Scottie MacBean's Cafe is a coffeehouse, roaster, and restaurant at 660 N. High Street in Worthington, Ohio. The cafe was named after a frightened Scottish terrier pup whom owner Robert Haas rescued from a pet store that had gone out of business and abandoned its animals. Founded in 1991 and located on a street of scenic shops and restaurants in the heart of Old Worthington, this cool little restaurant offers:
- a comfortable, pleasant interior decor with tables and couches and a selection of board games
- a varied and tasty menu of sandwiches, soups, quiches, salads, and pastries
- free high-speed Ethernet ports and conveniently-placed electrical sockets at a few tables for us geeks
- pleasant outdoor tables in the front and a fenced back patio
- a pet-friendly atmosphere that features amenities like complimentary bowls of water for patron's dogs during the summer months
- bag-your-own coffee and coffeemaking accessories for sale in the front of the shop
- live acoustic music on Friday and Saturday nights
- a variety of beers, wines, and liquors
- loads of yummy, fresh-roasted coffees and tasty teas, fruit juices and cocoas.
Furthermore, as my housemate stated so eloquently, "It's not %&*#ing Starbucks!" Scottie's is also one of the few quiet, smoke-free-indoors places in Worthington (or elsewhere in the Columbus area, really) that stays open even remotely late (on Fridays and Saturdays, they close at midnight). For this and the reasons above, it's my favorite coffee shop and favorite all-round meeting place in town. We used to hold our writers' group meetings there until the group grew too large for the restaurant. It's a great place for that first casual date, too.
The wait staff is friendly, and everything on the menu is good. Their quiches are particularly tasty, though, and that's what I tend to order while I'm there. Their chai is very good, as is their house coffee blend. But their pastries are wonderful, particularly their brownies and cookies.
Scottie's is a great place to grab breakfast (they open at 7 a.m.) but beware that around 8:30 a.m. the place will be completely crowded with kids from the nearby high school working on their sugar/caffeine buzzes before classes start. However, the pre-school crush passes by 9:00, and you can settle in with your coffee and bagel and get a window seat and read your paper, fire up your laptop, or watch passers-by in peace.
Scottie's is just a block south of the intersection of Dublin-Granville Road (Highway 161) and High Street in Worthington. To get to it from the 270 loop, just take the High Street exit south for a couple of miles. If you're heading south, the coffee shop will be on your left side; keep an eye out for the Graeter's Ice Cream shop, because it's right past Scotty's and is a bit more obvious. Scottie's is also catty-corner across the street from the historic Worthington Inn. There is parking behind the building, and you can also park in the Graeter's lot if it's not too crowded. However, take the "tow zone" signs in other nearby lots seriously during business hours, because they will tow you.
The Scottie MacBean Cafe website is at http://www.scottiescafe.com/; through it, I have discovered (to my joy) that they have opened a second location in Beechwold at 4675 N. High Street. This new location features a community room that is reservable for local groups.
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