If you have had cream teas or high tea often before, I don't think this place will live up to your expectations. The prices are outlandish-- I misunderstood the menu and thought it was $14 for two scones and tea, which would still be a lot given the size and quality of the scones-- but it was actually $26 plus tax and tip. I ended up paying $33 for good tea but below average scones. The clotted cream was nothing like real clotted cream. It was foamy and full of air pockets, not thick and creamy. They also served it pre combined with lemon curd in little plastic containers. I am definitely spoiled because I spend a lot of time in the UK, so I'm used to high quality cream teas for under $15 USD. I know Palo Alto is expensive, but you are just not getting what you pay for here by any means. I wish I would have trusted the low reviews before I came here. I give it two stars instead of one because the tea itself was really good and the staff were friendly. The bathroom is behind the kitchen area, which is just awkward and uncomfortable. The vibes overall are kind of charming, but not super cute. read more

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Tea time is an adorable tea place in downtown Palo Alto. They have great variety of teas and they frequently have put samples for you to try out. I was craving for boba tea so I tried their lychee milk tea this time. I would say it is not bad but compare to some of the other boba places, it doesn't quite serve up to the expectation. I would try coming for the real tea experience next time. Oh and you need pay extra for dining in. read more

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Cute little place. Nice staffs. We went on Monday afternoon and it was not too busy. We sat outside which was very nice but bees kept coming to our food. Had hard time to get rid of them :( read more

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We just moved to the area, and I love tea. We were really excited about trying this place out, but while passing by people with the "fruit plate" "cookie" and "tea sandwiches" I instantly started to doubt this establishment. The cookie was a biscoff, and this is a free item on flights, so it's sad they think this is a "free cookie" worthy addition to a 13.95 dollar pot of tea. Btw you can't share the pot of tea, they were going to charge me for another cup and this extra charge is 13.95, it made no sense, one pot of tea is good for 3 cups but I can't have an extra cup to share with my partner, I don't really want 3 cups of (same) tea lol. This tea is already At minimum 100% marked up, so they can't even offer a homemade or fancier Whole Foods cookie? It's just weird the short cuts they take, like scamming the customers with our eyes wide open. You think I can't see how dry those scones look, or how poor the fruit plate is with a few pieces of store bought sliced fruit, you can't even purchase market fruit and slice it yourself, everyone knows that's a little extra effort for a quality fruit plate. Take some pride in what you serve people especially when the prices are insane. Haha. Just wild out here in Palo Alto. I can't imagine who actually goes here and has money to literally burn. I would say it looks like they have a really wide range and cool selection of teas, but with that being said it seemed like they assume their customer has no knowledge of tea and the costs of tea. Honestly go to China town in SF and you will have sooo many tea tastings that are near free and delicious (if you're looking for just trying cool teas). There's also a lot of high teas in SF that are delish and worth the money. Okay rant over. So Shooketh read more

Stumbled upon this cute little tea room. The servers Kaly and Talya are so nice and friendly. They took us in even we don't have a prior reservation. Tim, the manager is so knowledgeable about tea cultures, East and West, different types of teas and collections of tea wares. The coolest thing is you can buy your own tea cups and saucer from their collections and they will serve tea with your VIP tea cup every time you have high tea at Tea Tome. They have over 100 of tea types and classics tea wares. Their food serving size are just nice for high tea, just like what I expected. My husband ordered Earl Grey and I have Yim Zhen Silver Needles. Both of them taste sooo good. Definitely coming back again. If you love tea, I definitely recommend you to check it out in Palo Alto downtown. read more

Tea Time - Assorted Tea Sandwiches Regular, Scones and fruits - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Enjoyed an afternoon tea with my husband for Valentine's Day weekend. We intentionally went before having lunch downtown, but we did order dessert to pair with our tea flavors - seven wonders & peppermint. I had the lemon bar and he had the carrot cake, and both were really delicious. Best carrot cake and lemon bar I've ever had. The seven wonders tea was really flavorful and it paired well with the lemon bar, more than it did with my peppermint tea. Next time, I'd stick to ordering a different flavored tea you normally wouldn't have at home. We liked the seven wonders so much that we bought some to take home. I'd definitely come again and try their other food options. read more

