Highland Coffee House

An ethnic place with #tasty cappuccino. Opens 5pm till 2:30am daily, nice for late hangouts. No friendly staff on Tuesday evening though.

Normally, I have great experiences here - I buy my coffee, no problems, and have ALWAYS tipped when I've gone. I am a frequent visitor of this coffee joint (maybe twice a week) - and again, have ALWAYS tipped. Last night, I spent the $6 on a cup of cider, and Rob (or Ray, whichever one has the long hair) simply dropped it off at my table. No issues, everything was fine.
An hour or so later, I walk up to check out and decide not to leave a tip - which is my own decision and which is perfectly acceptable. I'm then standing around my friend's table, saying goodbye, when Ray waves my receipt around and says, "By the way, we only make $3 an hour - so tips are appreciated. If you had friends who were servers you would know that."
I was speechless - this was probably the rudest customer service I'd ever had. I am livid about this - literally enough to make me never want to go back. If I'm going to tip, I'm tipping for receiving good and KIND service - which I did not receive last night. I couldn't believe he called me out in front of everyone for my own financial decision.

Very disappointed I have to leave this review, but I'm disgusted he hassled me for a tip for what was already a $6 drink. This staff needs to learn how to quite literally just be kind to their customers - before they lose all of them.

Great indie vibe. Huge beer list, boozy coffee drinks, and great looking desserts.
It’s hard to find a genuine coffee house (90’s style before Starbucks made it trendy).
Bartender/Barista was cool and the place stayed busy without being crowded.
Ancient building with wood floors/panels.
Highly recommended.

Way too expensive!

Food and drinks are way too expensive for such small portions, there’s a $5 minimum for debit card (so I cant just buy something quick), they enforce a $6/hour minimum or they’ll charge you a study fee, every person at the table has to pay, so you can’t sit peacefully with your friends.

I do not recommend this place unless they change prices. Sucks for broke college kids!

The atmosphere is super neat, the white chocolate raspberry latte was delicious, and Jay is a class act. Nuff said.

barista guy with long hair is extremely rude, yelled at our group for studying there even though we bought coffee and lectured that this is a bar not a coffee shop (even though the name literally has "coffee house" in it?)

also tables are tiny, very expensive, there are definitely better coffee shops around especially for students

Upon entering the coffee shop, the atmosphere was great. My friend and I went together to sit down and get some homework done. When we sat down we were greeted by the barista/owner, so we tried to make a simple conversation. A simple, “how’s your day going”, we got responded with “I don’t have time to talk about that. what do u want to order”. First of all, rude. We got our drinks, an iced vanilla latte, and a cream soda float. The cream soda was fine, but made with Kroger brand ice-cream, absolutely not worth $7. The latte was so overly sweet with vanilla, it was disgusting to drink. While going to pay, my friend did not tip, as she did not enjoy her beverage, nor the snarky remark made by the barista. He then proceeded to confront and shame her for not leaving a tip, saying something related to “we aren’t payed hourly, only by tips. So when you don’t tip, I make no money, when you sit here for 3 hours. Ask your server friends, they will tell you”. In our opinion, tips are DESERVED, not expected when going into an establishment. This is not the first incident we’ve had here, but I can easily say we will not be returning.

Terrific service, drink menu, and ambience. Great place to meet up with friends, play a game of Scrabble, or study. I have loved this place for forty years.

A cozy late-night cafe and hangout. Eclectic and ambient personality infused into every inch of the spacious and relaxed establishment. Quick, friendly, attentive staff to go over any questions about the eccentric menu.

love this place so much. all the og bartenders are fantastic. new younger dude is kindof a jerk tho. it was 11pm and cut off half the menu, yelled at me for asking if i could order toast like i have been for years, and made the weakest drink i have ever had there. i miss the baby old bartenders. great spot tho