Coffee Shops in Parker

Parker coffee has a personality, and it is not the one you would expect from a fast-growing Denver suburb. The two shops everyone sends you to — Convict Coffee and Fika — are both built on an actual idea, not just a logo.

Convict Coffee is the one with the story: it is run by a guy who did time, roasts beans through a program at a women prison in Denver, and funnels money into juvenile diversion programs. The mission would be enough on its own, but the coffee holds up — it is the highest-rated shop in town for a reason.

Fika is named for the Swedish ritual of stopping everything for coffee and a pastry, and the original leans all the way into it inside Old Town Parker 1906 Rhode Island Hotel building. There is now a second, quieter Fika out in the Idyllwilde development for when Old Town is mobbed.

For a similar give-back streak, Kunjani World Coffeehouse — Zulu for "how are you" — pours organic fair-trade coffee behind a real local-giving mission. And if your coffee run is really a breakfast run, Bagel Stop Cafe is an unassuming strip-mall spot whose in-house bagels, made by the thousands each week, are the actual draw.

The short version: Convict for the best cup and the best story, Fika for the slow-morning ritual (Old Town for atmosphere, Idyllwilde for quiet), Kunjani for fair-trade with a mission, and Bagel Stop when coffee is really an excuse for a fresh bagel.