Tea Time - Mint tea & seven wonders tea. Lemon bar came with assorted fruits - a nice surprise because strawberries goes so well with lemon! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Tea is a ritual, it will stop you from the business of everyday things. I usually take my friends to Tea Time in Palo Alto. It is a quite place to discuss life matters and to stop the clock from running. There is a short waiting time for the tea to be prepared and steep in the correct way. The teapot is dressed with the cozy, a very British custom and it looks so good when it arrives at the table. Tea Time offers a wide selection of teas from all over the world and a variety of small savory and sweet bites that are just delicious and filling. Some people dress in Victorian costumes just to play the part. This place is very clean, employees are very courteous, the antique atmosphere forces people to behave with elegant manners and to talk with a low voice. I highly recommend Tea Time experience. read more

Amazing tea options, great service & ambience!! Will definitely recommend to someone who is looking for high tea party!! read more

We went here to have tea after not being able to see each other in person for over two years, and it was delightful. The food was excellent and the setting was very conducive to a good gab fest. The tea was really good too and they had a nice selection of tea wear and loose leaf teas. The staff were all very friendly. Just a lovely afternoon all around. read more

Delicious teas and sandwiches. We are always looking for nice places for high tea and this is a place we will definitely come back. Warm friendly owner and staff and nice location. They blend their own earl grey with bergamon extract and Ceylon tea and they have a nice kids menu even our 4 year old really loved his tea plate of sandwiches and sweets with his hot chocolate. read more

Tea Time - Insulated tea pot - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

We really enjoyed our afternoon tea at Tea Time. This is clearly a family owned and run establishment so they take a lot of pride in their afternoon tea service. The owner took the time to explain the tea offerings, the menu and the recommended pairings of food and tea. Since it was my wife's birthday, they even brought a third pot of tea so we could try a black tea, a lychee infused tea and an herbal tea. They were all high quality, distinctive and refined. The scones, sandwiches and desserts were also wonderful. We highly recommend! read more

My husband and I have been coming to Tea Time since 2019 and loved it since the very first time! We made sure to place our orders throughout the pandemic. And as soon as we were able to come back and have a sit down tea we did! The environment is calm and quiet not to mention the service and attention to detail. read more

Bummed about our experience here. First, in making the reservation via phone they took my credit card details and made me preorder food selections. Weird, but I went with it. Upon arriving, it took almost 20 minutes to get service. They delivered all the wrong teas. Another 10 minutes later we finally had the correct tea but still no food. My tea poured a short black hair into my cup and my daughters hot chocolate had a piece of paper (??) stuck in the tea spout after I opened up the teapot to see why on earth it couldn't pour properly (and the hot chocolate went all over the table). We asked for a refill on our teas and hot choc for the kids before leaving - we were sitting outside for over an hour and got cold. Only hot water was added to our tea pots, no new tea, so it was like pouring hot water with no flavor. I wish we had been given the option to add new tea... We got charged for refills on hot choc for the kids without a warning. We were ready to leave so the gal said "here's your receipt" and I assumed we were done because she called it a receipt and I had already provided my CC details. We packed the kids and started walking away and we were flagged down about halfway down the block because "we never paid." That's embarrassing! So had to walk back to the restaurant again to settle the tab when they most definitely had my card details. Food was good, but what an odd experience. It was quite expensive also. read more

It's always a good time whenever I go here. Today I introduced my friends to this place and they all loved it. We got the darjeeling, strawberry smile, and peach rooibos teas. All the tea was really good but my favorite was the peach because it was really fragrant. The manager and staff were really nice and welcoming. All the food tasted delicious especially the shrimp avocado sandwich and the cheesecake. We just loved the atmosphere and having good company made our experience even more special! This place is really a gem and we're definitely coming back next time! read more

