The Bird's Nest
About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
From Us to You
Love the Bird's Nest Team
Meet the heart and sole of the Bird's Nest
At Bird & Jim and Bird's Nest we are committed to promoting an inclusive welcoming environment for our employees and customers. We promote diversity with in our staff welcoming all all races, religious affiliation, age groups, gender identity and socioeconomic groups.
We are committed to break barriers and strive towards an inclusive future.
Executive Chef Mike
Born and raised in Colorado, I started my culinary career as a dishwasher. After 16 years in the culinary field, I finally found a home at Bird and Jim as the Chef De Cuisine.
Throughout my travels, I had the opportunity to work for Holland Princess America Tours as a cook working on the Alaska Railroad. The train was based in Anchorage Alaska and would travel across the state to Denali and Fairbanks all in one day. This allowed me to experience the vast beauty of Alaska and grow my culinary skills.
In the summer 2014 Hard Rock Café opened a branch in Anchorage and I was able to be apart of the opening staff. During my time at Hard Rock Café, I was promoted to kitchen manager and eventually Sous Chef.
After many years of traveling I came back to Colorado and joined the Bird and Jim team in July of 2021 under Chef Thomas. With his guidance and vast knowledge of the culinary arts, I have been able to explore and create many new dishes that I am extremely proud to call my own. I’m excited to be part of the Bird and Jim team and see where the future takes us.
Founder | CEO
Melissa
After creating Bird & Jim we saw room to grow and the opportunity to serve our community and visitors further creating a bakery and event space. Out of this came came the Bird's Nest and Nest Above--a dual purpose building with a café and bakery with amazing pizza as well as event space.
My favorite pizza is "Why the Fig Not," yours?
Thanks for the love and support as we work hard and share our dreams!
Read about our Bird & Jim team here.
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Operating Partner
John
Way back in 1996, I began my first job in the restaurant industry. Back then, restaurant jobs were not taken as seriously by me or the general public. Times have changed since then of course and my passion in the restaurant industry led me to focus on wine. After attending Sommelier classes with the International Sommelier Guild and beginning my journey as a Sommelier, I knew that this was the career for me. Fast forward several years later, I lucked upon finding out beautiful home of Estes Park. Dreams became reality when Melissa and I teamed up in 2017 to open Bird and Jim. I want to thank the community for supporting our dreams and helping our business grow in ways I could have never imagined. I feel very privileged to live in such a beautiful place and be able to operate a successful business while enjoying my passions for the outdoors and running.
Chef de PâtisserieManny
I'm chef Manny Chavez! I was born and raised in the urban streets of the city of Miami, surrounded and spoiled by diverse and delicious foods from family gatherings to cafes to the gentlemen selling fresh fruit on the corner. My mother is Cuban and worked as a chef for many years and thanks to her love of bringing to life delicious Caribbean dishes I've developed a passion for food. I've been cooking for fun since I was 12, and been working in the food industry since I was 17, in and out of kitchens until I was fully inspired by my Fiance and kid loving my food and encouraging me to join the kitchen professionally. I joined Culinary school early 2023 and had been working in several kitchens in town before making my way to Bird and Jim! Here I learned from Chef Thomas, Chef Mike and Chef Ricky and have been thoroughly guided and coached into becoming an efficient kitchen manager and now Chef de Patisserie at the Bird's nest! I'm looking forward to giving it my all and bringing delicious creations to Estes Park.y
Pastry Chef
Heaven
My name is Heaven Belle.
I just moved to Colorado in October 2022.
I grew up with the kitchen being my favorite room of the house. I swore magic happened in there. Now as an adult I have acquired a real passion for baking. I truly enjoy making beautiful things from nothing. I grew up baking for just family and friends, but when I moved to Colorado I decided I wanted to pursue baking in a more professional environment. So here I am! I'm excited to continue learning and growing at the Bird's Nest.
Cafe Manager
Barb
Meet our cafe manger My Name is Barb
I was excited to return to the Bird & Jim team in March of 2024 to become the Cafe Manager of The Bird's Nest. I've worked in the hospitality industry for 40 years, mostly as a manager, but always with the most attention paid to the quality of service provided to my guests. I have also been a journalist for nearly as long; these things tend to go together since writers always need supplemental income, lol.
My main focus these days is creating a strong team that provides friendly and top-notch service to each guest, and is knowledgeable and proud of our concept here at The Bird's Nest, a grab-and-go cafe located at the doorstep of Rocky Mountain National Park. We hope you enjoy our quality fare, made from scratch onsite. From our coffee to our pizza, the Bird's Nest offers the best of the best in convenient to-go packaging.
Event Manager
Juli

My name is Juli Rau. I am an event coordinator at The Bird’s Nest in beautiful Estes Park Colorado. I have been event coordinating with Bird and Jim // The Bird’s Nest since 2019. It truly is amazing to be apart of someone’s special day and to play such an important roll in making their event dreams become a reality. In addition to all the lovely guests I meet I am also grateful to work along side such incredible people that make my job that much more enjoyable. When I am not at The Bird’s Nest you can find me with family and friends relaxing and loving the simple pleasures in life.