Halwa Bakery & Cafe

We had hoped that the negative Reddit reviews were outdated and that the food quality had improved—unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The baklava tasted a day old, the Biscoff pastry was stale with an unpleasant plastic-like aftertaste, and even warming couldn’t save them. One item had to be refunded because it had gone bad, and our chai lattes were more milk than chai. The only somewhat redeeming bite was the blondie, which was so underbaked it hadn’t yet gotten the chance to dry out. Overall, not the best café experience—but at least the vibe was cute.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 4

Was going to take out my order but there was no ‘no tip’ button on the screen. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ordered everything bagel but there was no ‘everything.’ Only poppy seed was on top. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Coffee was ok.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

Seating is cramped.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

Okay pastries, long line sometimes, nice atmosphere.

Dietary restrictions: Not good for egg free.

Kid-friendliness: Fine place to take kids. No high chairs.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

Very average croissant/egg/turkey bacon breakfast sandwich - warmed over, mushy croissant. Cortado not a cortado - espresso w warm milk - not frothed. Coffee from CounterCulture - stale beans...actually - stale whole beans still on shelves. Service person friendly but not well trained. Not worth a return visit.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

I love this place. It’s so cozy inside and the food and drinks are delicious! I recommend the snickerdoodle chai latte and the Lebanese frittata on a croissant. It’s probably on your way to somewhere you’re going anyway, so pop in and give it a try! 😊

If Cinnamon rolls were served warmed they may have been more palatable than plywood, but were cold, stale, and over priced. chocolate torte was slightly better tasting but certainly even more over priced. The verifiable Star is the baklava. Only pastry to consider and worth a visit despite the aforementioned fluff best reserved for window dressing

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Loaded Baklava

It took half an hour to get one drink. This was because there was only one girl working during finals which in a college town is not gonna fly. I normally frequent mill mountain but I wanted to give here a try and I was greatly disappointed

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Gone a few times. Coffee is okay and service has always been wonderful.

However pastries and food from here are subpar for the price.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 5

The coffee I ordered was great! However, the croissant I ordered was not great. It tastes like it may have been sitting for some time.

The most “mid” tiramisu you can ever have.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

great coffee and immaculate vibes. get the mexican chocolate latte

Messed up all 3 orders in my party and the pastries seem stale. Prices were quite reasonable though.

Really nice coffee shop with a twist. Offers a variety of latte and tea flavors. They also have some different pastries. If you wants something a little different but great tasting, try this place out.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Lebanese Pastry with Spinach and Feta, Biscotti

Came back a second time, but this time was less satisfying. Apparently there’s a consistency issue. Nice inviting-looking space, with plenty of seating at 10am. Today however, music way too loud, making hard to concentrate on conversation or read. Also, quite cold, almost like the heat isn’t even on (it was 51° outside).
Got a Lebanese frittata this time, got it warmed, and it was delicious. Perfectly flakey and savory. Just wish it wasn’t almost $14 for that an a cup of hot water with a 15¢ bag thrown in (tea). Thankfully they do do refills on tea at least. Seriously, and I hate to say it, but SB is a better value, and they’ve got real cream for my tea.
Overall, not bad, but I think I’ll keep looking in town for a better value, and more comfortable place to connect with people.
(PS. I don’t normally comment on, or take photos of, the bathroom, but there’s are quite nice!)

Dietary restrictions: Dairy free options available for “creamers”, but very hard to find gluten-free/dairy-free/egg-free foods – but it is a bakery, so partly as expected.

Parking: Roughly 30 spaces shared between about 5 business (a couple of which don’t get much traffic)

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Lebanese Pastry with Spinach and Feta