Last night was the grand opening of The Heights, a new restaurant a few blocks from us. The wife and I went with a friend of hers visiting for the weekend.
First of all, it was packed. We waited probably half an hour. It wasn’t too bad – we found a spot at the bar to wait. The staff all seemed a little nervous, but very friendly and attentive. The food was very good. The buffalo shrimp appetizer was very good, and my tilapia with rice was also very good. The wife tried their frozen mojito, which she liked. We had a caramel banana cake thing for dessert, which was quite nice.
The staff was a little overwhelming. We had at least 5 people bring us things or take things from our table. But the service was good, and everyone who did come to the table was very pleasant. It was a little warm in the restaurant.
I really liked the bathroom – nice stone tiles and funky orange walls. The finish on the construction left a little to be desired. However, they plainly aren’t quite finished with the construction. The floor of the entire restaurant is still bare concrete. So maybe they’ll polish off the bathroom soon.
Anyway, I’m glad to have them here in the neighborhood. And it will be really cool when they open up the outdoor patio, which I think will just about double the capacity.
Afterwards, we went up to the Marx Cafe in Mount Pleasant. That just might be my new favorite low-key bar. The place looks like a barn or something. Lots of exposed wood, as if it’s still being built. The wife’s friend said it looked kind of like a wine cellar – they have bottles over the bar on some kind of strange shelves.
The beer selection is odd but good. They serve beers I’ve never heard of in glasses with the name of the beer on it. The service was great. The waitress even laughed at a marginally funny comment I made, which is always nice. There was a slightly obnoxious group next to us, but not too terrible. And the music was fantastic. Apparently the DJ for most of the night is only there once a month or so, but he played nothing I’d ever heard before, and nothing I didn’t like. Not that I would go out and buy everything he played or anything like that. But you know how the bar always plays some really horrific stuff at some point, like some Jane’s Addiction or some other intolerable crap? This bar played none of that. And they have a really interesting menu, although we didn’t try anything. Maybe next time.
Anyway, I heartily recommend both.
