Nestled in the heart of Oak Cliff’s Elmwood neighborhood, B-Side Coffee is a place for the community.
Located in the spot previously occupied by Peaberry Coffee and owned by Whitney and Caleb Marsh, B-Side strives to be a “third space” for neighbors.
“We’re really into sharing the space,” Whitney says. “It’s a great space, and we’ve worked really hard on it, it’s just for everyone in our community to utilize. We’ve always been really into welcoming people into our home. And this space is definitely a reflection of our home, and it looks just like our house and feels like our house. We’ve always been hosts, and so this allows us to do that every day.”
The space is accommodating for all, and even offers a play area for children.
“Our neighborhood is full of families, so we just wanted a place where you could get a cup of coffee and relax but the kids were entertained, and it’s been a huge hit. It’s cool to see people coexist too. It’s like people who are working from home that don’t have kids can come in here and work on one side or in here with kids who are playing in the play area. It’s pretty cool.”
B-Side is the only cafe in Dallas that offers Big Bend Coffee Roasters, a line of organic and fair trade coffee from Marfa, Texas. Along with a traditional coffee menu, B-Side offers a lineup of specialty lattes such as The Kennedy with sweet cream and whiskey flavoring and seasonal offerings.
“Coffee has notoriously been a little bit snobby in the past, and our whole thing is approachable craft coffee,” Whitney says. “We want really high-quality coffee, but if you’re used to drinking like a caramel frappuccino from Starbucks, like I got something. I’m not too good to serve you what you like, and I think that’s something that a lot of coffee shops miss — being approachable. We just want to be a place for literally anybody to come.”
The name of the shop pays homage to the roots of the building.
“This space right here was a recording studio for 40 years,” Whitney says. “When we bought the space, we were like, ‘I want to honor its history, but also revitalize it.’”
With a full-time pastry chef with experience at the Crescent Hotel and Petra and the Beast, B-Side is offering plenty of pastries and sandwiches such as pesto chicken or a massive chicken salad croissant.
The artwork lining the walls of the coffee shop is from local artists.
“I feel like we really do try to give back to the community in that sense, like show art and provide a space for people to show their craft,” Whitney says. “We just let them put their art up and we host a reception for them. So it’s been really good for the artists.”
Events, birthday parties, and even weddings have taken place in B-Side, and the Marsh’s have achieved their goal of becoming the cozy coffee shop destination in Dallas.
“Anytime we’ve traveled or anywhere we’ve lived — we’ve always been city people — we’ve always sought after, cool coffee spots,” Whitney says. “And so we knew what we wanted to create as far as that goes. It feels great. It feels like people love it here, and that feels really like a gift in itself.”
B-Side Coffee, 2105 S Edgefield Ave., 972.803.3527
