The Nook Cafe

I came to the Nook Café because I was in the area and needed an hour to kill. I didn’t realize this coffee shop was on the University of Houston campus! There was some parking on the street out front, but it was limited. When I went in, there were many students studying as there was plenty of desk spaces with electrical outlets. I ordered a Mocha Lattè and chilled on the comfy leather couch inside. I probably wouldn’t come back here as I’m not a University student, but it’s definitely a place I’d go if I was.
What I ordered:
–Mocha Lattè ($ 4.60 for a medium)
Pros:
–Good place to study or get work done with many outlets and desk spaces
Cons:
–There is street parking out front, but looks limited. There is a parking lot nearby, but I believe you must have a University parking pass.
–If you’re not a University student, you will be completely out of place.

Had pecan roast coffee. I was hesitant earlier to try a coffee with pecans but the server convinced me it was their best coffee. Glad I listened to her!

Fun, little coffee shop set up for grad students, but not so quiet that you can go crazy. It is about a 10 minute walk from the Hilton Hotel/​College. Decent coffee and eclectic décor. We noticed that they sell alcohol too. Reasonable prices with rapid service.

As a 2010 UH alum I didn’t have these neat shops that the campus now has. I came up here to find a new place to study. And I’m glad I came.
I went for a straight cappuccino however they usually make it. Whole milk I believe. Fantastic cappuccino. Well balanced.
I came on a Sunday, parked on the side lot. On weekends there’s no need for a parking pass.
Atmosphere was busy but not overly loud. The music was heard, but it was not overpowering. One downside are the tables. They’re not flat, they have frames. It’s as if they took cabinets and cut them in half, and made them into tables. Makes spreading out your study materials tricky at times. But this is not enough to take away a star. I will be back. Go COOGS!

The barista recommended the Katz blend after asking if I liked dark roasts. I also tried another special blend (somewhere between pecan… or. idk something fall-​themed) and the Cougar blend. I liked the Cougar blend the most, actually. It tasted of BBQ for some reason lol. The medium mug is a great choice if you’re staying for a while in the café, and it’s only about $ 2+. Very worth it.
The atmosphere of the place is, I guess, something that varies from person to person. The place may not be so conducive for studying all the time since they’re playing loud music, and it’s hard to find a spot that’s quieter, even in the «study» area. But with that being said, there’s plenty of space here and comfy seating – even outside!
The interior design is epic. Hippy, but amusing.
There are plenty of pastries and snacks, and even vegan items!

This is my go-​to coffee shop in the Greater 3^rd Ward Neighborhood. It has delicious locally roasted beans and a sweet post– industrial feel that will make any hipster or college student’s day. They usually have a line around lunch time due to their proximity to UofH and Jimmy Johns/​several other restaurants. They also have a selection of beer/​wine if your in more of a boozy mood. Baristas are fantastic and one in particular makes a kick-​ass americano.

I wish this coffee shop was on campus when I was going there! It’s next to a jimmy johns, pink’s pizza, and bullritos. It’s well decorated and spacious. You feel right at home. Customer service was excellent and the employees looked like they actually enjoyed working there. The flavored lattes were not overly sweet and we’re deliciously satisfying. I came on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn’t busy, not sure how it is normally. I will return soon and check out the bakery items.

I come here often at times and service is great the coffee is always on point the atmosphere is relaxing. Also the wifi is fast. This place is great.

A nice and cosy place with wonderful coffee. There are live performances on weekends at the back patio. Although take a long time to prepare the coffee and you might have to wait quite a while to get your coffee even when it is not crowded, I would say it is worth the wait. The back patio is wonderful to sit and chat on a lazy evening.

First experience at the nook and I really enjoyed the experience. Recently moved to the city and I’m on the hunt for a coffee shop home, if you will… As a young professional in my early 30s, I think I’m too old to make this my regular coffee shop. Nonetheless, Great service, tasty matcha green tea latte, decent Malbec, perfect wifi, and good ambiance!
Cons: freezing cold and
those terrible tables. I never knew how much I valued a flat table until working on one that was not. Fortunately there are alternative options.

