His latest project: opening a brick-and-mortar cafe at 1426 East 22nd Avenue in the Whittier neighborhood, which celebrated its soft opening on June 1.
Croniser started his mobile business out of a converted lime-green 1975 VW Microbus in 2021. An entrepreneur at heart, he's adapted his business plan multiple times since launching Green Bus. Although the original concept never included a plan for a permanent space, he found himself pivoting once again.
"You go to an event that's crazy-busy and you're so exhausted — it takes so much out of you. Then you go to another event and then that one is dead, but you did all the prep. It's a constant roller coaster," Croniser says. "It became the natural progression to want to open a space."
The space, which formerly housed Scoops Ice Cream shop before it moved to Park Hill, was ideal for Green Bus because its parlor door allows him the flexibility to serve customers from a walk-up window using a coffee cart he built inside the shop. This means the cafe can "open" temporarily while undergoing necessary renovations inside — including building a kitchen to house a bakery operation.
When Croniser met Sarah Mitch of Starfish Bakery, it was to discuss business. "Dustin and I connected about carrying Starfish in his future locations," recalls Mitch. "But that first meeting felt like a first date." Mitch lived in Boulder during the pandemic and used that time to develop her gluten-free and vegan home-baking recipes before moving back to Wisconsin. But when the potential business deal with Croniser blossomed into a romantic relationship, she returned to Colorado.
"Our vision of the business concept aligned with both of us to have Starfish be the bakery inside of Green Bus Cafe," says Croniser. "It worked out very well that we’re a great team and we work well together."
With the transition into a permanent space, Green Bus is also shifting from a fully vegan menu to what Croniser and Mitch describe as a focus on local, regenerative and sustainable products. That means they'll be adding items like dairy and honey, but with an important distinction. "We're not going to be sourcing anything from commodity farms," Croniser says.
When it fully opens, Green Bus Cafe will sell gluten-free and vegan pastries from Starfish Bakery.
Green Bus Cafe
"We want to feel like we're serving from a place of integrity," says Mitch, adding that all baked goods will remain vegan and gluten-free.
Green Bus Cafe's walk-up window is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Expect longer hours and a dine-in option to come when the remodel of the interior is complete.
In the meantime, follow @greenbuscafe for updates on the build — and for the weekly schedule so you can catch its signature mobile bus and cart around town.
