The first thing most people notice at Café Leo is the aroma.

Fresh pastries. Coffee. Cinnamon rolls coming out of the oven.

The second thing they notice is that nobody seems to be in a hurry.

Customers linger over coffee. Friends stop to chat across tables. Staff members greet regulars by name. Café Leo feels like the kind of place where slowing down is still encouraged.

Nearly 10 years after opening in Woodland Park, the café has become one of those businesses that locals proudly claim as their own.

Part coffee shop, part bakery and part gathering place, Café Leo has built a loyal following one pastry and one conversation at a time.

Owner Tonny Saudland moved to Colorado from Norway and brought with her a belief that hospitality is about more than serving food and coffee. It is about making people feel welcome.

That philosophy continues to shape the café today.

“It’s positive every day,” said Marleia Michie, who has worked at Café Leo for nearly five years. “Our whole staff is just beaming with joy.”

Michie said working alongside Saudland has taught her as much about people as it has about business.

“They’re people people,” she said. “I’ve learned so much from them—not just baking and business, but connecting with people. You never know who’s going to walk through the door.”

That focus on relationships is easy to spot.

On a recent morning, customers streamed through the doors for breakfast, coffee and pastries. Some grabbed an order to go. Others settled into a chair and stayed awhile. Staff members chatted with regulars while welcoming first-time visitors who had wandered in from nearby shops.

The atmosphere feels more like a neighborhood gathering place than a traditional coffee shop.

The menu helps, too.

Coffee may bring customers through the door, but many return for the food.

One of Café Leo’s most popular menu items is the Lumberjack sandwich, a hearty breakfast favorite that has become a go-to order for many regulars. The menu also includes salads, lunch sandwiches, smoothies, shakes, teas and lemonades.

Then there is the bakery case.

Several years ago, Café Leo began producing nearly all of its baked goods in-house. Today, bakers prepare pastries, cinnamon rolls, carrot cake and specialty treats fresh each day.

Some of the café’s most distinctive offerings come directly from Saudland’s Norwegian roots.

Traditional Norwegian sweet buns made from family recipes sit alongside French-inspired pastries and other baked goods, creating a menu that is a little different from what customers might expect to find in a mountain town coffee shop.

“We make everything fresh,” Michie said.

The café continues to evolve as well. Soft-serve ice cream has recently been added, and acai bowls are expected to join the menu in the near future.

Growth is happening beyond the menu.

This year, Café Leo is expanding into neighboring space after another tenant relocated, creating more room for customers and additional space for baking and food preparation. The expansion may eventually allow the café to begin making bagels in-house.

The business is also preparing to open a second location in Falcon later this year, marking the first major expansion for the company.

Despite the growth, community involvement remains part of the café’s identity.

Throughout the year, Café Leo donates food, baked goods and gift cards to local nonprofits, schools and community events. Employees estimate the café participates in charitable efforts nearly every month.

Whether supporting school raffles, local fundraisers or events such as Woodland Park’s Moose Is Loose celebration, the café regularly looks for ways to give back.

For many residents, that community-minded approach is part of the appeal.

In a town filled with locally owned businesses, Café Leo has found its niche through good food, genuine hospitality and an atmosphere that encourages people to stay a little longer than they planned.

Nearly a decade after opening, the café continues to grow while holding onto the qualities that made customers fall in love with it in the first place.

And judging by the steady line at the counter, plenty of people are happy to keep pulling up a chair.