Colorado Coffee Company at Centerra

The cinnamon rolls do the heavy lifting at Colorado Coffee Company at Centerra. Get one. The seasonal pistachio version is worth tracking when it shows up, and the breakfast burritos pull their weight if you want something that isn't pure sugar to start your morning. The beans are roasted in-house, which matters more than it should at a drive-thru spot tucked into a Loveland strip pad, and it shows up in the cup if you order the drip and pay attention.

The room is small. One customer compared the layout to a waiting room, which is honest rather than mean. When it's crowded, it gets crowded fast, and that happens often because the place has the kind of regulars problem most cafe owners would happily trade for. Baristas are friendly without performing it, which is the right kind of friendly for a place where half the orders come through the drive-thru window.

That drive-thru is how a lot of people use this shop. They come for a cinnamon roll, a burrito, and a Honey Bee latte, and they don't get out of the car. If you're dining in, the Honey Bee and the coconut matcha are the orders people come back for. The drip is fine and does what drip should do, which not every roaster manages.

A few things to know before you go. If you want a roomy cafe to spread out in with a laptop, this isn't it. The room doesn't have the square footage and the energy isn't built for camping. If you want a quick stop with a pastry that punches above the price, or a drive-thru on the way to wherever you're going next, the formula here is repeatable. Show up before the late-morning rush if you want a table inside. After it, plan to take your order to go and enjoy the cinnamon roll in the car like everyone else.