HighT Orlando — Restaurant in Orlando

I have wanted to visit since I found out this place existed. We drove 2+hrs round trip specifically to come here so that makes this whole thing even more disappointing. Since we were driving so far & it was a Saturday I decided to book the reservation for 2 for a table. It says it comes with 2 glasses of champagne & milk & cookies. I paid $67ish for the reservation. We got there on time & were seated promptly. However, no one came up to us for 15min….so we stopped the host when we saw her walk back by to ask for at least menus so we could be figuring out what we wanted. She went & told someone & we were finally brought our champagne another 15min later…still no menus. So, we’d been there 35ish minutes & still no server approached us, no menus even after we asked (we asked 2 times the host & manager) while sitting there I watched another couple walk right in & get a spot at the bar and menus. Keep in mind, we paid for the table. Then, some more space cleared at the bar so I asked the bartender if we could move to the bar because no one had been over with menus. She told me no, we have a tab with another server we can’t move. I said “what server no one has been here?” She brushed me off & kept doing what she was doing. I sat back down & waited another 5-10min waiting for someone that works there to walk by while watching new people come in sit at the spot at the bar I asked to move to & get menus. Finally someone walked by & I asked for the manager because at this point the first couple I saw at the bar had their drinks and we still only had our champagne. All I wanted was menus so we could be figuring out what we wanted for when the server came! I understand it’s a Saturday they are busy. But I paid for a table & we weren’t getting even menus while others at the bar got menus & drinks. The manager came over, we explained to him. He brought us 1 menu, apologized & said our first drinks were on him. We appreciated it & were thankful. My bf ordered his drink while I looked at the menu..he just randomly picked something since we hadn’t had a menu to look. They also offered us 2 free coquito shots, a snack tin and 1 food item on them. So, nice gestures trying to fix it. He explained that they went viral because of videos online. However, the place did not look “virally” busy to me. As I said there had been open seating at the bar twice since we walked in. My bf received his first drink at 832….we got there at a paid table at 715…..no server ever came to our table the whole time we were there. I had to wait for the manager to walk back by to order my drink. I got my first drink at 904! We never were brought the cookies and milk that we paid for with the reservation…instead someone came by randomly & said “another table didn’t want their milk & cookies since you guys have had a rough night would you like them?” I didn’t even bother to tell her we were suppose to get them but didn’t..my bf just accepted them. The manager checked on us again one more time & we had to remind him we ordered food & hadn’t received it yet. The food & my bfs other drink came about 15min later. It was very good. However, our drinks didn’t come with the garnish it was suppose to have. I ordered the buon natale and it was missing the cherry & Santa hat & my bf ordered the let it snow & it was missing the I’m guessing cranberries or cherries & the twig thing. We only got 3 drinks the home for the holidays drink was the only one to come out garnished correctly. I saw others drinks garnished correctly so don’t know why our other 2 weren’t. We wanted to order every drink they had to try them all but it was 10pm and the service hadn’t gotten any better as we still didn’t have a server or anyone coming by to check we were having to stop them walking by so we just decided to leave. We ended up paying for one drink, & 2 food items plus the reservation…so about $120-130 total. Highly disappointed for the 2+hr drive & money spent. I guess don’t have high expectations & you won’t be let down. We absolutely loved the hatter he was great &...

8/4/2023. So down the rabbit hole the 3 of us went! Our 1st time in this place (it opened in May 2023)…nothing like unexpected discoveries. Like finding out that parking is a mini hike from the venue…in heels in the FL heat & humidity (nothing on the booking website mentions where to park…get ready to pay $10–12 at a parking garage 7-10 minutes away from the front door. Then get ready to either climb 30 or so steps to the main seating on the 2nd floor; if you have a mobility restriction, an attendant will have to escort you through a different door to an elevator). We experienced suddenly-appearing teaspoons to stir the tea, cream & sugar (we had to request them! 😳), for example. Loved the color-changing tea! Had unexpected food & flavors…some yummy, some blah, & others we’d rather outright skip. Alice & her friends were a delight! Definitely an afternoon of adventure indeed…& the most expensive after afternoon tea experience for us thus far 🤑

