- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
The Backside Cafe
Category: Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
Midtown Mall22 High St
Brattleboro, VT 05301
(802) 257-5056
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Breakfast
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for The Backside Cafe
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Barry A.
Brattleboro, VT
11/13/2010
This is middle-America diner food. Most times pretty good for the money. But how can coffee in America in 2010 be so bad? I mean, how can any place still serve bad coffee, particularly when the tiny town has a fantastic coffee roaster a block away? The coffee here tastes like it was brewed from sawdust, right after municipal chlorinating of the resovoir.
Tex-Mex here often includes refried beans from a box that have been nuked. So, they can be a bit chaulky and dry. But I still go here sometimes because the simple meals are sometimes satisfying, but I can't recall specific ones. There's my yelp. -
Review from Shell C.
Cheshire, CT
5/31/2011
We waited forever to get our meals, and the place wasnt even busy. We heard a couple of the other tables complain to the waitresses about the time it took to get their meals too.
My meal was one of the few on the menu that didnt come with a pickle, I asked if I could please have one. I was told no.
When she checked our IDs for drinks, she told us she was sorry about where we're from. Very offensive.
The best part, even though the service was not great, we still left a decent tip. The waitress took it upon herself to add more more money onto the tip line on my credit card receipt. I of course didnt see this until I checked my credit card statement. That alone would tell me to never ever go back to this place. I feel completely ripped off. If she wants to make better tips, maybe she should be a better server. -
Review from S S.
Fall River, MA
8/30/2011
I ate here after a several hour drive for a weekend visit. Decent food; the hamburger and fries were tasty. The waiter seemed a little awkward, but I think we just didn't click.
A tip for visitors - while you can park in the lot outside, just a little ways up the street is a garage that will let you park for longer, and has change machines for quarters. I recommend using that option, then walking down. It's just a few storefronts up the street, and is much more convenient. -
Review from Patrick M.
South Boston, Boston, MA
4/10/2011
This place has no business being in service at all. By far one of the all time worst restaurants I ever visited. Let me start by stating it has nothing to do with the fact that its Vermont and the environment is laid back and slow. I was in a cafe that was similar the day before and the service, speed and items were all better so please don't tell me that everywhere in Brattleboro or Vermont are like this as that is not the case.
We sit down at 10:20AM on a Sunday morning. There were about 8 tables filled for 2 waitresses to handle. We waited 15 minutes at our booth and no waitress came over to take our order. I flagged the older waitress down and asked her to take our order. She replied telling me that it was not her table and that the other waitress would be out soon but had other tables that were before us. Why the older waitress just couldn't take our table or at least our order to move the process is beyond me. Observing the staff, they walked very slow from table to kitchen and their sense of time management and urgency was a zero. Rather than walk back to the kitchen with an order or fulfill a request, why not take all the orders at once then go back and submit? I waited tables for 2 years and never made anyone wait that long and even on conditions that were far worse than this morning. Younger waitress came out, apologized for the wait. It was that brief 3 minutes that she rushed, once to take our order then to run and put the order in. Otherwise the 2 waitresses were slower than a brick wall to greet people in the lobby, seat them, take orders and bring the food out. I am guessing the cooks were just as slow as you cannot convince me it takes that long to cook breakfast foods like pancakes and eggs.
She took our order around 10:35 and during that moment we watched the 2 waitresses be very lackadaisical and slow moving. At 11:15 the Young Waitress came over to our table and said that our order was coming out next. At 11:20AM no food was on our table, we were seated over an hour ago during breakfast with a steady crowd but not busy. I would be more tolerant if it was dinner and the restaurant was busier. This has nothing to do with Vermont, or anything to do with first come first serve and having to wait. It has everything to do with being a poorly run restaurant with no coaching to its staff and no sense of urgency. Other cafe's and food serving places around Brattleboro were better managed and efficient. We left at 11:20 and gave them $5 for the coffee that we had and told them that it was taking too long and we were not waiting. With a straight face the older waitress said "oh OK, sorry."
Knowing that a very high number of Brattleboro's shops have closed in the last few months, I predict this business will be shut down in less than a year. Stupid is as stupid does and the staff at this establishment despite being somewhat cordial had no interest in their patrons and they simply were not taught in how to do that. There are other good venues to get breakfast and lunch in this cute town where staff has better intuition, pace and enthusiasm. -
Review from Caitlin B.
Washington, DC
4/21/2010
We went late on a Sunday, were seated immediately, and had a great brunch.
Portions are smallish and service is overwhelmed, but there's still a lot to love about this place. We had the veggie benedict, pesto omelette, mimosas, and bloody mary's with the apple-raspberry crumble for dessert. The eggs were made exactly as we asked, home fries were perfectly seasoned, and the drinks definitely hit the spot on a lazy weekend afternoon.
Go with a friend and your patience to linger over a late brunch and I'm sure that you'll leave happy! -
Review from Michael M.
Annapolis, MD
3/3/2010
Slow, inefficient, small servings simply overwhelm the quaintness of this place. It's a place you want to like when you first come in...if you're like me, the only thing you liked about it was leaving. More than an hour waiting, not good. More than an hour waiting with no explanation, no apology, no "can I refresh your water," nada. We felt guilty for starving! [No the place wasn't crowded, yes we had a group of 10 at 2 tables.]
My guess is that with a more responsive server and a smaller group we might have had a better time. We come through town periodically and have found several very interesting places. If we lived there we might give it another try, but there are just too many choices in this great little town. Pull it together, Backside...you can be better! -
Review from Sam K.
Warren, VT
6/12/2011
Food OK, s-l-o-w service. Overall, very mediocre.
-
Review from Greycella L.
Brattleboro, VT
12/13/2006
My toddler-toting friend and I went to breakfast at the Backside this morning, though I hardly needed to go to give the lowdown on this place. It's kitchen is fairly reliable in delivering better than decent fare and the menu boasts very reasonable prices- My ham and cheddar omlette with (well seasoned) homefries and toast ran me five dollars and fifty cents plus tax and tip. The service also lived up to my expectations for better or for worse, in that it seemed that one waitress was doing a roomful of tables on top of various prep jobs and thus it was very, very slow- but I couldn't really fault her. Not outstanding overall, but a solid choice- even better on weekend brunches when they're doing eggs bendict and mimosas are more appropriate. And my bite-sized friend was quite pleased with the crayon selection and the colorbook, so kudos for that.
-
Review from Justin B.
Oceanside, NY
1/5/2011
Was just here after spending new years weekend in brattleboro and stopped here for brunch. It was honestly the worst dining experience we've had in quite some time.
After waiting incredibly long for our food we received 2 awful versions of pretty basic orders. My huevos rancheros was pretty much a mush of microwaved tasting refried beans with eggs in it, my girlfriend ordered a tuna melt and the tuna was verrry foul tasting.
We would have said something if ANYONE maybe checked on us, but that was not happening here. Go anywhere else, its not good. -
Review from Benjamin Z.
Brattleboro, VT
8/22/2010
I've gone here several times for breakfast and really enjoyed the food. I kind of like the view of harmony parking lot. The staff has always been nice but they seem a little slow. It often looks like they are super busy even if there are only two tables occupied. The Backside Cafe has been my go-to spot for breakfast or brunch when we have guests visiting and I'm too beat to cook breakfast myself. It's kind of hard to find but I'd recommend giving it a shot.
