Paradise Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Aspen

We are in Aspen for two weeks and this place was the only choice for “fresh” baked goods on a Monday afternoon.

We skipped the muffins because about 7 dollars for a muffin with tax seems crazy after being in other countries before the USA and eating delicious muffins with healthier ingredients for less. “This is Aspen” isn’t a great excuse for high prices on mediocre muffins and so-so gelato.

We bit the bullet and got a gelato and it was ok but nothing mind blowing and again not worth the price compared to what we had in Spain and Italy this past year. It’s very average.

The best purchase was the 4 cookies for the price of 3. We luckily and smartly chose two of the classic chocolate chip cookies and they were pretty amazing. Especially when eaten warm. I will probably go back to buy 4 more of those cookies this week because they were actually amazing. The USA has the best cookies for sure. I lived in Japan for 26 years and the cookies there are gross. Patisserie level cakes in Japan are the best. Cookies, rarely ever delicious.

So, if I were to do a review on only the chocolate chip cookies here, I would give them 5-stars.

The macadamia nut cookie was apparently delicious too but that’s what my partner chose. And the white holiday cookie with colorful decorations on top tasted like a supermarket-level cookie. A supermarket market bakery not a mass produced cookie company. I took a tiny bite and put back the other half of the piece I tore off so then I could eat more of the two chocolate chip cookies and steer my partner towards that nasty white cookie in the 50/50 split of the 4 cookies so I would get more of the amazing chocolate chip cookies. Not worth the calories. It tasted like that white stuff people use in the USA for baking. In the blue container. Looks like lard. Tastes like thick oil. Not good at all.

Stand in line for the chocolate chip cookies and skip the rest.

I’m skeptical that the croissants are as good as what people from Minnesota or other middle states go crazy for in their reviews. Stick with the chocolate...

If you are walking around downtown core Aspen between 7 and 9 in the morning, any morning, 9 out of 10 people have coffee cups reading Paradise Bakery. These are not cheap cups of coffee--you'll be paying between $4.75.-$7. But they are worth the money. I'm a latte girl. Steaming, bracing, jolting, deliciously almost bitter. The java variety reminds me of Cheesecake Factory's menu. There is the simple, elegant cold brew. Then there's the crazy maple butter or raspberry mocha lattes. Of course there's hot chocolate and hot apple cider-this is Aspen. The bakery is known for its cookies. There are 13 different varieties. I, however, am a muffin maven. The zucchini nut just crumbled into amazingness. It was buttery, nutty and thankful just sweet enough. I also sampled the turkey swiss croissant. The most buttery, flakey croissant I have sampled this side of Paris (or St. Martin.). The cheese almost pulled apart like taffy. To order, you queue up inside the small shop, order and pay. Then you wait outside and the staff hands you your order through the pass-through window. The bakery opens up to a plaza where there's plenty of seating...and people watching. Lots of people take the goods home. During the summer the line snakes around the block for gelato, but the service is swift nonetheless. This eatery is to pastries what our Silver Queen gondola...

My friends and I endeavored on a Road trip from Vermont to Montana to see the beautiful landscapes of the United States. Colorado was one of our stops. We were camping for around a week by the time we reached Aspen, a beautiful town known for its pastries. On Wednesday morning, we decided to visit Paradise Bakery to purchase an almond croissant, and two muffins to eat later during our hike on the top of Delicate Arches in Utah. We made an order, paid a considerable amount, and hit the road. After 5 hours of driving and 1 hour of hiking on top of Utah's famous Arch, my friends and I were very excited to try the famous pastries of the bakery. But it wasn't meant to be. Imagine our disappointment when we opened the bag and saw that there wasn't an almond croissant we purchased before! We were so upset we forgot about the beauty of the place. Being a state away from the bakery, we couldn't come back to get our well-deserved almond croissant. So, please, check your orders carefully, otherwise you can find yourself in a different state and without your well-awaited pastries. That's why our rating of the place is low. The muffins were...