Big CONS: Don’t bother calling the number listed unless you simply want to be directed to their website for booking; you’ll never get a live human being They emailed the booking confirmation then tell you to email them if you have any questions; I emailed…never got a response The afternoon tea food! The tortes’ crust was soggy, the lox was dry/didn’t appear fresh, the “Thanksgiving cornbread w/Turkey & cranberry was mediocre (Jiffy cornbread?), 1/2 the scones were blah (no matter how much jelly & cream cheese you spread on them). Expectation management pro-tip: if you’re expecting traditional finger sandwiches/pastries, try another venue. If you’re wanting to walk on the “wild side” expecting a 180° change of high tea food offerings, then this might be for you! We had to request teaspoons for our tea! How did they expect us to stir the tea? We also had to request cream & sugar. And a tea menu…which came AFTER they’d already brought a steeping pot of their house blend tea (an herbal tea that comes out blue & turns purple if either add lemons or their elixirs containing alcohol). Not cutlery was offered either so get ready to just use your fingers & the tea fork they offer. No Mad Hatter, Queen, or any other character other than Alice. This was supposed to be an “Alice & friends” experience…it appears Alice’s friends got lost… $55/pp + automatic 20% gratuity + taxes added…paid $213.73 at booking. And if you buy additional items (e.g., alcohol elixirs to add to your tea that’ll change the house blend tea’s color from blue to purple…get ready to pay $7 + an automatic 20% tip for this small bottle ($8.86). The irony? They ask if you want to add a tip when it’s time to cash out for the extras you buy at HighT! If you do, it’s on top of the automatic 20%!! -The overall value for a afternoon high tea experience at HighT was a 3-star experience at best.

Big PROS: Photo opportunities everywhere! The “Alice in Wonderland” themed interior decorating are absolutely enchanting. Our awesome server, Danny, and the costumed Alice were very customer-service oriented, charming/friendly, & were true professionals. The chocolate macarons & the beautifully-made large cucumber-wrapped egg sandwich are definitely worth tasting Unlimited tea. We ended up getting 2 pots on our table…tried 3 different teas. We liked the house blend (changes color) and the black tea. Though they didn’t automatically put cream & sugars/sweeteners on the table, they did offer us oat milk since they didn’t have cream & Splenda/sugars when we asked for these.

Perhaps we’ll return to try out the night scene one day…2 of the 3 of us are out-of-state travelers visiting family here in Orlando…but we won’t be recommending HighT for afternoon HighT. If we do return for an evening adventure, we’ll be better prepared in what to expect…& perhaps they’ll have true dining...

I never leave reviews unless I'm just shocked at the overall experience. This is my second review today, since last night I attended 2 themed bars in Orlando and neither were a good experience.

As far as the atmosphere, it's amazing. It looks awesome, cool stuff everywhere. However the food and drinks were not good. Our server was nice and apologetic over it all. But out of our large group, we all ordered different holiday drinks (since the whole menu is only holiday themed at the moment) and all but one drink tasted absolutely awful. My friend and her father ordered their 'Ol Saint Nick', which is described in the menu as "a jolly old fashioned" with citrus. They both literally shuddered at how awful it was so we all tried and all shuddered. It wasn't a matter of preference or personal taste. It was unanimously gross. Our server apologized and got them a reorder on drinks.. (one which took 20+ minutes to get) when my friends said "I'm sorry that isn't what we were expecting. It's nothing like an old fashioned".. Our server said "it isn't an old fashioned, it's a whiskey sour."

To which we had to point out that the menu clearly has it listed as an old fashioned.

We ordered charcuterie which was pricey (again I get it, you pay for the atmosphere) it looked great but tasted pretty bad. Out of our two boards 1/3 of one was eaten. We left the rest, no boxes. Finally the cherry on top of our evening... their holiday themed glassware was so festive that my friend was really interested. I've been to many restaurants or bars where they are happy to sell you a fresh glass at their cost or for profit (and of course some say no). I figured I could ask, worst they could do was say no. I was told they had to wait to ask a manager or owner, so I stood patiently. Started my whole asking off with "I understand if the answer is no, but I figured there was no harm in asking if I could purchase a glass, either our used empty one or a fresh one as a birthday gift for my friend." I believe the impatient woman I was directed to was a manager. She barked "THEY ARENT FOR SALE!" As I opened my mouth to respond she snapped again "as in we don't sell them!" Dirty look on her face and all.

Listen, I am fine that the answer was no. I accepted that before I even asked. The delivery was rude. I don't care if youre stressed or having a bad night or sick of answering that question in general. You can be polite. A simple, "no, I'm sorry we can't do that" would have well sufficed.

First time in, last time in.

I believe this is owned by the same as Cocktails & Screams which we love, but were there right before coming here and had our first not-great experience...