- By Henry Stark
- Around Town
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Question: If you saw ads for a restaurant that read: “Ithaca’s Best-Kept Secret for Over Fifteen Years” what conclusion would you draw about the establishment?This is, in fact, the way management of the The Heights Café and Grill, on Hanshaw Road in Cayuga Heights has been referring to their restaurant and apparently quite proudly, because those words are featured as the headline in large font.
After teaching Marketing for over 40-years I’m surprised every time I see another of their ads. My first thought is: if the establishment has been in business for over fifteen years, and it’s still a best kept secret, something must be significantly wrong with the restaurant to not have achieved positive word-of-mouth promotion. My second thought is: why would the owners be so anxious to trumpet this negative news?
I hadn’t been to The Height’s Café and Grill in a while so I decided to check it out. I invited my friend Deb to join me for lunch there near the end of November.
I like the atmosphere. It’s airy, open and well lit and decorated with large vases with pussy willow and other ornamentation. The tables weren’t covered, which was what I expected from a “café”, however there were linen napkins and a large flower on each table. The food that we ordered was good and the portions generous. And the service was friendly and generally efficient. And yet…
And yet, neither Deb nor I would be in a hurry to return to The Heights. The most important turnoffs, for me, are the wine prices and markups and the prices in general. The wine menu is extensive and expensive. There’s not a single bottle priced under $40 and the vast majority of the offerings are quite a bit higher, ranging up to $250. If you eschew a bottle and only order a glass of wine, that will set you back anywhere from $10 to $15. If I invite guests or, simply dine out by myself, I enjoy at least one glass of wine at lunch or dinner. The Height’s wine prices are very off-putting to me. The markups are as high as any I’ve ever seen in Tompkin’s County. In fact, one of the leading wine merchants in Ithaca once told me that he has never seen such high markups even on his frequent business trips to New York City.
Prices for food are a bit high as well. The House Salad is $10, with the other salads between $11 and $15. Sandwiches are priced in the same range. Desserts are $8 and Deb’s tea was $3.25, a lot to pay even though there was a sugar stirrer and a cinnamon stick on the saucer. If we had ordered a salad or sandwich, dessert, a glass of wine, and tea, lunch could have been over $80. Add tax and a 20% tip and you’re over $100.
I did experience a few kinks but all were minor. Since diners are only offered a knife and fork, I would have liked to have been served a spoon to enjoy the sauce that remained in the bowl after I finished the mussels and shrimp entrée. I appreciate it when the server tells me the prices along with the specials so I can make a considered decision. That didn’t happen. This is particularly important to me when I might be dining with a guest or client, who might be too intimidated to ask. And at The Heights that could very well be the case. Probably because I’m a slow eater and tend to feel under pressure when I’m the last diner eating, I prefer that the server leaves all the plates on the table until everyone has finished. To her credit, our server did ask before clearing. No one refilled my empty water glass. These may be relatively small issues but when a restaurant charges high prices, I expect a commensurate rise in the service provided.
The Heights offers a welcome alternative to the lower priced chain and independent restaurants that dominate our Lansing neighborhood. I might take a business client with whom I wanted to share an upscale quiet lunch to this establishment. However, by myself or with a friend, not so much. I think of the Heights as a place for special occasions rather than a normal or usual venue for a casual lunch. So for me, that means that on most dining out occasions in my life, The Heights Café & Grill will continue to remain a well kept secret.
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