Highlands Cafe

I don’t think the food is terrible, but it’s hard to work up any real level of excitement about this place. I’ve been there many times, largely due to the fact that I lived on the UES for a long time and my parents are very unadventurous, and I’ve always wished I liked it more than I actually do. The food is basically passable, with average diner prices. I think I’ve hit most parts of their menu, but I mainly stick to omelettes, turkey burgers, or Thanksgiving-​ish type entrees. Again, all passable, but you could do way better elsewhere.
The one thing I will say that they do very well is matzoh ball soup. It’s not as good as a true Jewish deli (e.g. Pastrami Queen, if you’re in that area), but it’s really solid, and the one standout dish I’ve had here.

I went for breakfast, so my review is strictly for that only. Pros: the booths are large and comfortable. The waitress was friendly and kept checking on our coffee cups. Cons: expensive compared to other dinners in the UES. My eggs, hash browns, and toast were all cold, lukewarm at best. There are plenty of other dinners on the UES, I don’t think I will give this one a second chance.

Bland, overpriced food. They also didn’t include items that should be part of the meal (no coleslaw or pickle that were advertised in menu).

Do not go here. I mean seriously they hired the most idiotic people in the world to work here: these people have no clue how to wait on someone and have no fucking idea that if a customer walks in and sits down you need to give them a fucking menu. My girlfriend and I walked in and the woman told us we can sit anywhere and we did… And then we waited. And waited. And waited and these clueless people walked right on by us without greeting or giving us a menu. Why bother??! We picked up our stuff and left, we are never going back and will tell every single person to stay away from this awful place. How absolutely disgusting. They were more concerned with getting people’s money than even serving. Absolutely disgusting.

Food was great, service okay but conversation between cashier and consumer were very unwelcoming if you were Muslim or Mexican.

Went to the restaurant which was largely empty because it was the day of the marathon. Was going to catch a late movie. They took 25 minutes and burned both the meatloaf I ordered (black) and my friends chicken. The waiter then tried to excuse it by saying that my friend had requested well done, obviously that does not mean burned. I have rarely found a deli that could mess up a meatloaf, well I finally found one.

Highlands Café is a passable diner, but I’ve experienced much better.
I got a tuna melt, and the friends I was with ordered chicken tenders and a gyro sandwich. The tuna melt was cold, my friend had to hunt in her gyro to find the meat, and all of our orders came out at different times.
Our waiter was inattentive and forgetful. At the end of our meal, he accidentally overcharged us and then returned to change our bill (which was appreciated), but then proceeded to subject us to a several minute-​long monologue about how he changed our bill because «God was watching» and he didn’t want to go to hell. It was an uncomfortable moment.
If you’re looking for a great diner in the area, a good choice is The Mansion on 86^th and York. It’s a similar price range, but much better food and service.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… I almost gave this place 1 star, but I didn’t get food poisoning or anything and the service was good… but I wouldn’t come here again for a few reasons:
1) Price. We were looking for a cheap diner, and the outside looks as such… but the prices are like those of a nice italian restaurant! I ordered the cheapest thing there, which was the chicken on pita… and I was still not that happy with the price: quality ratio.
2) The food. My order was chicken on pita… which was literally a slice of pita bread, 3 slabs of chicken, and 1 bunch of lettuce/​1 slice of tomato. Such a disappointment! My friend’s (expensive) salad apparently was good though, and very large portion.
3) Flies in the diner.
Service was fine, but would rather go to a hole-​in-​the wall type place than come here again.

Unfortunately Unilocal gives no opportunity to chose zero stars.
Filthy, poor quality food, and the rudest wait staff I’ve experienced in NY. If this place passed inspection it cost them some cash
Gave it three shots since I live about 50 yards away, and it just kept getting worse.
At least the coffee was good, but check your cup before letting them pour… they are rarely clean.

Food was mediocre; the potato salad was essentially inedible because it was so sour and the chicken salad wrap was basically half tomato/​lettuce. Our waiter was an older gentleman, who while very nice, appeared to be hard of hearing and we had to continually call after him to be noticed. There are a number of different diners in the area and while I have not dined at all of them, I would be surprised if they provided lower quality food than the Highlands.

Terrible service, the waiter never came back to refill water glasses and had an attitude. How dare we want drinks and food. Speaking of, the food at best completely oozes mediocrity. My burger was the equivalent of a Wednesday, totally forgettable. The onion rings were definitely fake frozen onion rings, no self respecting diner should forgo having real onion rings. Turrible.

Great little diner! One of the best waffles I’ve had in a while. Nothing fancy our frilly, just a perfect little joint for a good olé breakfast with friends!

Wow! How is this horrible place in business?!! Will start by saying the server and busser were super nice and helpful, this review is again directed at the old hostess lady that manages (or owns) the place. This woman is a straight up asshole, as previous reviews show! I arrived at noon and was told, «please, sit anywhere.» 40 minutes later, she tells me I have to move because other people need to sit down (I sat down in a booth). Nevermind I would bit have sat in a 4 top if THEY hadn’t told me, «sit anywhere,» but there was another open four top and yet she insisted i leave my seat! I work nearby and will never come back due to this lady’s extreme RUDENESS! In a previous review someone had said she slapped on of her employees, not surprised at all to read this. DO NOT EAT HERE!!!

