On a cold Friday afternoon the parking lot in front of the Highlands Clubhouse is full. A large group of golfers are just finishing their game. While some of them buzz around the parking lot in golf carts, others filter in through the pro shop to a large room connected to the Highlands Pub and Patio. It's happy hour at the pub and the patrons reflect that feeling.
Inside, lead bartender Tara Witten is behind the bar. She knows many customers by name as well as by drink and sometimes has their drinks waiting for them on the bar as they make their way over. The Highland's Patio and Pub has become a neighborhood bar in a neighborhood made up of large, one-family homes nestled on large wooded lots and, of course, next to an 18-hole golf course.
Not only is the pub the only place to get a drink in the area, it also serves the only food. But the food service is unique. There are some cold sandwiches which golfers can pick up and take along or eat in the pub. Also there's some bar food that's always available: hot dogs, brats and chips. Every afternoon there is one warm entree available. A rotating menu of entrees is prepared down the road at Lakepoint and kept warm in a special serving cupboard. The menu is posted online and on posters around the facility. On Friday, the entree was hamburgers and Witten used the serving cupboard to keep the hot dogs and buns warm as well. During the week, the entrees range from chicken Alfredo to Chinese stir fry with Jasmine rice. Regular customers know to check the menu before they come in for dinner. They also know that popular items like bacon cheeseburgers sell out fast.
If a large group wants to eat, food can be catered from Lakepoint, POA business manager Tommy Lee said. They've catered for golf tournaments in the past.
Witten is happy to take suggestions and pass them on to the Lakepoint chef, but she can't guarantee the suggestions make it into the rotation. But they will try, she said.
In December, the POA board approved a pizza oven for the Highlands. Lee explained that one employee in the kitchen can probably keep up with a basic menu that includes pizza and a few warm sandwiches. He plans to grow the menu slowly and carefully. It should be ready by March, he said.
Pizza will be a low overheard item, especially since the kitchen space is already there.
The restaurant space at the Highlands, like other POA-owned restaurants, has a history of lessees that were mostly not successful. Years ago, a former Board of Directors decided to use the lease model, when POA-run restaurants were failing all over the Village. In 2015, the board considered installing a snack bar in the Highlands and using the dining room space for recreation, over 300 residents packed into a meeting to insist on a sit down restaurant. Another lessee was found but that incarnation also failed.
Lee keeps in touch with the water department to monitor the number of new homes going in at the Highlands. The area is growing, he said. Last year, the patio was expanded and the bar space was updated. The bar space and patio over look the golf course. The large dining room was turned into a game room with pool tables, shuffle board and darts along with a few tables. There are also large TV's so people can watch sports. The renovations were successful, with sales improving greatly, he said.
Next, he hopes to redecorate the large room between the bar and the pro shop so it looks more like the pub and patio.
Lee and Witten also use special events to bring in new customers. Every month music is brought in for Last Night Live, on the last night of the month. At Christmas, an Ugly Sweater Contest brought in a crowd, Witten said.
There's a dart league that meets on Wednesdays. Customer Mike Wade was practicing on Friday for his Wednesday matches. It's the only place around for darts and free pool tables, he said.
Other customers like Mike Messerli don't care about the activities. He's there for the people.
"I've met so many people," he said, "There are new people all the time." He's happy to answer their questions about the area.
Shelia and Jim Heward agree. The pub is a great place to meet friends, she said.
Witten works Monday through Friday, but she has a regular helper who takes over on the weekends.
When necessary, bartenders from the other POA facilities are drafted to help out, Lee said.
But while the growth is welcome, the Highlands staff is happy to remain a neighborhood hang out where everybody knows your name.
Lynn Atkins/Special to The Weekly Vista Tara Witten, bartender at the Highlands Pub and Patio, knows many of her cstomers by name and by drink.