Spruce Confections

This is the best hidden gem on Pearl Street! The coffee is amazing and I had a delicious vanilla bean scone. There is plenty of shaded outside seating, perfect for dog owners to enjoy a treat. Highly recommend!

I’ve been going to spruce confections for 15 years. I have always enjoyed the soups and sandwiches. I love the vegan old B cookie and their loose leaf teas. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the owner David and have nothing but good things to say about him. One of my favorite Boulder businesses!

The service was good and so was my coffee and Danish. I wish there were more things to choose from. Most of the goods were sold out. I can't give 5 stars though due to lack of cleanliness. The floor needs a good scrubbing ( I could see the track marks from the dirty mop they used) and the trash was way over due to be emptied. There were flies buzzing around. It was not busy, so there was time to take care of it. Also the door for the way to the bathroom was not well marked. It's a green door that says to stand clear. I'm not sure if I'll go back or not.

Food and coffee was delicious. But the woman working at the register was so unnecessarily rude. I get that people sometimes have bad days but wow.

Favorite local coffee shop! Don’t sleep on the soup! Particularly good! So many gf pastry and cake options!

Cake was dry. Drinks sat at the counter without being announced. Open without lids while another customer coughed all over them.

the staff here are SO nice and this is on my favorite part of pearl st. beautiful views with perfect shade, optimal study spot. delicious food and great coffee. will def be coming back!!!

An epic spot in Boulder with a fantastic outdoor courtyard and excellent food and beverages. Definitely a must visit if you haven’t already. ZacharyEpps.com

Solid café! Pastries are good, and the breakfast sandwich was tasty. Coffee tastes good as well. Lots of outdoor seating in the shade, and the staff are friendly. Great for working on something or catching up with a friend.

Love this bakery/coffee shop! Great variety of pastries. Perfect place to enjoy a snack on Pearl st. Friendly staff too!

Delicious gluten-free options that are sent to some local Denver coffee shops I get to get mine at the kaladis in Englewood. The treats are always well packaged and taste extremely fresh.

Happened by this sweet spot after a hike in Boulder. The chocolate croissants were so tasty!! The barista offered to heat them up, and that made it even better. They had a lovely patio that we were able to sit out on and enjoy our pastries. I highly recommend! It was so fun to see locals from the neighborhood walking in with their reusable mugs for their daily coffee. The smell of expresso inside was delightful!

We stumbled upon this spot during a trip to Boulder and loved the unique pastries as well as the delicious espresso drinks. While crowded inside, the ambience of the outside patio in the summertime can't be beat!

I have not been here for years. And sadly, most of their pastries being distributed around town to little shops are no long fresh when you get them at those locations. Today was the first time I have been to the Pearl location in years. It was the first nice Sunday in several weeks so of course it was mobbed with a line out the door by 10 am, when their Sunday's at Spruce with the local jazz swing band Espresso! was playing, That was my main desire to be here though, so a great win with the weather since they had canceled the last several Sundays. By 10 am, Spruce was out of many pastries that I had hoped to try. I guess I should have come earlier and waited for the music time. I did get a cherry cheese danish which was adequate, The pastry and cherry portions were just fine but the cheese had a slight off flavor to me. I had already had my morning coffee drink elsewhere so I opted for a bottle of Eldorado water which was good for sitting outside during the music. I will try their food another time when it is not so crowded. They did have many wrapped sandwiches in the case but having had those in the past, I was not interested. Their strongest things are their pastries. The band on the other hand was wonderful and worth the trip downtown. It was a very crowded patio and when I arrived, no table seating left so better that I did not have a lot to balance on my lap while sitting on the edge of a stone planter box with many friendly strangers, including children and dogs. That was all fine. Overall a nice Sunday morning in Boulder on Pearl.

Almost entirely pastries. I suppose the goods are baked at this location but the air was not filled with at freshly baked aroma - it was 9 am Thursday. A simple breakfast of house fruit scone and cappuccino. Lovely outdoor area. The cappuccino was nice and the scone was good, but the cherry was not bursting with flavor. Good breakfast in west Pearl area.

Amazing scones, amazing chai. Just yes!! Service was amazing and the scones taste great, really fun to eat it outside and just enjoy the nature.

This was a great place after a trail run! The scones were absolutely phenomenal. We had the cheese and shallot and the vanilla bean scone. Both hit the spot, especially when paired with a dirty chai. The service was great and every member of staff we interacted with was positive! There was also a decent amount of space for seating.

