Absolutely lovely tea room! We went here today and the service was exceptional and the mother daughter team, dot of the owner of establishment, we're so friendly and kind. They made our experience wonderful! read more

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I had afternoon tea at Hathaway Tea Rooms in Stratford Upon Avon, England on 5/25/2015. It was my 1st time there. My afternoon tea cost 12.50 pounds and was well worth it. My server, Lilia, did a fine job. Plus, I took photos. read more

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the place is good if you like the quaint, homey, historic feel. like you're ACTUALLY drinking tea during anne hathaway's time. otherwise, you can get better tea and food elsewhere. It's not the cheapest place either. There's a little bakery section downstairs, and the tea room is tucked away upstairs. They also serve food, but I didn't get any. seemed like pretty typical food. The crowd was very particular, most people looked like they had been coming here for years. it definitely didn't feel like a touristy spot, even though stratford is a tourist town. Their scone was a little hard and their clotted cream could have been fluffier and creamier. their tea kettle could have been bigger too :p They dont let you split a pot of tea, which is kind of a downer. but i guess you're not supposed to. read more

This is a tea room full of character and charm. As you enter, you go through a bakery where you are tempted with all types of baked delights. You are sumptuously stimulated by what they have to offer, but then make your way up the winding, crooked staircase, where you are met with uneven floorboards and wobbling beams. This is fantastic! The menu provides the most quintessential of British afternoon tea fair, from scones, jam and clotted cream to English rarebit and beans on toast. The only issue is that it is fairly expensive for what you get, but that appears to be characteristic of Stratford regardless of where you are. You can overlook the high street, watching the passerbys and imagine Shakespeare walking down the road. read more

Character, charm, tempting bakery smells and crooked floorboards is what this tea room trades on. I wasn't sumptuously stimulated however by the produce or the service which was, should I say, indifferent. I gave the place the chance of a revisit but was not impressed, and told them so. They didn't even respond to a written complaint so; sorry Hathaway Tea Rooms, clean up the tables and get some GOOD VALUE meals delivered attentively and ON TIME. read more

Pleasant and traditional tea rooms. Cosy atmosphere and friendly staff. Food is simple but the salad I had and the cream tea for my wife was perfectly adequate and just about worth the cost. When the table was cleared by the waitress I was treated to a view that wasn't strictly decent in a tea room however :-) read more

I so wanted to love this tea shop, as it has recently been refurbished and the display of cakes in the window look so tempting. However, having popped in for what was intended to be a quick lunch in a lovely, beamed room with a cute, multi-paned window, we had to wait ages to be served a simple snack. The promised refill of hot water for our pot of tea never arrived, and I gave up all hope of catching the eye of a waiter/waitress and ordering a dessert. The friend I was with had visited the previous week and said that the service had been very slow, so I should have been warned. The other people there had to wait a long time too, and although the staff always seemed to be in a hurry, most of them dashed past, steadfastly refusijng to make eye contact when we needed anything, muttering about how busy they all were. The tea shop hasn't been open very long since it was taken over, and I'm hoping that the service will settle down soon. Not sure if they need more staff, or if the staff need more training - but we were made to feel a bit of a nuisance rather than potential regular customers. What a shame, as it is such a lovely building, and has the potential to be a great place for a coffee & a cake. read more

Okay, so it might not be the best tea in the world and the menu is hardly novel, but it's all reasonably priced and in comfortable surrounding (if slightly cheesy). The service was excellent and the food enjoyable. If you're just out for a quick lunch (for example, pre-theatre like we were) then you could probably do a lot worse. Also, excellent cakes. read more

Wonderful food, tea, and staff. It's in an amazing historic building, which I highly recommend exploring.