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Tea Time in Palo Alto made our event at Stanford a complete success! Tim Pham coordinated our order and helped us make a lovely menu. He is amazing and set everything up for us, even offering to take up the rentals. He also educated us about tea in England (even telling us about how the queen likes her scones. Jam first!). We will be using Tea Time again if we ever want to feel fancy! read more

Tea Time - The amazing set up! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I bought 2 tea for two deals awhile back and finally used them this afternoon. When I bought the deal on Bloomspot, I remember yelping it beforehand to make sure it was worth trying. A little after I purchased the deal, I started to see bad reviews on yelp about the poor stompers customers received. I was a little hesitant to want to try Tea Time but I already bought the deal... Right? Anyways, my friends and I originally planned on coming last month but were pretty much turned away for not making reservations ahead of time. In addition to be turned away, the Asian lady behind the counter had a really bad attitude and kinda left us with a wrong impression on us. The deal expires on 2/18 so my friends and I needed to go soon. This time around, I made a reservation through email and I was told the only available time on Sunday was at 10:30am. I would have preferred a later time but ended up just taking the reservation. When my friends and I arrived, the place was empty. Actually, we were basically the only group there for the entire time we were there. So why the need for the reservation at this time? I've been to a couple of tea places and Tea Time is not what I would consider a real tea room. It's set up more casual, like a small coffee shop. The decorations consisted of tea sets but the tea cups and plates did not reflect the usual quirky tea room qualities of decorative china and silverware that I'm used to. The service was much better today. Our server was nice and friendly. As for the food, it didn't really stand out. The tea smelled great but the taste was a bit weak. Overall, if you're looking for an authentic tea room, this is not the place. If you're looking for a place to grab coffee or tea and enjoy some quiet time, this might be for you. Here's what we had: Our Teas: *Caffee Latte: Creamy yogurt pieces, hint of cocoa, chocolate pieces, and coffee bean blended in a fine black tea. Exquisite and unique tea blend. *Emperor's 7 Treasures: An exquisite and beautiful blend of green and black base tea, rose petals, rose leaves, sunflower petals and a distinctive peachy note. Our Sandwiches: *Mandarin Oranges and Cream Cheese *Turkey with Cranberry Relish *Cucumber Cream Cheese Topped with Grape Tomato and Feta *Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Topped with Caviar *Smoked Gouda Cheese with Fresh Tomatoes *Chicken-Apple-Pecan Salad *Bay Shrimp Salad Topped with Avocado *Tuna Salad with Dill Four cinnamon scones with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and preserves. Petits fours: four puff pastries, two eclairs, and two tiny cakes. read more

Tea Time - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

My wife and I ordered the two most expensive items on the menu, thinking this would be great. We do high tea all over the world, literally. This was the most expensive for what you're given, the least fresh, pre-packaged (we saw them bring out the containers from the back, which is next to the bathroom). We did not get two trays. They combined both into one, and the only difference was a very tiny little taste of soup. Think "tea with toddlers," and you've got the idea. The sandwiches were actually tiny little bite-sized squares. You just popped it in your mouth, and that's it. Everything else is what you get from Starbucks or Costcos. To add insult to injury, they charged us an additional $22.00 service charge! Why? Their answer. It's just their policy! Alright then. So our policy, since you just tipped yourself on a $170.00 toddler tea party for two, is to not leave you a monetary tip! Tim, the owner, seems nice, but his business practices are deceptive. Save your wallet and appetite and head over to the Bay area. Now those are high tea and fresh and delicious for much, much less with much more to fill you up! read more

I love Tea Time. Whenever I leave home and I come to Tea Time I always feel like I am at home again and I have felt this way since the first time I was there. I stepped into this fine establishment and fine small business and I immediately felt welcomed. I must've touched everything and smelled everything. Everyone in Tea Time is extremely helpful and they are always extremely happy to assist me. All the employees are extremely nice, but I really love Marcos, the employee in the picture with me. I come here regularly and always have a great experience. I have lived in Palo Alto for my entire life and have been going to tea time for years. I love this place and I know that everyone else will too. read more

