Eating L.A. was hoping to bring you a report on Netty's new brunch menu, but when we arrived at Netty's to meet Chris and Deborah Sunday morning at 10, we realized that Netty's doesn't open until 11 on weekends. So we decided to join the line of dogs and their owners at the Backdoor Bakery and see how this little cafe has weathered the last 10 or 12 years. Like many dogless longtime Silver Lake residents, I normally avoid the Backdoor because 1) when dogs outnumber people, there's a fairly high chance a dogfight will occur right under your table 2) some of the baked goods I've tried have been constructed with variations of rotten fruit or raw fruit that left a bad taste in my mouth 3) for the first several years of their existence, they inexplicably refused to make me an ice tea, which I found annoying and lastly, 4) once I was taking a picture of the sidewalk tables for an article I was doing on Silver Lake and someone came out and threatened me, trying to demand I give them the film from my camera.
But ok, let's let bygones be bygones -- the line moves at a decent clip, we order up some coffee and egg dishes and find an outside table. Admittedly, the tables have seemingly not been cleaned since my daughter's nursery school class decorated them in 1996 or so, and the "B" health rating reflects the rather leisurely approach to hygiene. But Matt's egg and cheese sandwich, Deborah's eggs and herbed toast with fruit and Chris's and my bagels were all perfectly fine. The coffee has improved a bit in the last 10 years, too. And everything arrived much more quickly than I remembered.
Verdict: If you need a convenient place to meet someone, and especially if you want to take your dog, the Backdoor Bakery offers a competent if not inspired menu. But with Netty's working on a reconception, maybe it's time to give the place a good cleaning and spiff things up like the rest of the neighborhood. I'm still not sure if you can get an ice tea, however.
Backdoor Bakery
1710 Silver Lake Blvd.
(323) 662-7927
9 comments:
You said that you normally avoid Netty's, but I think you meant
to say that you normally avoid Backdoor Bakery.
I mention this only because I, too,
avoid Backdoor Bakery.
But if you do not have a dog and can be patient for the next few weeks, the addition to Blairs on Rowena should be open for breakfast and lunch.
Now if Marshall is permitted to place tables outside, then maybe even pooch will be welcome.
I moved to Silver Lake 10 years ago from San Francisco. Back then there were very little options in the neighborhood other than the Backboor Bakery and Cafe Tropical, both vile in my opinion. I remember being amazed at how backward LA seemed in comparison to other cities in regards to urban amenities. Thankfully the last ten years has changed all of that. I'm just waiting for the Backdoor Bakery to catch up to the rest of the neighborhood. Imagine the possibilities with that location.
Our first experience with the Backdoor Bakery was a test in patience. We had to actually cross the street to the 7-11 to get some sort of drink due to the slow service, and we watched 4-5 people leave after waiting to be served after being seated. Our food was decent: they cooked my hash browns to a burnt crisp, my croissant was good, but my bacon was overcooked. At the least, the staff there should have apologized for the wait.ez044864
Is there another Back Door? Because I think the place rocks! I've never had a bad meal there or anything. Their pastries are the best!
They do serve iced tea.
I find the hash browns vile, but everything else is pretty good now compared to when I lived down the street 10 years ago.
You must have had one pretty bad day there. I've never had rotten fruit in my blueberry croissant, my recent addiction. I'm also not seeing the dirty tables that you mentioned.
It surprises me to see such strong words against this place. I think it's a breath of fresh air. Or maybe I should say a breath of yeasty, bready air.
I did like their eggs and hash browns alot. They were more than fine. IN fact, just writing this makes me want to go back and have an egg sandwich and hash browns right now!
no crying over spilled ice tea, the landord gave em the boot
I liked the Backdoor Bakery because I have a dog. The owners were cool they just didnt hire the best people. Some of them were total silver lake hipster lewzers who often needed either a bath, haircut, new clothes, reality check or all of the above. But the owners were very sweet people.
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