I've looked at the other reviews and find it hard to believe we're talking about the same place. But for what it's worth, I have been to high tea in a number of places in the states (I'm from the USA) and also have been to Tea and Sympathy in Manhattan (though some time ago), and to the best that my memory will afford me, these were the best scones I have ever eaten. In fact, I said to the people I was with as I was eating the last of my 2nd (+?) scones, that I was sorry that this eating experience was coming to an end. I will say that as we were leaving I saw some scones in one of the bakery bins that looked a bit more "well done" than those we had but as far as I'm concerned the ones we had were perfect and so wish that I could easily return, but alas, cannot. read more

Visited the tea room yesterday. First impressions were that the furniture is not in keeping with the age of the building, ie low vinyl red and cream chairs are more suited to a bistro than a traditional tea room. The young staff were well dresssed in a black/white uniform, but they lacked social skills. My husband left the two sausages from his full english breakfast on his plate and when the waitress asked if everythink was o.k. with our meal, he explained that the sausages skins were like bullits! They were so overdone, it was impossible to cut through the skin. The waitress merely replied that she would tell someone in the kitchen. Due to the position of the till, in the doorway entrance, it is difficult to pass through as the staff were blocking the area. When my husband paid the bill, a waiter asked him about his meal. He repeated the problem with the sausages. Again, the waiter said he would tell someone in the kitchen! I would suggest the new owner should train his staff in basic customer care skills. It seems young people do not understand the meaning of the word SORRY, as they never use it. If a customer is served food which is unfit to eat, I would expect the employer to APOLOGISE and offer something as a gesture of goodwill (eg a cup of coffee, a small discount on the bill or a voucher for another visit). As none of these options were offered, and we were not impressed with the overall experience, I am afraid we will not be returning to the tea rooms. Tip: Concentrate on the quality of the food, rather than new furniture! read more

I have recently (after a previous bad experiencej) revisited Hathaway Tea Rooms to see if my last visit was just a 'hic cup' and have to say I have never been so disappointed or disgusted by the way the staff, service and food was presented. Yes, from the outside, to all intents and purposes, the building and set-up is appealing with the age and connection of the property and history of the town, and prices are no better or worse than anywhere else you go (even for Stratford) at least if it were fresh or decent portions. I took my family for a late afternoon light Sunday lunch. Before we went upstairs, I enquired if hot food was still being served (it was 2.30pm) and was given an "I dunno; ask upstairs" from an unsmiling young lady. We proceeded upstairs where we found four tables occupied, three uncleared tables and I spied three members of very young staff talking in the kitchen area, oblivious to the comings and goings of customers. We made our way to an empty table and proceeded to order (after a 10min wait) by a sullen waitress. The meals arrived incomplete after 12mins minus potatoes and chips, baked beans were hidden by a thin layer of cheese ontop of a baked potato and the children's meals consisted of 3 chicken nuggets and 10 chips each (yes, we couldn't help but count them!) The drinks and ice cream included in their meal price, was non exisitent. The cappuccino was a frothless, dishwatery liquid and the coffee was cold. When I sought out the waitress and other staff members to enquire as to what was wrong, I was informed that was how they have always served food. When an older member of staff finally arrived (probably due to my complaint and request for a senior member of staff), the only explanation given was there had been a delay of food delivery and stocks were low - yet prices were to remain the same! There was no apology. Even when we left, I refused to pay the entire bill, the final staff member gave me the total without "please" or "thank you" and when I pointed this out she only blushed in silence and begrudgingly took my hard earned money. The staff were unsmiling, unhelpful and obviously wanting not to be there. Have the owners ever thought of WELCOME HOST? It is a short, inexpensive course training any staff in the hospitality industry. Well worth the time and money. To be greated by a smile would have been a very welcome start instead of a sullen or moody youngster. Customers should not have to seek out and ask staff to clear tables, it should be automatic and any customer seen sitting at a cluttered table should have been approached immediately and apologies made for the "mess". Customers should not feel they have to do the job themselves - what has happened to customer service or the customer is always right? I have worked in the hospitality industry for quite some time and my staff would never have even turned up for work looking like they wished they were somewhere else. They were always happy, polite, smiling and courteous and thoroughly enjoyed the job they were doing. Not even daring to argue with a customer and tell them were are wrong - yes! that is what I got. The owners are happy enough to take the customer's money and no wonder they are selling up. My two regrets are, that I ever discovered this awful place with its meagre, stale portions and sullen, rude staff and that the new owners, whoever they be, will be hard pressed to rectify this restaurant if they intend it to stay that way. The locals don't seen to frequent this establishment only tourists and I pity them as this is reflection on Stratford upon Avon as a whole. Good luck to the new owners - I feel they will need it! read more