Excellent food and they offer gift certificates. I had always seen a line out the door and finally had better luck after CU let out. But don't wait! This is a bakery to try out and take extras to go.

I needed to get a quick lunch nearby so I stopped by this shop for something to eat. I grabbed a Cuban Panini ($7.25) from the fridge section and handed it to them to heat it up for me. I did appreciate that this is something that they do, since I didn't have access to a toaster or microwave or anything. The panini was quite small considering it was almost $8...It really only took me about 8 bites to finish the whole thing, only to be hungry again in a few hours. The first time I got my toasted panini it was burnt to the point that it was black. Service was okay, not the friendliest but not necessarily rude either. I really only liked coming here because it was fast and convenient for the location that I was at at the time.

We've been supporting this bakery for many years. My daughter was so excited to apply and also be interviewed for a baking position here. This would be her dream job. The manager that interviewed her told her she would get back to her in a few days and then completely ghosted her and never responded to her to let her know that she didn't get the job. My daughter tried several times to reach out and was completely ignored. Really sad that a local business like this would treat potential employees this way. I won't be supporting this company anymore.

3.5 stars is exactly right. This is a very decent to-go cafe, with no inside seating but ample outside tables. It's popular with the locals, and I like how when you walk by everyone seems to know each other and is talking about movies or city politics. The staff are great. The coffee here needs work. It's super watery and I don't like it. Their pastries are a little bit sloppy looking, but they're actually delicious. They have a huge pan of breakfast sandwiches by the register. Order one. It's a giant croissant filled with an interesting vegetable omelette, with or without ham on top. Ready to go when you walk in for a decent price, and it'll keep you full for at least three or four hours. They just need to make a denser coffee.

I would LOVE to rate this place 5 stars. If it were just based on the coffee, food, and charming ambiance, I totally would. But I can't. I'm not from here, so I've literally been looking forward to having a truffle mocha for 2 years since the last time I had it. It's genuinely the best mocha I've ever had. And when I found out we'd be in the area again, it was immediately on my to-do list. We got a late start to our day, but I made my mom and husband drive with me 40 minutes from where we were staying so I could get one. We got there at 5, but that didn't concern me because the website and Apple Maps both said the Pearl St. location is open until 5:15. I went in to order, and was told that they were closed and all the machines shut down. I'm not mad, just really, REALLY disappointed. Not sure how many more years I'll have to wait to try again. So, my only criticism is that if you say you're open until 5:15 online, you need to be prepared to serve everything you offer until 5:15. Don't start shutting down and closing up until you're closed. *If* the hours posted on the multiple sources I looked up are wrong, please change it. If I knew they closed at 5, I wouldn't be upset. But when I'm going out of my way to come order, 15 minutes makes a world of difference.

Coffee - meh Chocolate Croissant - mind blowing!! Best croissant I've had till now in my life

Coffee is great and lots of options to fit any taste. Can get really busy on the weekends.

If you like chai - this is your place. The spice blend was the best I've ever had. The peanut butter cookie was moist and delicious as well. Kudos to you Spruce Confections and your welcoming employees.

I love the changing breakfast menu and all their sweets. Ordered pies for thanksgiving and what a treat that was! They also do a great dirty chai

Never understood croissants but the butter croissants here are something extraordinary. They are either the pinnacle of croissants baking or an entirely different cuisine. Delicious. Beautiful. If it was the 15th century, artists would have made paintings of their croissants. Never had anything like it. Heard about them in Estes Park where they supply to local coffee stores. Drove to Boulder to get some from the main store! Unbelievably good. Pro Tip: get them warmed! Great staff! Lovely place!

I'm SOOO sad I didn't take a picture before I consumed these! (Or allll of the other things I purchased over the next three consecutive days!) I am so glad I don't live here and was just visiting! I'd become ridiculously unhealthy with the the eating I'd get done here! Ok, so whatever the peach scone thing was...just say yes! And the blueberry one. And the cowboy cookie thing. And... Also, the dirty chai ginger tea...make sure you realllly like ginger!!

Chicken salad croissant was woefully lacking the chicken salad...mainly lettuce and croissant

Horrible. 2-3 day old confections, dried out. You charged full-price for that crap? High priced and low quality.

So delicious!!!! Love the spruce juice, scones and breakfast burritos. Highly recommend! Best baked treats in town!

Great coffee but employees rude to minorities. Young man behind the counter was short and rude with me, as a black woman, it doesn't surprise me. Will not be back.

