Kristy
User's reviews
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The Tea Garden
I have been going to the Tea Garden, both in Minneapolis and in St. Paul, for years now. I'm more impressed with the Minneapolis location because it is much more roomy and is usually a little less busy. The atmosphere is very trendy and the crowd usually consists of mostly college students. The food is largely vegan/vegetarian (which I really appreciate!) but usually doesn't look like the most appetizing thing you could order. I have friends who love their food, but I have never tried it myself. This Teahouse can be whatever you want it to be. I usually drag my non-tea-loving friends with me and they order 'tea coolers' or 'tea shakes' which are basically similar to starbucks/caribou coolers. They taste fantastic, and are great for people who are looking for that kind of thing. If you add 'bubbles' (a.k.a. tapioca pearls) to the tea shakes/coolers and you have one awesome cup of amazing-ness! However, if you want to make your experience more focused on authentic tea, they definitely offer a great place to do that as well. The first time I went to the Minneapolis Tea Garden, I ordered Royal Tea with pearls and it tasted incredible! It was very sweet and didn't really resemble real tea, but it was enough to bring me back to try their 'real' tea. Now when I go, I order off the loose-leaf menu and they have some great loose-leaf teas! I typically will ask the employees what their favorite loose-leaf is on the menu and I order whatever they recommend. So far, I have never been disappointed. The only negatives I see about this place are: (1) The fact that they store their loose-leafs in glass containers and (2) the crowd is usually very trendy and young, which doesn't bother me but I could understand other people might prefer an older or more professional crowd.