The Crooked Tree Coffee House is located at 559 First Capitol Drive in Saint Charles.

It gets its name from the crooked tree situated on Lindenwood University’s campus.

“We opened in October 2002. I was five years old and we named it after a tree down at Lindenwood. Whenever we were kids, me and my two sisters, it was our favorite place,” Manager and daughter of the Crooked Tree’s owners Aubrey Hunter said. “We would have a picnic and we would like to climb it. And we actually could because we were little kids. So, it was kind of a special little thing for our family and
that’s why we named it after it.”

The Crooked Tree became a part of the Saint Charles Community through the years.

“It’s really interesting how small of a town it really is,” Hunter said. “I’ve had employees telling me they’ve got discount places because they are wearing their work shirts.”

The manager also explained how businesses are supporting each other in Saint Charles.

“We have connections with different businesses around the area,” Hunter said. “We get some of our espressos from Course down on 2nd street, they roast a really good Brazil that we use for our espresso sometimes, which they are a roastery and we are not so I love that we get to support them and be in business together.”

Employee Paige Tayloe explained how she enjoys meeting Lindenwood students at the cafe.

“I like that Lindenwood students come here a lot,” Tayloe said. “I get to interact with my own peers and to talk to them and I’ve actually met a lot of people on campus through the coffee house.”

The Crooked Tree lets its employees be creative and come up with ideas for the cafe like Tayloe, who came up with her own drink.

“My favorite drink is currently the Sweet Honey Bee which is one I came up with myself,” Tayloe said. “It has caramel, honey, and cinnamon in it. I’m just obsessed with the cinnamon in it. It’s very good.”

Lindenwood student and regular customer Nicole Oppermann explained why she comes to this particular coffee house often.

“I enjoy the kind of light music in the background, nothing too overbearing,” Oppermann said.“I can sit and just hang out with my friends, just getting a cup of coffee, or I can come here and study and spend hours on it.”

Open every single day of the week, this coffee shop learned how to increase its popularity through kindness and excellence.

People come to this coffee shop to study, work, or relax. Regular customers go there multiple times a week to start off their day right or to take a break with a cup of coffee.