Highland Coffee & Restaurant

I was working in the DC area for a week. I was taken to a different coffee shop everyday. I have definitely had better coffee. There are so many coffee shops in this town that you might want to go elsewhere.

okay i used to go to this place because they really had the best ethiopian macchiato but reacently i have noticed that everything has south.
the coffee is bitter
the macchiato is just a latte now
and the place is deserted i remember they used to open music and you could find people actually sitting and talking there but now its like a ghost town and what happened to the couches (that was my favorite seat)
any ways i am not going bac

There’s a reason this place is normally deserted. And what a shame.
Highland is fresh and airy, very quiet, with light décor, outdoor seating, wi-​fi and plenty of tables… seems perfect.
Fakeout.
The wi-​fi signal is so weak, the only tables where you can actually get a signal are the four in the cramped hallway over by the noisy fridge and counter. The huge wide open cafeteria-​style area with plenty of great tables just waiting for laptops: no signal. Wack.
My experience with coffee here has been sub-​par (bitter, bitter, bitter), so I ordered the chai latte my last pass thru here. Better, but not worth $ 4, and not return-​worthy.
Service here is also wildly inconsistent. My first time, the lady at the counter went above and beyond, coming over to check on us frequently. On my second visit, a different girl acted like I was interrupting her life. The entire two hours I was there (she was gossiping on the phone at least half the time).
And of course, any coffee shop without couches loses a star.
There’s great coffee shops in Silver Spring: Fenton Café right down the street, Kefa Café right around the corner… even the Caribou over on EW Hwy is probably a better value for your money.

Service: Terrible.
Food: Mediocre
Coffee: Downright bad.
This is a case where I give a second star just because it’s clearly owned by good people … even if they’re good people who don’t know a lick about running a restaurant.
I ordered a bagel. It never came. Curious, I waked up to the counter, which allowed me to see that they had three different kinds of bagels, even though the server never asked me which kind I wanted. (It should also be said that they didn’t look very good or fresh.)
Meanwhile, my friend ordered a bacon-​egg-​and-​cheese sandwich. The menu suggested that it would come on white or wheat, although the server never asked which she wanted. And then, even though the bagel I ordered never came, her sandwich came … on a bagel! And it was a cinnamon-​raisin bagel, which, my friends, is just about the oddest choice of bagel-​flavor for a bacon-​egg-​and-​cheese sandwich as I can imagine.
There were several other examples of terrible, strange, confusing, careless service — none of which is really worth listing here. The point is, this place clearly needs to do some work. The staff is friendly. And some of the food is good enough to not be embarrassing. But really, those are about the only things this place has going for it.
The sambusa was acceptable — in fact, it was pretty good. The woman sitting next to us had fir-​fir, and it smelled excellent. But then there was a table of five behind us, and we overheard them also saying that the service was terrible.
Sadly, they were right.

Their name doesn’t indicate it, but this is an Ethiopian establishment that serves very good Ethiopian coffee. I haven’t had the chance to sample their food, but I go out of my way for this fast and tasty alternative to Starbucks coffee. My only complaint is their carry out cups, which are foam.

Why even call yourself a coffee shop when you are serving one pot of very stale, weak coffee? I can get that mess at 7 – 11. One extra star for the Italian rum cake which was pretty good.

Oh, Highland, I want to like you so much more. Your wall art has improved dramatically. Your daily clientelle is a diverse cross-​section of DC-​suburbia. Your service is friendly and welcoming. And you’re so conveniently located on what was once my daily route.
And yet, you just haven’t earned full marks — your coffee’s just kinda sub-​par. Sometimes it isn’t even ready. And it comes in styrofoam cups — sorry, maybe that’s a pet-​peeve, but last time I checked, that’s just not very recyclable, or for that matter, tasty with your coffee. Guess that leaves me searching for something a bit better just a few blocks away…

Amidst a late summer heat wave this coffee house was a pleasant air-​conditioned find. Metered street parking within reasonable distance, seats and tables available on a weekend afternoon. Nice offering of coffee and snack variety, pastries, sandwiches, candies. Somewhat of a corner market with espresso feel, but frequent local patrons added credibility. A little local art and Ethiopian flavor showcased as well.
Highlight: the dark roast house blend provided the perfect jacuzzi for my chocolate biscotti to marinate in.

The first time I went to Highland in January of this year, I thought it was great. Today, things had gone downhill. On the door in big letters, it says «free wi=fi». Well, too bad the signal strength is so poor you can’t connect to the Internet. Meanwhile, my bagel was stale and the portion of cream cheese spread on it so bare that it was virtually tasteless. The coffee was still good though. So now I know — go there for good coffee in a calm space. But don’t expect much else.

Love this place! As noted in other reviews, it has an Ethiopian flare, large, sunny sitting area and excellent coffee. Not sure what more you want except maybe a larger selection of pastries? Iced latte is divine.

A nice café in Silver Spring. Very strong Ethiopian flavor to the place. Open, spacious, with lots of tables. Good access to outlets for those looking to do work. Free wifi, but I found it unreliable.
Oh, yeah. The coffee. This is fine, too. The pastry choices seem rather limited and ordinary, although I didn’t try anything.
Street parking in front. You have to feed the meters Mon-​Fri.

Great cup of coffee!
Had a breakfast sandwich, too. It had onions in it i think, which I liked, but wasn’t expecting, so be careful.
The pastries looked good too.
I stayed for a while, biding my time, and no one bothered me. It was slightly off the beaten path, so I wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for Unilocal.I’ll go here again since I’d always rather give money to mom/​pop places than chains.

