Contreras Market & Panaderia

What started in 2000 as the Contreras family knocking on doors selling bread wholesale now eats an entire Morrison Road strip mall: a panaderia cranking out ~5,000 conchas and ojos de buey a day starting at 3 a.m., a full carniceria with marinated meats, a grocery, a sit-down restaurant, and a bar. From the street it reads as just another neighborhood grocery, which is exactly why nobody outside Westwood knows it's a one-stop Mexican-American institution. Look for the maroon building with the white trim and the mural on the northeast end of the road.

The move: Grab a tray and tongs, load up on pan dulce and a couple of conchas at the panaderia counter, then sit down in the attached restaurant for marinated meats and a beer from the bar — a cheap, unhurried afternoon that locals treat as routine and outsiders treat as a discovery.

• 📍 Westwood
• 💸 $
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 3570 Morrison Rd, Denver, CO 80219 (maroon/white-trimmed building, NE end of Morrison Road)

Hours: Bakery production starts ~3 a.m.; daytime retail hours for grocery/panaderia/restaurant. Confirm current hours via Yelp/official site before going.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

Verified 2026-06-07.