Tea Time - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I visited Tea Time with my mother for afternoon tea. The shop is small but cozy with a quiet atmosphere. I got the winter solstice tea. The winter solstice tea included three tea pairings with each component of the meal. There was hojicha with the salad and savory, winter solstice tea with the tea sandwiches and the scone, and mint tea with the dessert and fruit. The food was fine. All three of the tea were very good especially the mint tea. My one complaint I have is that the service was uneven. We didn't have much attentiveness for our tea while some parties were given more attention and better overall service. read more

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My friend made us reservations for High Tea before New Years Eve many days in advance. She told them that she was allergic to meat, and the person on the phone said that they'd make her sandwich vegetarian. We get our food and she did not get her vegetarian sandwiches and she had to ask them to fix it. In addition, the poster in front of the shop boasts that we get scones with "clotted cream". When we got our scones, my friend, who was visting from London, tasted the clotted cream and declared it was not so. We asked our waitress about it, and she said, "oh yes, we ran out and it's substituted with something else". We asked what it was and she found out that it was some mix with cream cheese -- it tasted very bad. They said nothing about substitutions when they placed the dishes in front of us!! (And my friend made the reservation many days in advance, so how did they not have the main dishes that they promised?) So my friend asked for jam to go with the scones, and the waitress said that they were out of jam and all they had were some fig preserves. My friend tried it and did not like it. I am a huge fan of high tea and tea sandwiches. I LOVE tea sandwiches, but these were the worst tea sandwiches I have ever had. I'm pretty sure they ran out of more ingredients and used the fig preserves in the sandwiches, which made them sweet (and typically these sandwiches are supposed to be savory). Lastly, they added automatic 20% tip to our bill -- I should have complained about that and not paid it as it was clearly not deserved. So I paid $70 for a very disappointing tea service. Oh, btw, the tea was nice. But I'm never coming back here and don't recommend that you do either. read more

I've been twice now to buy loose tea, which is wonderful quality and great selection, but boy are they stressed out. The guy is always barking at his staff, they are running around crazy, apologizing to everyone and then taking forever to bag a simple order of tea. It took about 15 minutes and the restaurant was not even full. I love supporting local businesses, but this place is too stressful to ever step into ever again. read more

Came here for afternoon tea with my friend and tried their March Special. I think I went there over 10 years ago, haven't gone back since it was not too impressive from that experience. I've been to pretty much all the afternoon tea places in East/South Bay, decided to give Tea Time another shot. To our surprise, everything was so good! From the welcome, greeting, service, to each item included in the monthly special, and the cute decorations, it was impressive! My only suggestion is if they would allow online reservations so I don't to call and then wait for call-back to confirm. Will go back again! read more

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First time I've visited excellent ambiance food was phenomenal service was superb I will definitely come back and the owner was amazing

Had a great afternoon. The food selection was great. My only feedback was service was little slow and the tea's were cold but they did do their best to correct serving it hot. As a small business owner I understand staff shortages these days so appreciate the hard work of the small business owners. Thank you Tim for accommodating the changes, and moving the tables to fit all of us. Appreciate it and we will be back. read more

Tea Time - Building Women Empowered Group Monthly Tea event - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

This is such a lovely special occasion restaurant. We enjoy going for Valentine's Day. The tea and food are good, especially the little sandwiches. read more

An amazing selection of teas! Buy loose leaf or they will brew your tea to perfection. This is THE shop for tea aficionados! The staff and owner Tim are always helpful and friendly. read more

Very nice restaurant. Service is excellent. We enjoyed the time to relax over a pot of tea. I highly recommend if you are looking for a traditional English high tea. read more