HOC is one very long, sunlit room — big enough so that you can usually have a spot next to a huge window (and an A/​C outlet) to yourself. Great coffee, free wifi, sinful pastries. Less precious and calmer than Kefa Café — ideal for working, ruminating, doing crossword puzzles (like the business-​attired guy across the café from me this morning).
Especially good for wheelchairs btw — they have a ramp and lots of extra space around tables.

Super friendly, bright, cheery atmosphere, and they offer loose teas.
All is not rosy, however, even though I want to support this place very much!
What I like, and what I don’t like as much:
Like:
— super friendly staff!
— bright, clean, cheerful ambiance
— variety of tables and chairs
— totally dig the wooden bar & tall chairs lining the window
— fabulous staff! Oh, I already stated that. Well, that just shows how kind they are.
— free wi-​fi
— they collect recycling!
— they offer loose tea — many extra points to them. Not enough places offer loose tea.
— truly local; truly catering to the community
— I don’t drink coffee, but I take it that their coffee is delicious; the neighborhood is very heavily Ethiopian, and Highland Origin is often packed (but there’s always somewhere to sit down)
— very receptive to and wiling to work me to bring a small group (10 – 15) looking to go to a local Ethiopian coffee shop for a discussion on Ethiopian-​Jewish culture
Dislike:
— I’ve been here several times in the past several weeks, and I have never before logged so many hours of listening to Mariah Carey.
I can think of less pleasant musical options; and, given my choice of overplayed in-​store music, I’ll take this over most of what I’m accosted by. Still: how many hours can one listen to the same Mariah Carey CD, how many days in a row?
Being a coffee shop — an independent, locally-​owned coffee shop — and with strong Ethiopian ties, at that — Highland Origin has the unique opportunity to play a wide variety of very cool, original /​non-​traditional, local, and /​or «ethnic» music at least some of the time. I want the staff to have fun and to enjoy what they’re listening to; yet I hope they’ll take advantage of the opportunity to play something other than Mariah Carey a little more frequently. (The few times I’ve heard music other than MC, I’ve quite liked it.)
— Bathrooms: not quite maintained /​clean — out of toilet paper, out of hand soap, watered-​down dish soap offered instead, paper on the floor, upside-​down cabinet, no décor in the bathroom. I’ve been here several times over several weeks; the dish soap, being out of toilet paper, etc. were not temporary solutions or situations.
— lattes: all «lattes» are syrups!
— would like chai to be not from powder or mix; would like healthier and fresher food options; would like cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, etc. offered where milk and half-​and-​half sit
— not a lot of outlets; takes some maneuvering and sharing with strangers to get a plug sometimes
Other notes:
— min. order on credit cards (is something like $ 4)
— they offer a wide selection of random candy and gum at the register. It’s like your neighborhood grocery store candy aisle, or grocery store register line before stores did away with that sort of thing. Kind of weird… would rather at least see fair trade, organic, locally-​produced candies and junk food offered for sale instead.

QUIET!
there’s not much in the way of noise in here.
THINK!
you can think in here. this is the perfect place to bring a lap top and get some work done…
or fart around on silly review sites all day.
WAKE UP!
strong coffee stimulates the senses. it’ll wake you up. this place has the good stuff. as far as i can tell. i’m no connoisseur of coffee, but i like my coffee strong, black, and bitter (just like my men that i keep on the dl). this place makes a nice cup of joe.
TASTE!
if you don’t do coffee — try some tea. they have plenty of it and it’s quiet good. many many flavors.
ART!
you can check out some local artists’ works that are hung throughout the coffee house. if you like it — you can buy it.
ETHIOPIA!
this place is run by some friendly Ethiopian folks and they serve fair trade coffee. that’s what the sign says, at least. that also justifies the prices for the goods. it’s a tad more expensive than the average chain, but you get what you pay for, more often than not.
so if you need an arty, quiet place to think while you sip on your cup of joe…
then highland origin coffee is your place.

Their coffee is good. Makes a very good, robust cappuccino. I am regularly looking for non-​Starbucks, locally-​owned coffee shops and this place definitely delivers.

I like this place. It’s very low key, and the people who run it are always friendly. The décor is pleasant, usually there’s art from a local artist adorning the walls, and it’s always very cleans and tidy. It’s roomy enough spread out your laptop & take advantage of the free wifi.
They have really good tea.

I’ve been to Highland Origin quite a few times now and I’ve found their coffee consistently good, so I’m upgrading to 5 stars. The food is not spectacular but it’s definitely decent. I’ve never seen Highland empty, and there’s a reason.

Open at 7 am. Bonus points! This was a perfect place to get a cup of tea and a muffin and wake up. Normally I’d still be in my bed at 7 am, but car woes call!
One year later and this place is still going strong. They now serve breakfast items like egg sandwiches and bagels and cream cheese in addition to lunch foods. As I sat in a window seat a neon sign flashed above my head that read ‘Hot Pizza’. A bit odd for a coffeehouse if you ask me. They serve ice cream too. I guess it is nice they have something for everyone. Free WiFi is always a bonus on top of the early hours. They saved me from being a street urchin while waiting for other stores to open.

I go here for spicy mexican hot chocolate (regular hot chocolate is good too) sometimes. I like unique but good options and one good thing about local or independent cafes is that they sometimes offer something you don’t find everywhere easily.
Oh. Chai latte is good too. Also have Greentea chai latte that i don’t find easily.
I like starbucks so no offense but HO’s price is slightly better than Starbucks.
Free WIFI.
HO has very friendly service by ethiopian folks.