Photo by Cliff Grassmick

Betsy Workman, owner of the B Side Lounge, does some dusting before opening.

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Review: Namaste Nepal

Food 2½ stars

Service 2½ stars

Ambience 3 stars

$$$

The b.side lounge sits in the former spot of Trilogy Wine Bar. For fans of Trilogy, it's hard not to feel the former restaurant's presence in the new place. Yes, the triangular wine rack behind the bar has been replaced by a water-fountain sculpture. And the walls are now an attractive crimson rather than cream. But the ghost of Trilogy still seems to haunt the place, in everything from the friendly staff, some of whom used to work at Trilogy, to the small-plates menu and happy-hour wine specials.

The b.side does have a new chef and menu, though, so I thought I'd sample the fare. The menu looks appealing. It's broad and interesting, running the gamut from chicken shawarma to cheese fondue. What I found, though, was that the food is inconsistent and the prices are expensive for what you get.

The b.side is a great place to go for happy hour. The bottomless wine special is a deal -- during happy hour, $5.75 and the purchase of an appetizer get you unlimited refills on house wine. But for dinner, there are better bets in town.

The small-plates menu is divided into cold and hot plates. I'll start with the cold ones. The house salad ($5) is a good option. It's slightly overdressed but very fresh, with toasted pine nuts adding crunch and richness. Another tasty choice, particularly this time of year, are the caprese skewers. A stick spears basil leaves, cherry tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella. Balsamic dressing sets off these flavors. Still, at $5 for two small skewers, I wouldn't order this again.

The hot plates are also often overpriced. The cheese fondue ($12) has that properly sublime mix of Gruyère cheese, wine and kirsch. But there's not that much cheese in the pot, and the accompanying bread and steamed potatoes are too soft for easy dipping. Still, the cheese, nutty and smooth, tastes delicious.

Other dishes don't. The samosas ($7) proved heavy and bland. The pierogies ($8) were topped with caramelized apples, cinnamon and a squash sauce, which sounded appealing but made the dish too sweet. The b.side even botched relatively simple fare like sweet potato fries. These were undercooked and tart.

The puzzling thing about b.side's food was that other dishes, ones much harder to make than fries, were excellent. Some lamb chops ($15) arrived perfectly cooked. The meat came with a beautiful red pepper, stuffed with a refreshing tabouleh-like filling. This was an artfully presented, well-constructed dish.

There are some cheaper options that taste good, too. The coconut shrimp ($7) are golden and crispy, with the spicy ginger sauce setting off the sweetness of the shrimp and coconut batter. The affordable spinach pie ($4) is another winner. Here Phyllo dough encases the spinach filling, and the entire dish is topped with a cucumber yogurt sauce. The flavors mix well.

In general, though, the lounge isn't the best place to satisfy your hunger. You'd need two of the bigger plates, or up to five of the small ones, to make a meal. This will run you $25, at which point why not head for the Kitchen instead? Of course, the purpose of a small-plate menu is to offer appetizers rather than dinner. And in some cases, that works. But in others, you end up paying entrée prices without getting entrée portions. So it's smarter to stick to some well-chosen snacks.

Service at b.side is good. I had the same server on both my visits, and she was friendly, helpful, and most importantly, generous with wine refills. On one visit we did have to wait several minutes to get our orders taken, but after that she went out of her way to be accommodating.

She also told us that b.side's owner, Betsy Workman, named the lounge after the b-side of records. "b.side" invokes both the lounge's musical offerings -- like Trilogy, it hosts many live acts -- and its slightly off-the-beaten path location. The b.side's spot is just north of Pearl Street. The area still offers prime people-watching, but it also feels relaxed. The Environment Colorado people are nowhere to be seen. The street performers are a block away. On one of my visits, the ZIP Code Man walked by the b.side, done with his act for the time being. A man sitting nearby held up his baby.

"What's her ZIP code?" he asked.

The ZIP Code Man looked at the father, looked at the baby and said, "80302."

He was right. It was the ZIP code we happened to be in, but he still impressed everyone.

As for the effect the b.side will have on ZIP code 80302, that remains to be seen. It's an appealing spot for happy hour. And the strength of some of the lounge's small plates suggest it could be an attractive place for dinner. That will require tweaking some dishes and eliminating others, but doing so would provide some welcome consistency to the menu.

Contact Camera Dining Critic Meg Tilton at boulderdining@gmail.com.