Good meeting spots for breakfast are hard to come by, so when Urban Harvest Café opened in the Lowry Town Center, area businesses and neighborhoods took notice.
The airy, brown-and-black space, with plenty of natural light coming in from the windows that surround it on three sides, invites lingering over a cup of coffee brewed from Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea Co. beans. Bare wooden tables are big enough to spread your newspaper on, and folks can set up outside on the patio to watch the many dog-walkers tie off their charges at the fence or roll up their strollers.
Inside, customers are forced to split into two groups. One side is for the coffee drinkers who line up for espressos, for smoothies (try the four-berry version for $3.65) and for the made-in-house baked items.
“Big Fat” cinnamon rolls ($1.80) are exactly that and come topped with your choice of cream cheese or icing (the latter is my pick). The banana bran muffins ($1.85) are hearty but moist.
Fruit turnovers ($2.45) are something you don’t see often; these are flaky on the outside and packed with cherries or apples. The “magic chocolate bars” ($1.95) are chocolate and coconut and so sweet they make your teeth ache.
If it’s cooked food you’re after, the line is at the opposite end of the eatery. This is where you place an order for a breakfast wrap ($3.70), a flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, red peppers, potatoes, cream cheese and your choice of meats; or a fresh waffle ($2.95, or $3.95 with fruit topping) with a dollop of whipped cream.
At lunchtime, Urban Harvest serves sandwiches grilled panino style, including a tasty Monte Cristo ($5.65) with French toast layered with honey maple ham, Swiss and a credible aioli, and a “blue roast beef” ($5.75) – blue cheese atop roast beef with tomato, onion and mayo. They also use Udi’s breads, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Soups, made fresh daily, are another thing this spot does well ($2.40 a cup, $3.40 a bowl). One day the offerings included minestrone, fresh mushroom, tomato cheese and chicken noodle.
Urban Harvest’s only downside is that because of the setup, some egg dishes are cooked ahead and reheated when you order.
That meant that the quiche of the day ($3.95) was tossed into the microwave, making for one waterlogged, watery dish. That’s a shame for something that comes painstakingly garnished with a cantaloupe wedge and fresh greens and tomato slices.
And because eggs are kind of a crucial breakfast item, that put quite a damper on the morning.
Dining critic Kyle Wagner can be reached at 303-820-1958 or kwagner@denverpost.com.
Urban Harvest Café
AMERICAN|200 Quebec St., Lowry Town Center, 303-340-0992|$2-$6|6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Visa, MC, Amex; parking lot.
Front burner: Nice people serving fresh food fast in a bright, airy space.
Back burner: The microwave is used for reheating, which means some egg dishes come out overcooked or watery.