Normally, I love this place, but yesterday Darby told me I was "welcome to bake [my] own sheet cake, when I said we didn't need anything fancy, just some icing on a cake. They are short their decorator. I'm very sorry for the stress this must be, but under no circumstances is it good customer service to tell the customer they can "bake their own sheet cake." That was terribly rude.

The scones are my perfect 10/10 against which all others are measured. A boulder treasure and the sweet potato chorizo burritos rock hard as well. These isn't one thing in the bakery case that isn't astonishing!

Ordered a cold brew coffee, pre-made egg sandwich, and kouign amann... The barista calls out 'iced coffee' and hands over my drink. I tell her I ordered a cold brew, not iced coffee. She says "yeah that's what we call it here, they're the same thing". WHAAAAA? Obviously if the barista doesn't know this difference you're probably not getting a very good espresso. Egg sandwich was tasteless, threw it away after two bites. Finally I thought how can they screw up a kouign amann. I have had dozens of kouign amanns across the country and this was one of the worst I've had. Amazingly over rated place.

Went for a quick breakfast & were brand new to this eatery. Had some questions which the guy answering did in a very unclear & annoyed way. Finally was able to select. Right when my food came up I was waiting for my friend who's food came up right after mine. There was one other person inside at the time. The same guy told us to get out cuz of crowds to come. Such a jerk! Decent food, awful service. Only visiting so won't go there again.

The cutest little coffee shop on the edge of pearl. The best lattes and the most delish pastries. Grab a drink, croissant and take a seat outside in their little area it's great!

Love Spruce Confections!!! They always deliver on friendly service and the scones....I honestly didn't think I liked scones. lol. Turns out I love them. I only wish they would bring back the kouign amanns...

I enjoyed an great cup of decaf tea and a gluten-free raspberry scone. The scone was delicious! I like the option of using ceramic cup or a to go recycle-able cup. They also give a discount or bringing your own cup.

This place is a popular coffeeshop for boulderites. It has great food, a wide selection of teas, and a staff that is well versed in espresso drinks. The indoor space is small, but there outdoor space is large, shady, and quiet. If you are looking for a place to work I would recommend it only if your laptop has a lot of battery life and it is the spring/summer. Luckily, my laptop has a long battery life. It's a place I like to work at when I have my dogs with me beacuse of the abundant shade.

Literally my new favorite breakfast/brunch/lunch place. Their breakfast burritos, especially the ones with sweet potatoes, are SO DELICIOUS! 20/10. I go here at least twice a week or more. It's just too good.

Ordering Birthday Cakes from Spruce Confections has become a tradition in our family. Amazing! I have NEVER tasted better buttercream. Simply the best!

Setting is very nice on a gorgeous day like this one. Food and Cappuccino were decent - service was horrid. Extremely rude girl took our order and didn't even say thank you. When asked questions she seemed bothered to answer. I will take my $ elsewhere in the future.

I have no idea how this place is so popular, there are many other better and less expensive options in Boulder. On the positive side, the location is great, just West of the Pearl Street Mall, with a wonderful shaded patio and fairly easy parking. When we visited, the line at the counter was very slow, the staff not a bit friendly and it seems that if you have any question you must wait in line, only the cashiers know the answers. No price on the pastries? Any quiche or other warm sandwich still available? Wait in line and cross your fingers. The employees behind the counter, on the kitchen side (cooks?) or rearranging the salads etc could not help. So, if like me you are a newbie to Spruce Confections, let me save you time. If you want a quiche or any warm sandwich/croissant don't bother showing up after 11:30, they stop making them and usually run out of quiche by 10 am. Bad luck, we visited after a hike, thinking Spruce would be perfect for lunch at noon on a Sunday. Lucky for us they still had homemade wrapped sandwiches. Unfortunately, both the caprese and the gruyère/ham (the only two kinds offered) were very dry. In the end, I wish they'd ran out of those too... On the gruyère one, we could not find any mustard or mayo. I guess it's better for your health, but at almost $7 a piece, I'd love something a little more tasty. The caprese had generous amounts of mozzarella, but that is not enough to make a good sandwich. I did not want to wait in line again to ask for mustard, and did not want to bother the not very friendly staff. So we found a leftover bottle of hot sauce and managed to eat our sandwiches. And honestly after a long hike, I could gobble down anything, I got a cup of regular coffee (they only had one roast, were out of the other one). Not very good either,on par with our sandwiches. Lastly, if you order a cup of ice for your drink (my husband skipped the coffee, lucky him and had a San Pellegrino instead), be ready to first get a frustrated face from the cashier and second to have some coffee grind mixed to it. During our "lovely" lunch, we though it was dirt mixed to our ice. I could not resist and had to mention it to the lady who gave it so reluctantly to us. Silly me, of course, it was coffee grind because she explained naturally that the ice is right under the coffee machine and therefore gets coffee grinds mixed in sometimes. She was not the least surprised so I assume I am not the first to ask. Well, this was an interesting experience, but one I am not about to renew.

