut fries, horchata, and breakfast from early in the day.
A German baker named Dieter D'Alquen started making donuts in an old gas station on Moraine Avenue about thirty years ago, and people have been lining up since. Everything is still made from scratch, thousands of donuts a day, and a second shop now runs in Loveland.
For a trail lunch on the way to Beaver Meadows, Scratch Deli on Moraine Avenue builds the sandwiches: pastrami, the Italian, turkey bacon avocado, on focaccia, rye or gluten-free bread. Mornings bring breakfast burritos in country, Spanish, steak and egg and corned beef hash.
The latte is the order here, and the smoothies come close. Bird's Nest is a bakery-cafe on High Drive, about a mile from the Park and a few doors from Scratch Deli, with a pastry case of almond croissants, cinnamon rolls, quiche and a speck ham and fontina croissant, plus breakfast burritos, and soups, paninis and a brisket sandwich at lunch.
The cinnamon rolls are why people make the drive out to Glen Haven, and nearly everyone leaves with a box. They come warm, with cinnamon honey butter if you want it.
The maple bacon twist is the pastry people tell friends about. The Spice Rack, out on Highway 66 under two miles from the Beaver Meadows entrance, bakes everything from scratch and runs mornings only.
Grabbing coffee through a car window on the way out of town is how most people use this one. Ziggi's is the chain that started in Longmont, and the Estes shop sits on South St.
It started as a picnic-basket food truck on Route 36, parked just before Tiny Town Miniature Golf, and people kept asking where they could sit down. Now the Kissing Moose Cafe cooks breakfast and lunch inside Expedition Lodge on North Lake Avenue, a mile and a half from downtown.
Cinnamon rolls are the reason to stop at Wildflower Bakery and Cafe, a bakery counter and cafe on Moraine Avenue sharing an address with Jeep Jeep Tacos and a few doors from Boss Burgers and Gyros. Fresh baked goods and specialty coffee are the core, prices are low, and orders are packed for takeout, which suits a quick stop on the way out Moraine toward the Park.
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All 23 are based in the valley, so there is no drive up from Loveland to worry about. Hours still follow the seasons. Summer is the busy season and many businesses cut hours or close in winter, so check before you build a morning around one place. A bakery that opens early in July may not in January, and nothing here can tell you which.
The format varies more than you would think. Seventeen of the 23 list breakfast outright, and 21 offer takeout, which matters if you are loading a car for the Park. Sit-down places like The Egg of Estes and Big Horn Restaurant carry eggs, skillets and combos. Bakeries such as Cinnamon's Bakery, Donut Haus and The Spice Rack are built around pastry and takeout.
If you want a table outside, 8 list outdoor seating and 6 allow dogs on the patio. Kids are covered at 9 places with a kids' menu, and 6 have a full bar for the adults. The list also includes a grocery store bakery and a gas station burger counter, which are practical early stops if you want something quick.
It depends on what you want. The Egg of Estes and Big Horn Restaurant serve classic diner plates. Cinnamon's Bakery is the pick for cinnamon rolls, and La Cocina De Mama serves all-day Mexican breakfast. Hours change by season, so call before you go.
Yes. Twenty-one of the 23 places listed offer takeout. Bakeries like Donut Haus, Village Bagels and The Spice Rack, and delis like Scratch Deli & Bakery, are set up for it. That suits a morning when you are heading straight into Rocky Mountain National Park.
Six of the 23 allow dogs on the patio, including The Egg of Estes, Notchtop Bakery & Cafe, Big Horn Restaurant and River Walk Café. Patio seating depends on weather and season, so it is worth calling ahead if the dog is coming.
Many businesses in town cut hours or close in winter, and breakfast spots are no exception. Seasonal hours are not listed here, so call before you drive over, especially for a weekday morning in the cold months.