The University of Houston looks totally different today than it did when I spent nearly every day here as either a graduate student or staff/​faculty depending on which fashionable hat I was wearing on-​campus at the time. Long story short I spent a number of years far away from UH but now the bitch is back.
The surrounding neighborhood has since become increasingly gentrified, my favorite black-​owned eateries in the immediate off-​campus area (Thelma, Chief Cajun, et al) are long gone, and there is all this shiny new construction of buildings, light rail, stadium, and other infrastructure on and around campus that has attracted the Gaslamp/​Midtown element spilling over the highway and starting to place their $ 500k white people townhomes literally right on the street that Lightnin’ Hopkins used to tell the world about (rhyming «systematic federal government oppression and FHA shenanigans in the pre-​war years leading to a complete lack of access to the highest source of family net wealth and the single most-​appreciating asset possible in the post-​war years» was hard but we still got what he was sayin’ when he talked about the real estate on Dowling juxtaposed with the other neighborhoods relatively nearby on the other side of the tracks.)
The Nook Café sits in a strip mall at the tail end of the parking lot (19B) shared with the UH Law Center. Back in the day this area used to be a pretty bad — but very cheap — stand alone Americanized-​Chinese restaurant at the ass end of campus backing up to the Spur nobody knew about if they weren’t a law student/​law professor or an upperclassman/​graduate student living at the Calhoun Lofts across the street when it first opened. Some of my peers who studied at Bauer back then didn’t even know about that Americanized-​Chinese place, since they were spoiled as heck with the Starbucks actually located in Bauer. In the law center at that time we just had the Subway in the dungeon which is one of many reasons why I have a complicated relationship with that sandwich purveyor. As far as I know Jared from Subway didn’t molest any of the sandwich meat, so I guess the meat was about as old as I thought it was — too old for Jared to touch.
As UH poured millions into the football stadium that most of us actually don’t care about (let’s be honest, girlfriend) at least they got things installed on campus that matter to the rest of us: coffee. This is where the Nook comes in and it BTHO the Starbucks inside Bauer.
Cougar Blend is a tasty, though somewhat mass produced coffee. I liked it and I only realized how tasty it was when the carafe of Cougar Blend ran out and a carafe of garbage swill (Jason’s Deli coffee) took its place at an academic conference down the street.
Besides the coffee my other most favourite thing is the logo. It’s a bird with a top hat! We can talk about the nonqualified deferred compensation plan if you want to talk about that top hat; but the top hat that both dandy gents and fops alike wear about town is a fashionable, elegant statement to make. And this logo bird makes that statement. Now you know why Charlie Kelly is so eager to go toe-​to-​toe on Bird Law now: securing the equal rights for all birds to have access to top hats, not just the 1%.
The Nook gets just as loud at certain times as The Den campus pub. I need everyone to be at about a 3 or less for me to get any work done, but people are more in the 10 – 11 range before even their first beer is entirely down the hatch.
A little more quiet would go a long way. I am old. I am grumpy. And yes, get off my lawn.

I was so glad when this place opened up! Although there is the student run cougar grounds, and starbucks, this place has them beat. Mostly because it has the coffee shop environment where you can study. This place can be kind of loud, so if you need silence to study, this probably is not your place. Also this place is open late which is also nice!
Additional pros are there are many drink options (and they have baked goods), costs of drinks are comparative to the other two places, free wifi, and free parking. If you haven’t been yet, especially if you go to UH, I highly recommend checking it out!

Awesome environment, its a hipster Starbucks 2.0! As soon as you walk in there are tables and bars to the left and right of you along with separate rooms and a back porch for seating. Whether you want to sit inside or out, in a chair or a couch, they have the respectable spot just for you. I enjoy the frappes very much, I often get the birthday cake. Sometimes they offer macaroons that are quite delightful. If you go to Starbucks regularly the prices here shouldn’t be a shocker.

I’m not a student at UH, but the place had pretty good reviews, so it earned a spot on my list of local coffee shops to try. I’ve been pretty busy so I needed to put aside some time to do some writing, so I thought it a great time to visit this place.
We came in on a Saturday afternoon around 3 pm and there’s plenty of free parking around it. I’m not sure if this is still the case on a weekday, though. The place had a good amount of people already, most of them appearing to be students, armed with laptops, earphones, and books. The tables by the walls are equipped with outlets. There is also countertop type seats by the window; these come with normal-​type chairs. I ended up choosing these as my spot and as a vertically challenged person, the table actually came up pretty high, but it didn’t bother me much since it just made my paper closer to me and I didn’t have to bend over my head as much, but it may be the reason why it was one of the few remaining empty spots. Decorations seemed pretty cool with chalkboard walls.
There were two people behind the counter and they were pretty nice, immediately asking if we had any questions after we were studying their menu for a while. They seem to have a pretty good selection, so I may return to try other items. This time, I got a large Iced Matcha Latte and hubby got his usual cup of hot coffee. The coffee came in a cool Nook mug and is refillable. My latte was ready about 5 minutes later and it came in a plastic cup. It was creamy and you could taste the green tea, but it was definitely on the sweet side. Not bad, but definitely not light, either. It would be nice if the matcha was more pronounced.
The place provided a good setting for my needs. I didn’t take advantage of the wifi, but according to hubby, it’s not connected to the UH wireless. The only thing was the table behind us was a bit chatty so it wasn’t a nice background murmur but rather a constant chattering.
Basically, decent amount of seats, clean, plenty of outlets. There’s a room off to the side as well. Good for studying and meeting up or if you just want a coffee break. Drinks are good, but I’ll wait before I will make a final decision. Didn’t try out the food so I can’t say anything about that. Just hope you don’t sit near a talkative table!