Very poor quality latté. Sometimes you get a good one, but hit and miss. Probably best to avoid in the afternoon. They usually have the A team in the morning. I hate paying good $ for poor quality.

Spruce is a great place to pickup a pastry and a hot drink of choice. It is in the neighborhood so very easy to hop in and get some goodies and hop out. Good choices for me and my gluten free wife. I really enjoy their croissants! They are lovely and oh so buttery. Really cant go wrong with this place!

This is hands down my favorite place in Boulder. It's close to my office, so I go often. Everything I've tried here is just so fresh and yummy, and their prices are pretty fair for an artisan coffee shop. The store is also really cute, and it just makes me happy. As a bonus, they always have a big tub of 65 cent dog cookies on the counter! Must tries are their ham and Gruyere sandwich on ciabatta, the black bottom cupcakes (?), peach and raspberry pie, two spoons granola with milk, their scones, their quiche, and Spruce Juice. The cupcake (actually not sure about real name) is pure decadence, with marbled chocolate and white cake and a cream cheesy middle. The pie is really fresh, with a perfectly flaky crust. Usually, I like the crust best, but the fruit in their slice really shines through. The Spruce Juice is the best iced coffee I've ever had. It's not too sweet, just enough to cover the bitterness, and it's pretty darn addictive. Even their gluten free Mediterranean wrap is pretty decent. The only kind of disappointing thing I've had here is their $7 turkey salad, which has a primary flavor profile of spinach, unfortunately. But even so, it's not terrible. You really can't go wrong with Spruce, and I strongly feel that everyone should try the Spruce Juice at least once in their life.

BEST fresh scones E V E R My favorite place since 1995 Small little place enough for 10 people to sit when it's cold outside. Come early , ruby scone usually gone by 10 am:)

Spruce Confections is really close to my house and there is always a happy-looking, frosting-smeared crowd outside. That's reason enough to go in and scarf cupcakes! Solely based on their cupcakes - Spruce Confections is a winner to me, and the bakery with the best cupcakes in Boulder so far. Moist almost to the point of falling apart in your hands, and all the way to the point of getting your hands really chocolatey, they are huge (I actually thought they were some kind of pudding or tart when I first saw them) and covered in yummy frosting. This frosting is an entity. I mean, it would stand up on its own. It's literally solid. It has a shape. Usually, this is a bad thing - solid frosting tends to be disgusting and filled with all sorts of artificial solidifiers. We tend to look for light, airy frosting. But in this case, the frosting works - the closest parallel I can think of is thick chocolate mousse. That's what this frosting reminds me of. Now, figuring out what flavor all the cupcakes are is sort of a confusing task. Probably more confusing than any business should want it to be. You have to first look at the body, to figure out what flavor the base is, and then at the frosting, to figure out what flavor the frosting is. Difficult, you say? Yeah, not yet. Because THEN, you have to look at the little sprinkling of almonds, or chocolate chips, or coffee beans, or whatever, on top of the cupcake, which changes EVERYTHING you just figured out. So let's say you have a white cupcake (almond based) with pink frosting (raspberry). But then you have coffee beans on top. That changes the cupcake to mocha buttercream. With raspberry. Or something. Luckily for me, the girl behind the counter when I went was extremely patient with me as I asked her about the flavor of Every. Single. Cupcake... before I finally chose one. Spruce Confections, please invest in cupcake labels for the sake of your poor counter staff. Otherwise, continue as you are. Your cupcakes rock.

Love their breakfast burritos - the veggie one is delicious! I also can't resist a scone whenever I go in. The lattes are also delicious. Not much seating, we normally do to-go, but in the summer I enjoy sitting at their outdoor seating of which there is plenty (more than indoor). Worth a stop for a quick and tasty breakfast.

I just had a chicken sandwich of theirs and not only was it overpriced, but it was so gross. The chicken tasted rotten and the bread was too much. I threw away most of it. :( I just wanted a nice tasty sandwich.

