Tim Prendergast
User's reviews
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Tea House on Los Rios
Even though I live in nearby San Clemente, I could never figure out where the historic Los Rios district of San Juan Capistrano was. While standing on the Amtrack platform one day I noticed that the entrance to this little gem of a village was right across the tracks.Aha! I found it. I wandered around enjoying my discovery and happened upon The Tea House on Los Rios owned by the Niccola's. It was closed and there were no menu's or any literature so I filed the place away in my mind.Fast forward several weeks to a visit from Alabama of a very dear friend who happens to be a tea fanatic. Wednesday, August 23, 2006...we go to The Tea House at 11:30 am and my excitement was palpable. I thought to myself, ' Gee, this ought to be a great opportunity to give my visitor, Michael, a treat.' We enter and are greeted rather cooly by a young lady hostess whom I beleive was pregnant. She obligingly asks...' Two, for tea?' We are then escorted outdoors to a table sitting fully in the sun. When we ask for a shadier spot to relax we are greeted with a sneer and a rather rude comment... ' We have a number of reservations arriving soon'...'This is really as good as I can do for you'. I was a little shocked at this attitude that clearly needed adjusting. We took matters into our own hands and sat ourselves at an empty table,in the shade,that was located only feet from the blazingly sunny table. The hostess was not happy but obviously there was nothing she could do. We were quite upset at this treatment. She could have informed us as soon as we entered the establishment that reservations were handled with priority. Her first mistake was to render us as second class citizens.Her second mistake was to act perturbed by our discomfort with the situation. Our waitress went a long way towards making things better. She was knowledgable and more than corteous. She was actually a pleasure. Sweet with a great sense of humor. She recommended the blackberry scone with Devon creme and preserves. I had a darjeeling and Michael had a citrus infused tea. the tea pots were enormous...but quantity did not win out over quality. The tea was delicious and the scones were truly fabulous.Our waitress literally saved the situation from becoming a permanent blight on this establishments record from our perspective. The hostesses miserable approach with us lands the review squarely onto a 'lacking' rating. My advice....make reservations or be prepared for some abuse from the pitbull at the entrance.