After years of success with pop-ups and at the farmers markets in City Park, the Highlands, and, as of this season, Lafayette, Mike Solis of Café Tres is embarking on a new adventure. This month, he’ll take over the lease for the former Curtis Park location of Rivers and Roads with plans to open his first brick-and-mortar location there in September.
Solis is no stranger to the business. Growing up in Miami, his family owned Three Little Bakers and later Three Little Cakes, often credited as one of the first Cuban bakeries in Miami.
If you haven’t spent time in the area, that’s a huge deal. Now, seemingly everyone has their favorite neighborhood Cuban bakery, but when his family first moved to Miami, that wasn’t the case.
His great uncle had a bakery in Cuba and decided to open one in Miami as a way to provide employment and community for their family, as well as other immigrants.
“When people would come looking for work, he’d put them in the kitchen or let them sleep on his couch,” says Solis.
It became a safe haven for people coming from Cuba, providing familiarity and a way to get on their feet in a new country. Solis loved growing up in that environment, feeling like a VIP when he’d walk past the line out front and grab pastries from behind the counter on his way to the kitchen. He’s expecting his first child in August and is excited to have her grow up in a similar environment.
“It’s full circle,” says Solis. “I was the one that was never going into the bakery business, and now this little girl will be growing up in a Cuban bakery.”
If you can’t tell from his branding and photography, Solis was a successful graphic designer, working his way up in advertising agencies. He always thought someone else would carry on the family tradition. Ultimately, though, Solis loves living in Denver and wanted to make it his true home. It’s hard to do that without a Cuban bakery and his beloved pastelitos, so he decided to do it himself.
Pastelitos are sweet & savory filled Cuban puff pastries, and he serves them alongside Cafecito, Cuban espresso. His entire menu is in Spanish, and he enjoys the opportunity to introduce customers to new flavors or new names for familiar ones.
Some of the top sellers are Guayaba y Queso (guava and cheese), Carne (beef), Jamón y Queso (ham and cheese), Coco (coconut), Natilla (cinnamon custard), and Queso (cheese). He’ll also do seasonal recipes with ingredients like mango or pumpkin, and he says his most requested is Ropa Vieja, which is a shredded steak braised in tomato sauce.
He rotates through them for his farmers market stands and for his current commitments at Little Owl and Nowhere, which he’ll continue even after opening his new spot. He’s explored other flavors for pop-up events but loves sticking to the tastes of his childhood, honoring his family traditions, and authentically representing his culture.
The bakery was his dad’s side of the family, but he also honors his mom’s family by sourcing ingredients, like the aforementioned mangoes, straight from her garden in Miami. His maternal grandfather played for Los Almendares in Cuba and for the Dodgers in Brooklyn, so he also pays homage to those roots with his current baseball-themed merch.
His mother, sister, and the rest of their family have been incredibly supportive of the business, rolling up their sleeves and helping however they can when they’re in town. Solis also gives a lot of credit to his girlfriend, Hillary, who's with him at the markets every weekend and was an early supporter of opening up his own bakery.
She’d actually been sending him the spot in Curtis Park for years, even before Mike and Desiree Keen, the owners of Rivers and Roads, approached him about taking over the lease. She knew it would be perfect for his bakery, and her trust in him helped him to go all in.
Reflecting back on his first weekend at City Park, Solis felt like a total imposter as he figured out how to set up his stand. He brewed up Cafecitos and introduced himself to the other owners, trying to recreate the feeling of the Cuban coffee window in Miami. Three years later, and he’s excited to meet a new community in Curtis Park and to continue to serve his farmers market regulars there and in the new spot.
Keep an eye out for updates @cafetresdnvr on Instagram and CafeTresDnvr.com.
“It’s full circle,” says Solis. “I was the one that was never going into the bakery business, and now this little girl will be growing up in a Cuban bakery.”