I have been here several times for a simple coffee and scone and loved it. However, this morning we stopped in for two breakfast sandwiches and lattes before a road trip. The cashier was absent, so as a result three people ended up juggling our order. We got our lattes no problem, but sat and waited on the order of greater than 10 minutes for the sandwiches. We were sitting looking confused when finally the barista asked if we were waiting on something. Yeah, our sandwiches. He got them out of the oven they had been sitting in the entire 10 minutes. We were in a rush so left quickly. But when we got to the car, our sandwiches were very burnt. The croissant parts basically inedible we removed them and picked at the rest. Very disappointed in the disorganization resulting in a ruined breakfast experience.

I have had a lot of cappuccinos in my day. It's my drink of choice. I stumbled into Spruce needing some caffeine and a bite to eat. I left with one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had. Yes - ever. They use a local roasted bean and dairy. It comes through in the quality of their product. The only downside is that the barista was not cranking out drinks (like at SB). I watched her methodically make my drink, even making sure the milk was at the right temperature. I travel a lot and eat out 3-4 times a day when travelling. Few places are memorable. This is one of them.

Love this bakery's gluten free scone and their soups! And though I can't eat gluten items I love looking at all of the other delicious looking baked goods. Staff has been nice except for one visit when a male employee seemed really angry when simply asking for the scone... I had to stop coming in because it was so unexpected and a departure from previous interactions. We always tip so that was ruled out. I resumed going in this year and all has been well so far. It would be great to purchase other gluten free items with even less added sugar (the market is there). Otherwise, overall, we love this bakery, the location, and the energy.

What a complete horrible experience. The wife and I got a sandwich across the street. There was a crazy lady barking and going on near the store so we decided to go across the street and eat at the confections place and planned on trying a dessert afterward. It was not crowded at all so we started to eat. 5 minutes into our meal a pompous guy come out and says hello! Then says this is reserved for paying customers only and we can't eat there. The wife says we will leave then. And I said and we will never come back. We got into our car 5 feet away and fonahes our meal. There were 11 free tables besides ours but he went around and made sure the other two people had purchased something. Then the idiot gets into his car and takes off. He didn't even pay to park in the parking area like we did. While we finished we looked around and saw a couple small prints saying for spruce customers only. They were not very big which is why we didn't notice them. And even if we had, we would have sat down because we intended on having dessert there. But I don't want to give my business to someone that treats people that way. At all. And if I was a customer looking into wether to shop here or not I would like to know information like this which is why I took the time to write a review. I will NEVER even think about trying this place again. And when it comes up in conversation you can guess what I'll have to say about the "service" here. The response to this review is hilarious. Made my point perfectly! And actually we had stepped inside once before, to ask a question, and were rudely told you weren't open yet. As well, you'll be happy to know, we left the table perfectly clean with no trash...like we do everywhere we go. Thanks for confirming our first impressions.

I have been going to Spruce for several years, and continue to be sorely disappointed. This is not a space to feel welcomed at, to grab a quick cup of coffee (they seem to think that slow wait times are a plus) or one that is convenient. I am not sure why but even though I regularly go there multiple times a week and always tip generously the staff is always rude and dismissive. I have also noticed that I rarely see other people of color patronizing this business, and at this point I am tired of patronizing a business that doesn't seem to want me there. Despite this, I like supporting neighborhood businesses and have overlooked the cold shoulder because the location is convenient even if the wait never is. My wife also really likes the pastry's and the fresh croissants rival what I find at Montmartre. Perhaps it's my fault for continuing to try to engage the staff with friendliness and always tipping, despite receiving poor service, increasingly leaving frustrated and catching myself falling into that habit I had developed in Alabama as a teenager, of trying to convince myself to "settle", to not let it upset me and to take the "high road." The final incident occurred when I ordered an espresso macchiato from Spruce, something I have done many times and had to explain many times. After waiting for more than 5 minutes the barista finally poured the espresso shot, and then filled the to go cup to the top with milk. Not steamed milk, cold milk. If the West End Spruce Confectioners wants to justify their excessively long wait time by suggesting their pastrys and coffee are worth the wait, they aught to at least have trained their single barista to make a good coffee. Even though my experience over several years suggests that Spruce Confections has a diversity problem, if they can't make good coffee and you are waiting 15 minutes for it, why not go elsewhere...

Delicious! We come for the scones and coffee after hikes on weekends. Everything is fresh and wonderful. It's worth it to wait in line. Staff is usually friendly but can be snooty. I'll keep coming here because I love it and I'll keep smiling at the grumpy people and hope they get some fresh air and sunshine soon.