I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt in reading some of the reviews, but I definitely feel like we were mislead in coming here. We made a reservation for my birthday because we wanted to make sure there would be a spot for us. We made a reservation for tea + 3 side orders, which details that you get to make your own combination of tea and food choices. When we got there, we were told they would only take our orders for tea and that because we made a reservation it would be a pre-selected choice of food. They made no mention of this on the phone and I was super confused as I've had tea many times at other places and never been told I couldn't pick what I wanted to order. I spoke with the hostess twice about this because I thought maybe they were confused about what we ordered, but they insisted it had to be the pre-selected menu. She also said that it was more efficient for them to do it this way on the weekends. Luckily I was able to get them to change out some of the sandwiches, otherwise my vegetarian friend would not have been able to eat. When we received our receipt it was for the tea + 3 side orders, so it was clear that they just decided to change the rules on us to make things easier for them. We tried to make the most out of the experience, but I was really disappointed, especially for the price they charge. We won't be coming back here. Please note that if you make a weekend reservation they may force a preselected menu on you. read more

Enjoyed 2 separate AFTERNOON TEAs here. Pros: - super cute! cute atmosphere and cute tea sets - the scones and custard was super yummy (the best part!) - they accommodated dietary restrictions for us (nut/sesame/fish allergies, lactose free milk) - Eric, the owner was very friendly and accommodated us by renting a heater for us so that we could eat outside with our dog Cons: - we weren't able to choose our 3x teas (would have preferred to have a choice) - sandwiches and additional desserts were ok - fruits were not as fresh/some dirt on grapes - pricey (compared to costs in England) read more

I'd like to corroborate the review from Kristen W below, I was also dining here at the same time. There are two points to add, the most crucial, that is illegal to charge someone's card without their permission. You did not have our signature on the amount that you decided to charge our banks, who's to stop any business from charging whatever they feel like after the fact? The law!This is fraud and it is illegal. To the second point, what we were given was not what would be expected. We ordered three separate high tea meals at $150 total and we received maybe $50 worth of food and service. The "fruit " was a slice from a strawberry, and only two of us received a segment. One of us was missing 1 of the 3 dessert pieces. In addition they also used low quality foods from Costco such as 2 tiny cheddar slices instead of the chunk of Brie promised on the menu description. They were extremely cheap with the items that you would expect from a high tea, such as lemon curd and jams, we were each given a tablespoon which is pretty much unacceptable. We did believe that with all the errors that we were being giving a discount in apology. Guess not. The management seems to believe that unacceptable service, low quality fare, ignoring their menu descriptions on the food and then also charging your credit card without your permission is fair business practice. read more

Tea time is one of my favorite places to visit in Palo Alto! The atmosphere is very cozy, the food and tea are delicious. The spinach tartlets and cinnamon scones are my absolute favorite. They also take special care to brew each tea at the correct temperature for the right amount of time - not all places do this, so if you're a tea aficionado, this is the place to go! My husband and I lovedTea Time so much we chose them as the caterers for our wedding (we did an "Afternoon Tea" style reception). Tim definitely rose to the challenge and was able to cater our event of 70 people whilst also finding options to accommodate the variety of dietary restrictions our guests had. All of our guests have had rave reviews about the food and tea. Definitely visit Tea Time in person - and let them cater your next afternoon tea party! read more

Had an excellent time with coworkers at Tea Time with nice afternoon tea and finger food. The service was superb and when I had accidentally left an extra tip on top of the service fee, the owner was nice enough to reverse my mistake. Would definitely venture here again. read more

Worse experience ever! We waited forever even though we had a reservation and then waited 40 more minutes to be helped! Once we were helped our food took another 20 minutes to come and then once it came it was wrong. We asked them to fix and they did it with a bad attitude! Once we finally got the bill it was much lower than we expected which made us feel better about the horrible service and once our credit card statement came they changed our bill to correct about without our permission! We are never going back and neither should you! As you can see from the business response...they will charge your credit card whatever they want it to be regardless of service and I have filled a credit card review of this and we are not paying a cent more than my receipt states! It is illegal to change the charge without me permission and you lost a lot more than the 25 dollars you overcharged me, you lost me as a customer! read more

We had a lovely time today at Tea Time. The staff was wonderful and restaurant was cozy and quaint. read more

