Backstreet Cafe

A cool place to eat if you are visiting sunset beach. Many sandwich options. The food was hot and fresh. The staff is friendly and the service is fast. I would go again if i get a chance.

Bottom line: The cost, the rude manager and the overall vibe of the place (dark, dingy, and stingy) have convinced me to never go back. Ew.
I’ve eaten here several times for lunch because it’s conveniently close to where we stay when we’re at the coast, the menu is large and varied, and they reportedly make a lot of their items from scratch. The food I’ve had was pretty good, especially for this area, but not exceptional, and when you factor the cost in, it’s not worth it: With 15% tip, a buffalo chicken wrap with drink will cost over $ 13. The sides (potato salad, slaw, etc.) are tiny — they come in barely filled 2 oz. plastic condiment cups. If you want the soup of the day, too, your lunch will cost nearly $ 20. They don’t do a sandwich/​soup combo and seem to resent it if you ask.
I feel compelled to leave a review, though, because the manager/​owner has been so rude on two separate occasions. I just ignored it the first time… bad day, or whatever, but bad attitude seems more likely.
Today when he asked how it was, I told him, well, it was fine — and not to complain (because I drank half of it!) — the tea tasted old. I said this quietly, so others wouldn’t hear, but he raised his voice, bowed his back, and loudly denied that it could possibly be old. He looked incredulously at one of his wait staff and encouraged her to collude with him. Fine, I could see my opinion was not appreciated at all, so I just dropped it. He snapped, obviously irritated, that he was sorry, turned his back and walked away! Someone else came over to ring me up. Really unnecessarily unpleasant.
I drink tea everywhere, including many other restaurants in this area, and I know if it’s good or not. I would think if you have a café like this, you would want to know if things aren’t up to par so you can fix them. Apparently not.

Time for an update! I’ve continued to go to Backstreet Café for various meals and snacks. The service (seated or takeout) has continued to be friendly and prompt and the food is always enjoyable and tasty. Today I was served three of the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever tasted — a total delight. You really can’t go wrong here — whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or scones and tea/​coffee. It’s a nice place to relax and enjoy excellent food.

Before heading back home, my friend and I wanted to grab lunch. After doing a little bit of searching, this place seemed perfect. The menu was definitely promising. We get there on a Sunday a little before 12. When you walk in, you can immediately smell the food, and it smelled great. We were seated promptly and the server took our drinks. After looking at the menu, I knew I wanted to try their burgers. Unfortunately, they don’t make burgers on Sunday’s. I didn’t know so I decided to look more while my friend ordered the chili. They didn’t have that either. If we wanted French fries, we couldn’t get them either. I was disappointed that we didn’t get what we originally wanted. I settled for their Tribecca sandwich, which had roast beef, and my friend got the Greek salad. My friend liked the salad, but I wasn’t fully sold on the sandwich.
Overall, I would probably venture out to new places before coming back again.

We had some time in between appointments in Sunset Beach and found Backstreet Café and decided to try it. We shared the Turkey Wrapper with the homemade macaroni salad and the Turkey BLT wrap with the homemade coleslaw. Absolutely delicious! Add the friendly staff and a wonderful environment and you cannot go wrong.

Food was amazing. Our group tried the steak sandwich, white chicken chili, hambugers, and blackened Mahi. But the winner of the day was the crab and tomato quiche.
The service left us a little disappointed as the waitress seemed as if she could not hear or comprehend our orders. The Mahi sandwich came out incorrect.
A friend found a hair in her cheeseburger as well.
Also, the sweet tea tasted as if it came from a powdered mix. Our entire table could not drink the tea because it was so bad.
Also, the waitress wiped the table with a rag that was clearly not clean as then all we could smell was a horrible sour smell.
So basically — food is great (as long as you don’t get a hair in it), avoid the fake tea, and have the waitress read our order back to you.

What a great find. Very clean and staff so friendly. Service was very pleasant and good. I had quiche and salad and would definitely get again. Look forward to trying their breakfast.

This place is a jewel! I went for breakfast a few times while on vacation. We had the spinach & feta omelet, blueberry pancakes, and the All-​American. All were great! Add the friendly employees and good prices, and you have a winner!!!

This is a great escape spot. Whenever I need to get some quiet time for writing I head over here. They have delicious sandwiches (loved the turkey Brie panini special), good coffee (the iced mocha was perfect for the hot weather), and delicious cake (hummingbird cake was amazing). The wait staff is attentive and friendly. I’m heading there now to try breakfast (and get some work done).

I went here this morning with my wife to get some coffee drinks to go. I can’t speak for the food, but the coffee drinks we got were honestly some of the worst coffee drinks I have ever had. The coffee was watered down and hardly had a coffee taste for my drink (iced latte) and my wife’s drink didn’t taste at all like what she ordered (white chocolate mocha). The people working there were friendly enough and the atmosphere was pretty nice as well. You can use chalk to write on the walls next to your table if you choose to eat here so I thought that was pretty cool. Maybe the food is decent but definitely would not go back here for the coffee again.

A great find! They have so many choices for breakfast! I got a breakfast combo of two eggs, bacon, hash brown potatoes, and toast. Everything was freshly made and really tasty.

What a great find! «Hidden» behind the Food Lion. Friendly and attentive service. Excellent good.
We had a Backstreet Burger — perfectly cooked to order. Great combination of ingredients. The steak fries are unique and delicious. Also had a huge cup of gazpacho (wonder how big the bowl is) — fresh and flavorful. The Crabcake BLT was amazing — lots of crabmeat and bacon.

