Cafe 13 — Restaurant in Golden

Emily’s pick and she picked perfectly.

Cafe 13 is a place that Emily picked out while we were sitting in Golden and looking for a place to get some grub after a very sweaty but very gorgeous hike at Red Rocks Park. I was leaning towards another place when she made the decision to come here and I am glad she picked the place out.

We roll up and it was busy for Cafe 13. The line was backed up to the door and almost any open spot to sit was taken. After Emily and I decided what to eat, she had me snag an open spot before it disappeared. She got the food and I got the seat. We both ended up getting a breakfast burrito with bacon as our choice of protein.

As we waited, she mentioned there is some outdoor seating that we could snag so we weren’t staring at a wall while we ate. I took a gander outside and sure enough, there was additional seating around the side of the building. This area was perfect since it was cooler in the shade than it was inside the cafe since it wasn’t air conditioned and the doors were left open to help cool it down.

With how busy it was, it only took about 10 minutes for the food to be brought out. I think the wait in line is longer than that. The waitress put these big burritos in front of us and we waited no time to dig in. The first bite was love. It was heavenly and it was delicious. The burrito may not look all that big in the photo below but trust me when I say that Emily and I both agreed that we could’ve split one and still been comfortably full. I think I was barely able to polish mine off while Emily got about 3/4 through hers.

I would’ve liked to try one of their baked goods but they just didn’t sound appealing after being in the sun all morning. They looked delicious though!

If you find yourself in Golden and need a bomb diggity burrito, Cafe 13 should be on your radar.

Side note: There was this sweet old lady next to us who invited this older gentleman to sit at her table. He was sitting on the wall while waiting for a friend and she invited him to sit down until her friend came out or his showed up. Seating is a premium here with how popular it is. The whole interaction was sweet and reminded me that there is still some good in the world. Since we were done with our meals about 10 minutes after this, we offered our seats to the gentleman so him and his friend could sit comfortably instead of waiting for a table to open up. The guy was ever appreciative of the lady he was talking to and to Emily for her offering our table to him. It’s the kind of thing that just makes your...

As a local of Golden, it's always exciting to find a local spot that you can support and enjoy. Unfortunately, that is not the case for this restaurant. Myself and my husband have been to Cafe 13 on three different occasions, and the last one was the nail on the coffin. You would think that during a pandemic a local restaurant would be happy to have business, but we were instead greeted with angry, rude, and downright nasty behavior by both the wait staff and management. As we waited in line to order food and find seating, I witnessed multiple people (obviously friends of management) come into the establishment, skip people in line, and sit at their leisure and before ordering. When I spoke to the wait staff about it, they told me that "it happens" and there was no more seating for myself and my husband. I guess that's what you get for following the rules...? We were told rudely on THREE different occasions that the wait "would be up to 45 minutes" and I truly felt like the restaurant was trying to deter us from ordering. It was one of the strangest restaurant experiences i've had. For the icing on the cake: At the end of our long and weird experience, we were clearing up our plates. I headed to the bathroom as my husband finished clearing up. The manager/owner of the restaurant went over to him and said "In the future, don't sit at a dirty table. Thanks alot." and walked swiftly away before he could even explain that it was our OWN food that we were clearing up. This restaurant is strange, the staff is rude, and the owner obviously does not understand how to treat people. We will absolutely not be wasting our money there anymore. A word of advice: Don't be rude to your locals, especially after they've spent over 60 dollars on your...

As I entered the store, I immediately got in line to place my order. I waited 7 minutes (I timed it). Then I gave my order to the guy at the register. He spun the screen around so I could tap my credit card. The screen then asked for a tip. The suggestions were 20%, 22%, or 25%, with 22% pre-selected. This was in a place where I was not taken to my table, I had to get my own napkins, silverware, and find my own table. There were large signs everywhere "please bus your own table". And I was asked for a tip before I was able to taste my food to see if it was correct or even OK. The only "service" I got was when someone brought my food to the table. No one asked how it was, if I needed more water, or would I like dessert. What was I supposed to be tipping for?

Edit - I did see the reply from the owner/manager. I checked my credit card receipt. I DID eat at Cafe13. My point remains valid - I was prompted for a tip (with suggestions starting at 20% and going up from there) before I received my food AND with the only service being someone at a register taking my order and someone else bringing the food to the table. Everything else was self service: finding a table, getting water, finding silverware, cleaning up afterwards, asking myself if everything was OK, etc . That lack of service does not...