Walking in on a cold icy morning, Morning Collective seemed warm but unimpressive, sort of like the kind of restaurant I went to with my parents in the 70’s. Very casual and generic looking. Despite the “meh” atmosphere, the menu contained a variety of delectable looking items, with several kinds of eggs Benedict to include coffee braised short rib Benedict (heartily recommended by the waiter) that apparently included bone marrow infused potato, carrot and leek base bacon hollandaise, ham Benedict advertised as made from TENDER BELLY ham (yes, all in caps), and veggie Benedict. multiple flavors of French toast to include stuffed Tres Leches (YES please – this one is fantastic and was recommended by my waiter – not too sweet but delightfully decadent topped with perfect slivers of strawberry), stuffed banana hazelnut, stuffed strawberry cheesecake, seasonal (which was a tasty apple crumble), and of course traditional for those afraid of a bit of adventure (AKA French toast purists). You can mix and match the flavors which is perfect for those of us (me) who can’t decide. Plus the menu included a variety of normal breakfast fare like scrambles, flapjacks, and since it’s Colorado, a “wake and bake” burrito. I went with a cafe mocha (good but not mind blowing good like the one I had at Snooze), the tres leches French toast (perfect) and apple crumble French toast (a tad sweet for my liking) with an added order of TENDER BELLY (yes, all caps again) coffee braised bacon (sounded a bit like a hipster spa treatment) and house made “tater tots” (NOT tater tots) with a bacon aioli. The tots were little pillow like potato puffs but were a tad unpleasant due to the grease factor. The bacon was fine but didn’t live up to the hype I’d created for it in my mind while reading the description. I’ll take full credit for the disappointment… the bacon tasted like bacon. Quality bacon but not mind blowing call your mother and tell her about it bacon. I haven’t yet found the mind blowing call my mother kind of bacon as of yet, but it is a personal quest of mine. I’d go back to try the short ribs Benedict and to have another dose of the tres leches French toast but I’d definitely avoid the grease tots.