Came in for coffee and ended up with a breakfast burrito. Great atmosphere and great employees. This is a must visit!

This is place is fantastic.
Fresh, healthy, creative things on the menu (SB is not really known for this idea).
Veggie wrap, white bean chicken chili, quiche o’the day all consistently superb.
Besides the staples, they rotate some great specials.
Owners are terrific and bring stories of far away and forgotten lands. Wait staff very pleasant and efficient.
Sure would love to see dinner at least one night a week. Sure would love to see open mic small jams in the inviting sofa corner up front too.
If you are even thinking about a deep-​fried, greezy Calabash experience, turn the car around now and support this local haunt. It will not disappoint.
Besides, you can get greezy, lo-​grade faux seafood from people who don’t care about you almost anywhere.

Went here around 12:15 for coffee. There were two women behind the counter. Each separately asked my boyfriend and I if we wanted to order take our or sit down. To which we replied «we’d like to order coffee to go»
Both women said they’d be right with us and continued to get coffee, take orders etc for the people sitting down.
I understand they were busy but they should have either a.) taken our orders so we could sit and wait or b.) told us it would be a few minutes and to have a seat
The girl who finally took our orders for coffee must have been new. She took our orders but had to wait for the other woman to come over and show her how to make our drinks. At that point a large group of people came up to check out and the younger girl was left unsupervised to make our drinks.
The coffee was okay, but nothing to write home about. The food smelled delicious and I’d like to come back and try it at some point. At the start of this review I had given them 4 stars, but as I continued to write the review I realized they didn’t deserve 4 stars and I reduced it to 3.
Overall I would definitely give them a second try. Perhaps the food is better than the coffee.

We always stop here for a quick breakfast on our way out of town after vacationing at Sunset Beach. It’s much better than the bagel place and we’ve never seen it busy.

Blown away by the food here. It’s low to moderately priced and tastes exceptional. The staff is friendly and very quick. And they even pulled some money from our bill because we ordered lattes instead of opting for the free coffee. We will be coming back over and over again.
Also try the salsa (they sell it by the ½lb too). It’s fantastic and smoky.

Such a cute and welcoming atmosphere. My family and I don’t live in Ocean Isle, but we come here every year and just noticed it one morning. The staff is very friendly and the food is excellent, more so the owner himself sat and talked with us for a moment about the business! I would definitely recommend this as an ocean isle experience for breakfast or lunch!

Would have loved to have tried the food, but didn’t have enough time. We waited 15 minutes while the one waitress busses tables, delivered drinks. And still had not taken the order of the family of 4 in front of my wife and I. This was at 11:30 on the Sunday before labor day ! One table of 4 sitting, and a family of 4 waiting to order .
Hope to actually try the food soon. Have heard good things.

The foodie’s quest is the perfect bite, not just the food but also the atmosphere, the technique, the presentation, the setting and the surroundings; the total experience. I think I’ve discovered a hidden little gem in the Backstreet Café in Sunset Beach near the Ingram Planetarium.
I dropped in about 45 minutes before closing (Hours are: Mon — Sat: 8:00 am — 4:00 pm
Sun: 9:00 am — 2:00 pm) and was waited on promptly and never having been there, or actually having noticed this place even though I’m in the area often, I decided to go with one of the specials, «Crab Cake BLT.» I’m a slave to seafood, particularly seafood well presented and this sandwich, I have to say, absolutely makes the grade, «A+.»
Plus: The restaurant, thirty minutes before closing, after a full breakfast and lunch service, was clean and neat as a pin; don’t see that very often. I like a clean, well-​lighted place and this one fit the bill.
The sandwich: Toasted bread, sauce, a ton of crisp cured bacon, fresh lettuce, a slab, not a slice, of tomato at least a half-​inch thick, topped with a crab cake, a real one, backfin and lump, the real deal, sauteed to perfection. Good Lord. All this sandwich needed was a dash of black pepper on the tomato to be the perfect bite and folks, it was. This came served with a small container of pasta salad and a delicious deli dill pickle wedge but I wasn’t able to eat the whole sandwich, much less the pasta, so if you’re ordering this, you won’t need anything else with it. It’s a meal in itself. Highly recommend this 12 buck masterpiece. Bonus: They serve Pure Leaf Iced Tea, a personal fave.
The café has a small front on the street in Sunset Village Shops nearest street to Ingram Planetarium and is near a bookstore and some ladies shops, pristine clean surroundings and if you didn’t know better you’d think you were in an urban setting with a gorgeous little bistro right in the middle. The restaurant is shotgun style, long and narrow, seats more than you’d think and is a perfect place for coffee and book groups, live acoustic music (which they do have on occasion) and has a small intimate sofas and chairs area at the front if you want to read, check your email or wait on your take-​out order. They also cater events and one friend who has used them locally says they’re great.
The menu is on a twenty-​foot chalkboard on the wall, much as you’d see in any upscale bistro in any major city and whoever the cook is, he came to play and brought his A-​Game, bringing some sandwich, soup and salad concepts that bring exceptional flavor to this small area.
Apparently this is a former deli that has now found its true calling as a bistro-​style café serving all manner of sandwiches, soups, breakfast, pastries, coffee drinks of uncountable variation and the potential for this little jewel is limitless. I truly hope this place continues to evolve into what it appears it could be: The premier coffee house and lunch/​brunch venue in the area.
Prices are low to moderate and I’m giving this one a huge Thumbs Up. It’s a winner.