This place is not good. The menu is huge, so it makes you think you can’t go wrong. But…
I came here years ago, didn’t love it but then decided to give it a go a few years later when other places were too busy for brunch.
The coffee isn’t anything great. Mixed greens on the side with eggs for brunch includes a leaf of iceberg lettuce and a tomato, which there is an extra charge for. The breakfast potatoes have no taste.
The waiter was very nice, but he stood in the corner and picked his wedgie more than he asked us if we needed anything (true story).
I hope they get a new chef because this place could have potential. Until then, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Not leaving an easy 1-​star here because the food was really good and Cesar is a really good waiter. Attentive, polite, good attention to detail, etc. The reason I’m leaving 2 stars (instead of 5, really) is because the manager /​hostess is supremely rude, and got into a shouting match with one of my friends. First off, when I asked for a fourth menu for a friend who was across the street at the ATM, she said to «deal with three.» Okay, fine. Then after I paid (and signed the receipt), she smacked our waiter on the side of the head for not bringing my credit card back from the machine faster. After I went to wait outside for a friend, another one of my friends was detained because the manager had lost the receipt he signed. She then proceeded to accuse us of trying to «play a game» when she had our credit cards on file and we were literally waiting outside while this was sorted out. If we wanted to dine & ditch, as she was strongly implying, I wouldn’t have given her my black Amex and left a 25% tip. I expect better management, and Cesar — for one — deserves better treatment at work.

I saw the hostess/​manager lady literally SLAP one of her employees while they were serving another table. That’s something you don’t see every day. I would have given them 2 stars if I didn’t see the guy get hit.
One thing that I like to do when I visit the Tri-​State area is go to local diners, which are scarce in the Boston area. While I am usually between content and happy when it comes to diner food, I really disliked the food at Highlands Café. I ordered scrambled eggs with sausage, which you would think is hard to mess up. However, the scrambled eggs tasted like the kind that comes from packages that they serve in public schools (and probably prisons), and they weren’t really scrambled. Instead, they came in a weird glob that had undercooked portions inside of it. There are plenty of great places to eat at in New York, especially if you are looking for a diner.

The food was decent but our experience was absolutely awful. Our waiter was very friendly but the manager lady with the glasses was incredibly impolite. During our whole time there, the woman was rude to both her customers and her employees. For instance, when we asked politely for a 4^th menu for our 4^th member of our party, she snapped at us to «deal with it» and walked away without even facing us.
When it came time to paying our check, the very kind waiter Caesar made a small mistake, at which point the manager straight up smacked him across the head in front of our table. Mind you this wasn’t a friendly, joking tap; she actually wound her hand back for an actual slap. How disrespectful do you have to be to slap another adult on the head?
After we paid and were walking out, the manager stopped us and claimed that one of us didn’t pay our bill, despite the fact that we signed the checks RIGHT in front of her. While she yelled at us, she simultaneously yelled at her employee to track down the missing checks, which doesn’t make sense because she was also accusing us of not paying in the first place, which is completely counterintuitive if you think about it. When I tried to calmly explain to her that we had paid and that maybe she misplaced the checks, she accusingly pointed her finger at my face and screamed «I don’t play that game.» Holding back my near aneurysm at this accusation, I told her again to check, but she kept screaming at both myself and my friend in front of the entire restaurant. She essentially held my friend hostage and wouldn’t let him leave. Eventually after about 3 more minutes, her employee found the missing check. When I turned to her in response to address what was clearly her mistake, she shrugged and said «oh well,» and made no attempt to even apologize.
I’m really not the type of person to argue in situations like this, as I understand just how difficult it is to work in the service industry. But never in my life have I come across someone who so clearly doesn’t belong in the restaurant business, nor have I encountered such a sub par human being.
My friends and I enjoyed our meal, and appreciated our waiter Caesar, but the manager from hell ruined our dining experience and ensured that we never eat here again. In fact, I sincerely hope they find new management, because this woman is clearly unfit for her job, or any job that requires basic interactions with other people.

I’ve only ever had eggs and fries here but the service is good and it’s not overpriced like most places in this city. No complaints.

Giving 4 stars for food alone. I’ve ordered breakfast sandwiches from here, the BF has ordered the lumberjack which he loves, and we’ve sat down here for breakfast.
Breakfast sandwiches were on point, I get mine on a croissant which are perfect.
My BF has ordered the Lumberjack (pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham…) and devours it every time.
The one time we came in to sit for breakfast it was a little strange. Good people watching location near the windows but the service/​waiter was just weird. Could barely understand him and I don’t know if he really even understood us. The food was good though, large portions for a good price.

Honestly I was excited to finally order from this diner but was sadly disappointed. The Matzo Ball soup was ok and the chicken salad platter was completely inedible. Literally threw out the entire dish. What a waste of $ 13.
I am not sure how it is possible to screw up all 3 (slaw, potato salad and chicken salad) but Highlands managed to do it. The chicken salad almost tasted spoiled. I have ordered this same dish from every diner nearby and this was by far the worst tasting one. Definitely not ordering from here again.