breda — Local services in San Luis Obispo

OK, buckle in. I have STRONG opinions about tea services, and while I will keep my mouth shut when something is bad, I had such a great experience here that I felt compelled to leave a review. During a Friday afternoon tea service, I shared a Venetian tea tower with my aunt, along with an additional Peach Bellini. If you don't want to read my essay, let me just say that I STRONGLY recommend you get your friends together for a fun and stylish afternoon tea experience. Let's get into the review.

First, let's discuss the service. The waitstaff was friendly and welcoming, and went above and beyond to make our experience pleasant. My sister and mother wanted to share a glass of Prosecco, and the staff split their glass into two so they could each have their own half-flutes. When our tea pots ran dry, they brought around hot water for a second steep. I felt the service was thoughtful and lovely.

Second, the atmosphere. The restaurant wasn't crowded, so it was a nice, quiet experience. I could hear my dining companions clearly, the music was pleasant and not ear-shatteringly loud, and the restaurant itself was light and airy. The tables, chairs, and cutlery were chosen with chic-ness in mind, the china was really pretty and striking, and the towers themselves were modern and elegant. The flower wall at the back was pretty to look at and added an interesting texture and pop of color to the space. The bathrooms were clean and well-cared for. It looked like they had a back patio space which I didn't explore much, but a glimpse of it out the back door looked pretty. If I lived here, I would be brunching and lunching in this restaurant regularly for the vibes alone.

But let's get into the REAL star of the show: the food. I must comment on the tea selection to start. For an afternoon tea to be good, I am of the opinion that the tea selection must be varied, with bonus points if they have any kind of white tea on the list. They had a healthy selection of caffeinated teas and herbal teas, including the elusive white tea, which was really tasty. The peach bellini I ordered was also great--I find a typical peach bellini can be sickly sweet, but this one threaded the needle nicely. The scones provided were light, fresh, and came with a great jam and!!! Clotted cream!!!! Which, in my opinion, takes and afternoon tea from good to great. I will say the cream was a bit light. I'm used to a bit of a thicker cream, but the texture was melt-in-your-mouth and the flavor was nice. The savories were excellent- great pastry and a nice diverse collection of flavors. And the dessert tier was really a standout. I am always impressed if the patissier can avoid the ever popular and usually vapid store-bought macaron in favor of giving us something different, and I'm happy to report there was a chocolate, a coffee, and two different fruit-flavored sweets, all of which seemed to be made in house and were delightful. Not too heavy, perfect tastes, and really unique.

But let's not get carried away. I rated this tea 5 stars because I think for the area and the closest competition (I had a truly appalling experience in Santa Barbara at a purportedly "incredible" tea place that I still think about a half a year later with great trepidation) , this is the best tea I've found on the central coast.

OVERALL...this place is wonderful, especially for the price of the tea itself. Can't stress this enough: you get GOOD bang for your buck at this location. I've paid more for worse afternoon teas (shivers Santa Barbara... thousand yard stare). As I understand, this restaurant is new and the owner is pursuing her passion for this kind of thing. You love to see it, and I will always support local businesses operated by passionate people. I strongly recommend you come and treat yourself to a lovely tea or lunch experience.

*also just want to add it's WILD that they have a GF tea here. I didn't order it, but gluten intolerant people deserve tea too, and I was really touched and pleased to see this...

Breda is absolutely worth the visit and the price for tea! Their top tier tea service (which means the most food and drinks if you're new to tea) was ~$100 for two people and includes five sandwiches, a scone with cream and house-made jam, five dessert bites, tea, and champagne. The ambiance is posh without being stuffy and familiar to tea regulars without feeling dated or trite.

Not only is the food delicious, each ingredient is carefully chosen and the skill of the chef really shines through. Tea sandwiches are meant to be small bites and the true joy in eating them is usually the nuance of flavors- Breda does not disappoint! We had nectarines and brie, prosciutto and honey, an absolutely gorgeous ham and cheese, cucumber on a tiny blini-like round, and a caprese-style sandwich each of which was unique and SO tasty. The scone was just right and the clotted cream and jam were so satisfying. If you're wondering 'but this place is known for chocolates, right?' fear not! The five dessert bites are a flight of fabulousness all on their own.

Important to note is their awareness of allergies. While no restaurant can accommodate every allergy, the team at Breda is communicative and thoughtful. With enough advance notice (we called ahead and left a message asking for consideration) they deftly helped us navigate options and even made a modification that enabled our whole party enjoy the special meal.

I gave five stars for the service because the people serving are so kind, knowledgable and accommodating and also want to note that it's true they get busy and it can take some time for a refilled pot or perhaps to place an order in the first place if you were to go at a super busy time. That said, I stand by the 5/5 for service because the actual service is amazing!

A truly special offering we are fortunate to have...

Just WOW! I had the most LOVELY time today with my parents to celebrate their anniversary. My mom has celiacs and thoroughly enjoyed her BEAUTIFUL gluten free tea display, Im a picky eater and the chef kindly made me something special, and my dad would not stop GUSHING over EVERY single bite ( hes usually a tough one to please when we go out somewhere - Ive seriously never heard him be SO vocal about enjoying a meal like this before, which was fun) The owners are AMAZING - and went out of their way to make our experience special, we really enjoyed our conversation with both of them and I hope this place sticks around :) We are already talking...