Reviews

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: GingerS is either a competitor, racist, or disgruntled individual. This is bad karma to comment as such, and for Ginger (if correct name) to not even bother talking to Connie, is puzzling. Bathrooms are very clean at this place, with clean tile floors and walls. The only time I've seen it a bit messy is during a dance night, when the paper bin starts to overflow. The lovely tile floors rarely show any dirt and are always clean, so the comments by Ginger are incredulous. Staff is very knowledgeable, and owner Connie is always available if a customer feels the slight bit consumed. I hate to say this, but I've seen this happen on this comment board before, so I'll say it: the GingerS comment appears to be a bit of astroturfing, driven by a competitor or competitor's friend. I can... (more)'t help but notice that the comment date on this is the same date as 2 new comments showing up on a nearby tea house. That tea house had at one time 50+ comments, but they've all been deleted by Adagio. Why? Perhaps Adagio detected they were comments generated by one person, not genuine? Not sure, but the karma is not good here with this negativity not based on any reality. Again, try talking to the owner, Connie. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other customers have found Te House of Tea to be a great experience, very clean, knowledgeable staff, repeat business, so I'm not sure how the GingerS comment could be real.

- Kevin 11/17/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: This place is dirty and the staff knows nothing about tea. I will never recommend this place to anyone. It was the worst experience I have ever had in town. The guy behind the counter could not have cared less that I was there and never smiled or made my visit special. The table and floors were dirty and so was the bathroom. Uck!

- GingerS 11/11/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: This is one of my favorite places to go not only for delicious tea, but for a relaxing and friendly atmosphere. Their teaboard has a variety of teas for every taste. You can find your stand-by favorite easily, but you can also venture out and try new flavors. Each of the hot teas is served in an individual pot, and for as often as I visit I have never had an issue with cleanliness or over-steeping. Connie has a large wealth of knowledge on the subject of teas, as well as a seeming love of them, which enhances the experiences greatly over those other impersonal coffee and tea cafes. The food is always delicious. Their curried tofu baguette is a perennial favorite for me. Sometimes you might have to wait for food to arrive (depending on the time and the number of people in the cafe as well as behind the bar), but usually it's very rapid and always very good.

- Catherine 08/09/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: Dear Ed, Our tea pots are washed and sanitized, just like all our other dishes and utensils. However, we do not scrub the tea pot interiors; it is a Chinese practice to let the tea pots develop a 'patina' on the inside. As I am Chinese, I hope you don't find this offensive, but part of the local color and flavor of our tea shop. Drop by anytime; I'll be happy to explain more of the oolongs, and interesting green teas to you. :)

- Connie 06/28/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: I went here twice tea selection was good, many ok oolongs. Will never return because they DO NOT CLEAN THEIR POTS! There was a ton of build up.

- ed 06/27/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: This is a hip yet peaceful place with an excellent selection of teas, and a wonderful, friendly owner to explain them; be patient with her, though, as she does have a bit of accent. All their food is home-made, and delicious. There's tango dancing on Friday nights and swing dancing on Saturdays. Tea and dancing?! Of course - apparently, some of their regular customers insisted on organizing these nights, and they're very fun, and family safe. I visit here often now, but also buy some of their bulk whole leaf tea to take home to enjoy. Great place!

- Tammy 03/20/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: Dear Virgina, We are glad that you enjoyed the food and ambiance at our place. We welcome you to come back and visit again! Your group stayed 3 hours at our place, so I guess ya'll enjoyed it at least somewhat. Come back, though, at a less busy time, or when we have our full staff! To be clear: we do take reservations, and in fact very much prefer it if you have a large group (8 or more). That way, we can staff appropriately. Unfortunately, on the Sunday you came, we were understaffed; just Ryan and myself through most of the day (normally, we would have 3 or 4 on duty). We had a very busy holiday season, so most of my staff were recuperating by taking their vacations that week, thus I was short-handed (this was noted on other review done of our place that very same... (more) day! You can read sovereignstate.wordpress.com for details). Normally, we would anticipate January to be a very slow month, as it is with most retail. For us, though, it has been just the reverse! A very busy December has been followed by *even busier* January. In the past, our Sundays were quiet affairs - peaceful brunch days - but the last 3 Sundays have been extraordinarily busy; when your group came, every last table was occupied and folks were bringing in chairs from the outside. OK, so we've learned about our new popularity, and are staffing appropriately for it, so mistakes won't happen and our normally very attentive and friendly service will stay up. In fact, that day I would have loved to come say hello to your table, but was so busy with the orders piling up I could never leave the kitchen. :( So, come again so I can at least say hi, and we can enjoy a pot of tea together!!

- Connie 01/30/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: So much potential, so many problems. 1. I called to make a reservation for a large party. They don't take reservations, but I wasn't told that. We were greeted with confusion. 2. At no point was it made clear to us that the service is at the counter, so we waited quite a long time before we figured this out. 3. The tea was woefully oversteeped by the time it came to the table, when we were advised to give it another 4 minutes! In addition, there was NO sweetener on the tables anywhere, and the sweetener at the condiment station was old and picked-over. 4. Our scones arrived so long before the tea that we were done eating by the time our tea arrived. The food was delicious, and the tea might have been if it hadn't been so oversteeped, but the service was atrocious. The atmosphere is pleasant and the variety good enough that I might give it another try, but I definitely won't recommend it. Approach with caution.

- Virginia 01/14/08

Variety:     Artistry:     Service:     Food: I came to Te because of the reviews. What I discovered DID not meet my expectations. The tea was OK but was not brewed by them...I was given a pot with leaves in it and there was no way to remove them. The staff knew very little about tea. It seemed to be a restaurant who had tea as a second thought. The restaurant was dirty. No one seemed to care that I was there. I won't be back.

- Carol 12/28/07