The outsiders

B Street Café, which is new to downtown Sparks, went up in the space where a building once stood. The empty lot next to the Cantina Los Tres Hombres is now home to an outdoor eatery. The area is fenced off with a counter at the front for ordering. Inside the fence, B Street Café has renovated the empty space by adding textured concrete, trees and bushes throughout. Paired with the metal tables and large umbrellas, it’s a pretty and inviting space. Brick walls surround you with strings of lights hanging across the patio and a small stage area in the back.

I invited my friends Dustin and Denny with me to check out B Street Café. We spent a few minutes at the counter deciding what we wanted and were happy to see that bottomless mimosas ($10) were being offered. Even better, the mimosas came with fresh squeezed orange juice. We went with the eggs Benedict ($10), an egg scramble with apple-smoked bacon ($9), and the apple cinnamon French toast ($9). We placed our orders, were given a number, and headed to one of the patio tables.

The place is more of a self-service style joint, with a coffee bar setup near the counter. While the waitress would occasionally come around with a pitcher of mimosas, we found ourselves wandering back to the counter from time to time. The waitress was very friendly, but she seemed a bit lost and overwhelmed despite the fact that only two other tables were occupied. When I found out that the food from B Street came from the same kitchen as the Cantina, I felt a little deceived, as I’m generally not a huge fan of the Cantina.

When the food arrived, it left a lot to be desired. The presentation was plain and sloppy. The eggs Benedict was covered in a Hollandaise sauce that was too heavy. The English muffin wasn’t toasted, and the eggs were so overcooked that the yoke was hard boiled. The slice of ham appeared to come pre-sliced from a package.

The scramble was still runny while the bacon was overcooked and chewy. There were lots of peppers in the scramble, which I didn’t mind, but they weren’t listed on the menu. The scramble was paired with two large pieces of French bread, which seemed out of place.

The French toast fared the best, with a nice cinnamon flavor to it, although because the bread was so thick, it needed to be soaked longer in the egg mixture. Both the Benedict and the French toast came with some fresh fruit that was very nice. When the waitress came by to ask how everything was, I told her the scramble and eggs Benedict, which both remained mostly uneaten, were not good and told her the issues. She commented that someone else had complained the eggs Benedict was overcooked, apologized and walked away.

B Street Café just opened a few weeks ago. However, when you have an outdoor establishment that will only be open through October, you don’t have a lot of time to get your act together. Also, when your food is coming from the kitchen of a restaurant that’s been open a long time, I expect more. But what they do have going is a vision. I’m not going to write B Street Café off just yet, and if anything, it seems like a wonderful place to have a drink, listen to music and enjoy the surroundings.