Tea Time - Holiday tea - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Food and atmosphere was great! We went at 11 on a Friday and we were the only ones there! Very quiet and relaxing. The service was quick and great! read more

My mom has been wanting to visit a high tea place for quite some time now. For her birthday this year (November), I decided to make it happen and bring her to a tea place-- granted something was open amidst this pandemic. Let me describe my experience in a COVID world... I found this place by searching on Yelp for high tea near me. Tea Time had a tremendous amount of positive reviews, so I decided to go with this one. I am very happy I went with this decision because it gave me such a positive first tea experience. Due to a lot of restaurants nowadays prioritizing reservations because of the limited space capacity, I called ahead of time to make sure that I could be seated. I called at around 11:30 am to make a reservation for 1:30 pm on a Saturday since I was traveling from San Francisco. My table was reserved without any issues. Upon driving to Tea Time, I am glad that I arrived about 20 minutes before my reservation because finding parking was pretty troublesome. I did not expect anything less in a busy Downtown Palo Alto area on a Saturday, so I would recommend that if you have a reservation here to arrive earlier than the actual reserved time. We had a very nice server. I can't remember her name, unfortunately, but she had a tremendous list of recommendations. We went with the afternoon tea selection that included a bountiful selection of sandwiches and pastries, along with the tea we chose, of course! We shared this between the two of use, but because each person in the party needed to purchase something that was at least $10 worth, we also added 3 more sandwiches and another pot of tea. The sandwiches we ordered were: egg salad, smoked salmon, turkey with cranberry, chicken apple pecan, tuna salad, and shrimp salad. I can't tell you which sandwich I liked the most because I was very happy with everything we selected. For the tea, we went with lychee and mango passion fruit. Again, we were very happy with these tea flavors. Lychee tasted great with milk, but I liked mango passion just by itself, with a little bit of sugar. For dessert, we got a sampler so that we could try a bunch of mini desserts and that was also delicious. Overall, I had an extremely pleasant visit and halfway through our experience, my mom and I were already speaking about how we wanted to take other family members here one day because we know that they would enjoy it just as much as we did. I'm definitely looking forward to my next visit! read more

Tea Time - Lovely afternoon tea! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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I was extremely disappointed with the service and food especially given the price and location of this tea place. To celebrate my daughter's birthday, we had high tea. When I made the reservation, they asked for a credit card so that they can make the sandwiches in advance and charge my credit card if we didn't show. When we showed up on the day of our reservation, we waited for 15 minutes before they asked us for our sandwich orders and another 15 minutes for them to make our sandwiches. There were no other customers in the store. They never offered an explanation or apology when I explained about our order that was placed the day before. Moreover, we found them to be disorganized and the quality & quantity of the food to be marginal for the high price. Paid $70 for two people. We each had a pot of tea, three small finger sandwiches and 2 half size scones. Do not recommend and would not go there again. read more

Wonderful intimate tea time experience in a quiet cozy room. Most favorite food in our tea set for two was surprisingly the hot fresh crispy spring roll and mushroom tartlet of the set. The sandwich portions were small, but after the initial soup and salad, most people would feel satiated. If you like a quiet relaxing cafe away from the bustle of the chaos off university ave, this place is a gem. Tim and the server were very sweet and attentive. read more

Tea Time - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Very cute tea shop across from Old Pro. This is the kind of place you take your mom so she can enjoy seeing the fine china on display, having the teapot covered in a cozy and nibble on delicate sandwiches. The tomato soup is very nice. Service was a tad slow, ergo the -1 star. I'll come again when I have more time and bring a book. Hope they have scones and clotted cream. That would certainly prompt a visit for high tea! read more

Very knowledgeable waitress (proprietress?), but ambience and tea accompaniments fell short of my expectations. The baked goods seem to be sourced from other bakeries. Also I would have liked cream instead of milk with my tea. Ambience could be improved with more coherent decor and restyling (for example ceramic creamers instead of little metal ones). read more

Tea Time - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Palo Alto, California