The Tree House Cafe: The Boulder Creek Coffee Shop With Redwoods Inside It

There are real redwoods growing up through the middle of the Tree House Cafe. These aren't painted redwoods or decorations. Living trunks pass through the building, and the seating is arranged around them. The trees gave the cafe its name. They're also why people who drive Highway 9 once a year remember stopping there.

The Tree House sits at 13266 Highway 9, at the north end of the Boulder Creek business district. It's close enough to the creek that the air changes when you step out of the car. Visit Santa Cruz County describes it as a place where "nostalgic Giant Redwoods grace the interior of this uniquely progressive cafe/espresso bar." That covers the essentials.

What it is

The Tree House is a coffee shop first. It has an espresso bar, drip coffee, and the expected range of drinks, plus breakfast and a lunch counter with sandwiches, bagels, and baked goods. Service is at the counter rather than at the table. It's the larger of the town's two coffee shops, with room to sit, work, and socialize, and the person making your drink is likely to recognize you the second time.

Boulder Creek has several options for coffee and breakfast, but they're not interchangeable. Jenna Sue's is the coffeehouse downtown in the middle of the shops. Bella's is a sit-down diner. The Tree House is where you go for the trees, a quiet table, and a slower half hour before the day gets moving.

Locals also use it as a working spot. You'll see laptops, notebooks, paperbacks, and people taking their time over a long coffee.

The setting is the point

Most cafes add their setting through decoration. The Tree House was built around what was already standing. The redwoods rise through the floor and continue through the roof. The interior fits around the trees.

That changes how the room sounds and how the light falls. It also makes the seating a little irregular, with tables tucked into spaces that wouldn't exist in a rectangular room. The arrangement follows the trunks rather than forcing the trees into a conventional floor plan.

For someone visiting the valley, the cafe offers a photograph that helps explain why people choose to live here. For someone who lives here, it's simply a place to stop on a Tuesday.

Hours

Open at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. on weekends, closing at 2:30 p.m. every day. That's the same schedule Jenna Sue's keeps downtown, so the town's two coffee shops share the earliest doors in Boulder Creek.

The menu

The boards change and prices move, so treat this as the shape of it and let the counter be current.

• Breakfast: breakfast sandwiches on a bagel, croissant, or English muffin, breakfast and veggie burritos, avocado toast on sourdough, a lox bagel with capers, biscuits and gravy, steel cut oats, a yogurt parfait, fruit and cottage cheese, and bagels with house-made cream cheeses in pesto, jalapeno, and sundried tomato.
• Lunch: a build-your-own sandwich counter with four breads, six meats, and four cheeses, plus the named house sandwiches: the Noel (ham or turkey with bacon), the Ernest (an Italian stack on a French roll), the Bob (tuna with oil and vinegar), and the Sunflower (avocado and provolone on seeded bread). Wraps, a classic BLT, grilled cheese, PB and J, and a soup of the day round it out.
• Salads: Caesar, Cobb, spinach, and the Tree House salad, a tuna-stuffed avocado on romaine.
• Drinks and sweets: the full espresso range, teas, Italian sodas, Tree House chillers and frozen lemonade in season, and Marianne's ice cream by the scoop.

Finding it between visits

The Tree House doesn't keep a website. It uses social media, as many small businesses in this valley do. Current information appears on its Facebook page and Instagram rather than on a permanent website.

The phone number is 831-610-8912, and someone is likely to pick up.

Menu items and specials change, especially at the shoulder of the seasons. Check the cafe's own Facebook or Instagram, or call, before you drive up for something specific.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the redwoods really inside the building?

Yes. Living redwoods pass through the interior of the cafe. That's where the name comes from.

Does the Tree House Cafe have a website?

No. It posts on Facebook and Instagram instead. For anything time-sensitive, call 831-610-8912.

What does it serve?

Coffee and espresso drinks, breakfast, and a lunch counter with sandwiches, bagels, and baked goods. It's counter service rather than table service.

Where is it exactly?

13266 Highway 9, at the north end of the Boulder Creek business district, near the creek. It's a short distance up from the main downtown block.

Is it the same as the Tree House in Australia?

No. This can cause confusion online. There's an unrelated business with a near-identical name in Boulder Creek, Queensland. If a page you find is in Australia, it's not this cafe.

Last reviewed August 5, 2026. The cafe has no website, so hours and menu items live on its own social channels, which are the current source.

For the rest of the town's coffee and kitchens, see where to eat in Boulder Creek and the food and drink listings. Browse the business directory or the rest of our Around Town guides. Spot something out of date? Tell us.