The Heights is hidden up a narrow stairwell, but it’s worth the trek. The small room gets full fast and this is a popular place with slightly older students who have grown weary of the West End and Nacho Mama’s up the street. When it’s warm outside, the roof is open to customers, which is a nice change from the small indoor room. Some brave souls eat out there in October, but I’ve never been that daring.
The place doubles as a restaurant during the day and the food is good, with mainly Mexican choices, including burritos, nachos, fajitas, and black bean soup. There’s also an excellent brunch on weekends for a decent price.
In terms of drinks, they have a good range of beers and decent mixed drinks, including frozen fruit margaritas. But the best value for money is Happy Hour on weeknights (yes, that includes those party nights Thursday and Friday) from 11pm to 1am when most mixed drinks, beers, and margaritas are about $3. The drink specials vary too and there are often Jell-O shots. However, watch out for the sangria – I don’t know what recipe they use, but it’s terrible.
Be aware that if you want to start drinking early, go somewhere else until about 9pm because they won’t seat you for drinks until dinnertime is officially over. But the food is good, so maybe you should just make a night of it: dinner and drinks at the Heights!
All in all, a good choice if you’re looking for a slightly older undergraduate crowd and are around for Happy Hour.