There’s no place to sit. The counter staff could be friendlier. But since moving into my neighborhood 22 years ago, I’ve been a member of the Cult of Tulipan - a Cabal of Coffee - that worships every morning at this Cuban bakery on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach.

In Spanish so mangled the staff always replies in English, I order a cortadito sin azucar (half Cuban coffee, half steamed milk without sugar). If I can afford the carbs, I’ll indulge in a guayaba y queso pastelito (guava and cheese pastry), a luscious extravagance served warm from a special case, so the outer puff pastry layer remains flaky while the sweet-tart guava paste and cream cheese filling oozes unctuously over the fingers.

One of my sisters loves their exotic decadence so much she carries a box of them back to Iowa with her on the plane.

As for their croissants, I’ll stack Tulipan’s up against any I’ve had in Paris.

(Strangely though, I’ve never developed a taste for their cookies or cakes, which are too sweet for my taste buds.)

Sometimes, I opt for tostada which is a simple length of Cuban bread buttered and pressed flat in a plancha, or sandwich grill, making the perfect coffee dunking food. By lunchtime, the planchas are turning out savory Cuban sandwiches.

By 8 a.m. on most mornings, the line of Tulipan regulars reaches the door and sometimes beyond. The crowd can be as diverse as anything in the county.

There are middle-class commuters on their way downtown, delivery truck drivers with trucks left idling outside, Palm Beach matrons in tennis clothes, clued-in European tourists desperate for a decent cup of coffee, immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America as well as locals from the surrounding neighborhoods.

It’s why a trip to Tulipan gives me hope.

Or maybe it’s just optimism born of a caffeine buzz.

This may be a polarized nation, but Tulipan’s disparate devotees have managed to reach universal agreement on two things: the strategic importance of strong coffee and tender pastry.

Algo mas? (something more?), the counter ladies ask.

Yes, por favor. Can I get that cortadito with some political harmony?

Tulipan Bakery, 740 Belvedere Rd., West Palm Beach, (561)832-6107.