This is a super cool very hipster off campus coffee shop. There’s a lot of space for studying or just hanging out. The chalk board walls make it easy for you to make your mark. there’s a bookshelf wall in the back with a few different jars on it for different things, it’s something I haven’t seen before. I went here at night on a saturday, so it wasn’t crowded at all. The batista was friendly and the staff seems knowledgeable.
I got the chocolate croissant and a vanilla frappé. The chocolate croissant was great. It had a good amount of filling and was warm, soft, and buttery. The vanilla frappé was ok, but kind of tasted like the coffee they put in it was old. Overall I had a good experience and I will be back.

My wife and I stopped by here to look for a to hangout before our play at the Alley Theatre @ UH. If I were the still a student at UH the location would be great! It is almost right across the street from the main UC.
We both had Italian sodas with almond syrup (hard to mess up) and an oatmeal cookie. If I were to review those things, I’d call them just right for a quick snack. However, their menu looked very extensive which I’d be willing to come back and try some more items.
The design of the place is what you’d expect for a college coffee/​tea venue. Personally, I’d have a hard time studying at this place because I’d think they get real busy and noisy during peak hours, but definitely a place to go when you need a break.
Otherwise, worth checking out if you’re in the area.

This place didn’t open until my last year of law school! I wish it had been there all three years! Delicious coffee. Good snacks.
It’s a cool place, with chalkboard walls and tables for studying (and some tables outside in the front and back). It can get crowded!
Good place to study!

I go to this place ALL THE TIME. If you’re on UH campus, this is the place to go hang.
Interior:
Mostly recycled materals. You see OSB panels everywhere and the tables are made of cut up door panels! Great idea! Nicely lit, not too overwhelmingly bright or dark.
Exterior:
Nicely set up lounge in the back with comfortable seatings on deck.
Food:
their pastries and food isnt that good. thats where i took off my 1 star. Only think id get here is a macaron (a bit expensive).
Drinks:
they have everhthing except for liquor. Coffee is pretty good, they use Katz coffee. Unlimited daily brew coffee if you get a cup of got coffee. They also have specialty frappé flavors and i recommend Birthday Cake. They always freshly squeeze their own orange juice, and they blend it with fruits if you ask. Also their $ 2 mimosa is supee refreshing on a hot summer like houston! And remember? Fresh orange juice. They have others like sangrias wines and beers. But if you are feeling iced tea, they got that also ;)
If you are a uh student, this is the spot. And even if you are not and live in eado, come here to chill and cool off.

My favorite place to study on campus! Peak times are mid day so I would avoid the afternoon. I have trouble finding a spot to study, but a spot opens up when I hang around a little bit.
Plenty of tables and seats and just as many outlets!
Service is always great. The baristas are friendly. Drinks are reasonably priced, and I’ve had no problems with any of my drinks.
It gets really chilly in here, even on a hot day, so bring a jacket!

This is such a great coffee shop! It’s a great addition to campus and especially if you’re looking for both a place to study and get your coffee fix.
When you walk in, you immediately see a huge chalkboard full of drawings and paintings all along the wall, shelves full of books and great desserts. Speaking of desserts, I really love buying their cakes. For the price they sell it at it is definitely worth the $ 4. They definitely don’t skimp out on the slice, in fact, they give you a huge slice of cake that could be eaten the next day!
Their lattes seem to always be on point when I come in. The always great service and really nice workers. I really like that, considering it’s mostly college students working there.
To describe the sections of the Nook, there’s a bar type seating where you’re directly in front of the chalkboard, there’s just enough tables in front of the service counter, in be back there’s a quieter section with cubicles, and lastly there’s a little section with more chalkboard and couches. The place just has a great ambiance and the music is perfect.
I do like the fact that they have their own parking lot that isn’t associated with UH. So you technically could park there without a UH permit. Sometimes it’s just so much more convenient.
This honestly is by far the best coffee shop on campus.