Just across Metcalf Avenue on the south side of Highway 435 stands a boring, black office building. Unknown to most is that by the main office entry is a Kansas City-renowned Mexican bakery and cafe.

The bright pink floral wall of the cafe peeked out of the corner of the gray interior of the BOK Financial building. 

Immediately upon entering, I was drawn to the massive pastry case by the counter. Colorful mini pastries were stacked on top of one another, covering the whole case. These are the conchas, the friendly woman behind the counter told me. She explained that the sugar-topped, Mexican sweet breads are what have put Aurora Bakery and Cafe on the map. 

I knew I had to order a concha. I chose the strawberries and cream one, as well as a ham and egg breakfast sandwich and marranito — a mini concha-like cookie. The $21 total seemed reasonable for the amount of food I ordered. 

I walked back towards the entrance and made a sharp right to the seating area, overlooking the parking lot with its floor-to-ceiling windows. 

I didn’t know how to go about eating the concha, but when I finally took a bite, the strawberry-crusted topping tasted impeccable with the sweet cream that ran out of the middle of the bread. While messy, the concha was very delicious. 

When I looked up, a nice worker was heading my way with a steaming croissant sandwich fresh from the back kitchen. The sandwich was placed in front of me on the table, next to the adorably tiny jar of flowers. 

I tried the marranito while I let the sandwich cool. I was struck by a familiar flavor — a mix of pumpkin bread and gingerbread flavor — but in a cookie. It had the same hard, sugar topping as the concha, and was just as messy. The table was now covered in little crumbs from the cookie and sugar frosting. 

Lastly, I tried my sandwich. While I’d asked for it with scrambled eggs, the egg seemed to be a very runny, almost fried egg instead. I enjoyed the cheesy, ham and egg-filled inside, but I didn’t like the aioli smeared on both ends of the inner croissant. Though I’m not an aioli person myself, my friend enjoyed the sandwich much more than I did. 

I had ordered way too much food, even for my three-person group, but the small conchas made for good leftovers. 

The service of everyone working was incredible. The workers were personable, even bringing me and my friends free water after they’d realized we’d been sitting for a while with no drinks. Aurora offers coffee from Cafe Corazon beans, too, but I passed on coffee for this trip. 

I learned from one of the workers that the Cafe is named after one of the owners, Javier Nunez’s, late grandmother. He started the business with his wife, Kerianne Nunez, within the past five years, selling their conchas to other local shops before opening up their own cafe. 

A lot of the customers seemed to be office workers coming down for a quick bite; however, now that I know it’s there, I’ll be recommending Aurora Bakery and Cafe to all my friends and family who have a sweet tooth.