It’s pretty easy to tell at first glance that Tuscaloosa, Alabama, isn’t a bustling metropolis. There are not very many places that students can go to hang out and feel like they’re a part of the community, not just feeding some huge corporate monster (cough, Starbucks, cough).
Thankfully, there’s Heritage House Coffee & Tea. Or, just Heritage House. You may be thinking “Heritage House? I’ve never heard of that,” and you would be among (what I’ve come to decide is) a lot of people who go to this school. Hardly anyone has heard about this local gem and it’s been around for 19 years and counting. Heritage House sits at 700 Towncenter Blvd, Suite 3, hidden among the other store fronts.
There’s a relaxed, easy vibe you get as soon as you walk into the rustic, industrial chic coffee shop. There are two main rooms, one with tables and mismatched chairs and the other more for studying, with soft couches around a fireplace and a table that goes all the way around the walls, which are made of windows. Inside the main room, you can browse the pastries that they make in the back and the chalkboard menu before placing your order. (Don’t forget to step to the left, that’s where they’ll give you your stuff). If you’re unsure of what to order, as there are quite a lot of unfamiliar choices, my friend’s advice to me was, “Just pick something. It all tastes good.”
Heritage House did not disappoint. I got the baked oatmeal with banana and an Amaretto Mocha. Everything was absolutely delicious. Even my friend’s chicken salad, and I don’t even like chicken salad. We sat in the study room, in front of the fireplace.
After we were done eating, we put our dishes at the little dish window to the far right of the counter in the main room and browsed the shop a little bit. Inside the main room, lining the walls, there’s stuff for sale. Jewelry and art made by local artisans, adorable mugs, and other cute knick-knacks. Farther in the back, they even have a prayer wall where you can put up any prayer requests you have or pray for the ones you see there.
Heritage House is a unique experience to have in Tuscaloosa. It feels like finding refuge in a big, metropolitan city, somewhere with soul and amazing food. A little place where time seems to slow down and the buzz of the city you keep forgetting isn’t outside is a bit quieter.
Heritage House is open every weekday 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. It is closed on Sunday.
