Halcyon — Restaurant in Dallas

Environment: nice seating/study vibes. Open space and grungy/chill vibes. Music was okay (not lofi or cozy jazz, more like rhythmic music). Not really a cozy coffeehouse vibe but really leans in to the bar aspect with drink coffee where you work space.

I ordered a Turkey Brie sandwich with sweet potato fries and a latte.

Turkey Brie was good. Sandwich was a bit overpriced, but I understand because jam and brie were great. Wish they added apples on the sandwich to add a new texture to the bite. Lettuce was a bit flat so the crunch was not there. 7.5/10

Sweet potato fries: can’t go wrong. Not greasy but good crunch and ranch provided was similar to a Wingstop ranch. 9/10

Latte: mild caramel chocolately flavor of espresso. Espresso is not super acidic like some roasts. Ends with slight bitter taste but semi-good espresso for the price. (Not like the artisan coffee that is high skill and more focused on technique but if Starbucks is your only standard, this meets that.) Only downside was the lack of mugs. For ecofriendly people and those wanting to have the coffeehouse experience, mugs are a must :) also if you request a mug, you kind of expect it to be served as so. New barista so no latte art. Foam was too thick like a cappuccino rather than a latte. Then again, doesn’t seem like barista was super experienced so gotta give some slack for the learning process. 5/10 (4 points just for the espresso quality)

Some ideas for improvement:

I think the location for creamers/sugar is obscure. I feel like where you grab the coffee should also have a side on the bar where you can add cream and other additives. Just imagining someone having to hold a mug and almost spilling it to two destinations is not ideal.

Food and drink took a good 10 minutes to come out. Not a problem, but know it’s not necessarily a quick grab and go.

I wish the food menu had some images or like even an interactive self ordering machine to see the foods. I feel like the bar area was very extensive, but I would have liked a tv on the wall with coffee drinks to have showcase a slow rotating menu with pictures of foods and specialty drinks. Also no grab and go options. (Prepped sandwiches, individual milks, yogurts, snacks). Bakery section is in a weird location for display. Wish the display was level to eyesight. Having customer have to look at three separate menus with no images, and then having bakery items below, its not conducive to how people look at a location. (Psychology says: people look to the top left, top right, bottom left then bottom right) everything you need should be in front of you with this process for easy ordering and faster delivery of service and foods.

Lastly, the 3.99% charge on credit cards on a tiny sign. I understand this practice, but it is not exactly a happy ordeal. Also they expect a 18-22% tip. I think the prices are already decently high, but there really should be a 10,15,20 tip option instead of 18,20,22. For a coffeeshop that should be the case. The tipping culture imo is out of control and this is just a show for that. For waitresses and waiters, tipping 15-25 makes sense. But just for taking an order and bringing it to the table seems overkill for a coffee shop.

Overall, would I go back? Probably not. It’s not my vibe of coffeehouse. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe not. It’s not that memorable where I am captured by the area to want to really go again. 7/10 (3.5 stars if I could give that)

If you get a mimosa, the hawaiian is not good. The pear one is the best out of the flight my sister got.

My brother got a chicken flatbread. Mediocre at best. Wish it had like arugula, special spicy mayo or other complex flavors.

You might ask who am I to judge this place? Great question! I am just an extreme foodie and having run a cafe before, I like to be observant of the way cafes work in other places :) take my word with grain of salt after all, a business doesn’t just thrive for no reason. There are people that really like this type of cafe and what it has to offer. This is...

Very disappointed with the service here. I'm new to the Dallas area and my cousin from Seattle came to visit. We were loving the decor as soon as we walked in. I ordered an iced chai and a Cobb salad. The girl at the counter just handed me a card stand with no direction. I asked the girl that checked me out if they would bring them to us. She said "they will call your name if you just hang here." My cousin then ordered after me, the French toast, and we found a spot outside. I went back in and asked a different girl if the coffees sitting on the counters were ours. They were. I asked if they would then just bring the other items to us and she said yes. I went and sat down and they brought out the French toast right Away. They looked delicious and my cousin loved them. We waited and waited and she was almost finished, so I ran inside just to make sure that they could find me or to see if my salad was on the counter. The girl the checked me out then aggressively asked me what I needed. I said, I'm just waiting for my salad. She goes, they'll bring it to you. And I said, oh I was just confused because you told me that you would call my name. She then proceeded to cut me off before I could barely finish my sentence and yell at me, in front on customers none the less, "CALM DOWN AND DO NOT YELL AT ME. I was just making drinks. I didn't tell you anything!" She kept going on and on. I told her that I was not yelling, because I wasn't and truly wasn't mad at all, i was just confused as to what to do. She escalated a situation that didn't need escalating. It was truly a misunderstanding because I was told two different things. I tried talking calmly to her and she would not speak to me. I told her that I didn't appreciate being yelled at either and walked away. Very maturely she continued to talk about me as I walked out the door. At this point my cousin was done eating. They were bringing my salad out as we were leaving and I told them to just send it back and we left, because I would truly rather be out $20 for a salad and a drink than eat whatever they were bringing me. The only review I could give on what I did try was that the chai was watery, but I obviously would not have even attempted to have them fix a drink for me after that display. I was extremely embarrassed to be talked to like a petulant child in front of other paying customers. I'm also in the service industry and am a manager at my place of work. I would be mortified if one of my girls spoke to a guest like I was spoken to..after looking into the definition of Halcyon: denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful; I’m even...

I normally do not write reviews but did not feel comfortable being silent any longer as I know my silence would possibly keep others at risk. They served me food that touched the floor . I wish I was aware while I was at the place . But there was honestly many signs that it wasn’t the best. The first employee I met was great. While they was still trying to help me and serve me, dude in hat started taking others people order pushing me out the way, which lead to me not even getting everything I wanted at the time. In hindsight, that part was probably a blessing because who knows if my drinks were ok to drink. The other workers avoided my table the whole time, while assisting nearby tables multiple times. It’s like they didn’t want me there at all. * Side note , to businesses, please use your right to refuse business. I rather you tell me you to get out then to serve me some dirty food, putting my health at risk. *. I got my food; they started staring at me . Like that wasn’t strange enough; when I finally eat, they proceed to laugh and make noises. Who knows how many germs, shoes have passed on that kitchen floor that they thought it was funny to serve food off of . And then to watch me eat , laughing and make disgusting noises the whole time? This seems like something these certain employees do regularly and/or are extremely comfortable with. there was numerous red flags but I made the mistake of ignoring. learn from my mistake, avoid this place or at least until they have different employees. I wish I could better describe the employees in case some of you are attached to the place but still want to avoid these certain individuals. They appeared to be white. One look to identify as male and the other as female. The female was short, thin, grease slicked back hair, wore black sweater . The male was maybe taller, wears a hat, average height and built and maybe blonde...