Sweet Magnolias Tea Bistro — Restaurant in Auburndale

This establishment does not even deserve 1 star. My sister booked a shower here and was given complete false information. We were told there were decorations we could use and there were not. We were given a certain price for the shower and the price completely changed. We set up a time and drove an hour to come have tea to try the menu for the shower and the girl helping us had no clue about anything or that we were coming. Manager was supposed to be there and never showed up, the girl at the front counter couldn’t help us and had no clue about our event that was booked. We weren’t able to sample food like we were told we could, we had to just order an item off the menu to try. People working that day supposedly had no idea we were coming when we had arranged to come weeks prior to that day. We were told the room would hold 50 people which it did not. The rooms are separated so half of our guests would have been behind a wall in a different area then where the shower would have been. We put $100 deposit down when booking the shower and we’re told $50 was non refundable if we cancelled UNLESS another event booked on the same day we originally scheduled. This establishment is VERY unorganized so we cancelled the shower 2 months prior. The manager was VERY rude and refused to give us back the other $50 we had put down. She said there was no way for her to give a refund to us she could only give a gift card. We did NOT want a gift card because after the experience we had already had we had no intentions on coming back here. She also refused to even send us the gift card in mail she wanted us to drive an hour to come pick it up. We were told once an event was booked we would receive the other $50 back and she would call us. We dealt with the manager for months about this!!! An event WAS booked on the day we originally scheduled therefore our $50 should have been refunded, and again she refused to give us our money back. She stopped returning our phone calls and completely avoided us. Every time we called she was never in and we were told she would call us back and that never happened. Manager said we signed a contract so she wasn’t obligated to refund us.... a contract was NEVER signed. We booked over the phone. We dealt with this issue from July through December and still NEVER received any of the $100 back that we should have. Customer service was horrible and I would never recommend...

We went here for the Afternoon TEA. We were served their iced tea that tasted quite nice but we didn't know that the hot tea would then NOT be included with the Afternoon TEA. A tea menu was on the table but did not come with a description for each tea. Sugar packets were on the table. We did order a pot to share (we paid extra for this). No cream was served until we asked for it. The cream was served in a normal tea cup and pouring it was messy. The Paris tea did taste quite nice but the tea was not hot, more like warm tea. No refills were offered. The Afternoon tea and display was overall disappointing 😞. The 2 scones were different from each other. I was in a party of 2. We cut the scones to share. As the carrot cake scone had an ok taste, the plain scone tasted just like a sugar cookie with a similar consistency. Fresh fruit was served on this tier along with a little dish with what the server claimed to be Devonshire clotted cream. It was NOT. It had to be a cream cheese fruit dip. No jam was served until we asked and the server did not believe they could serve any jam. The second tier consisted of 3 deli meat/ chicken salad sandwiches on croissants for each of us. Our waitress was unclear on what the meats on our sandwiches were. My guess was that all ingredients were purchased from Costco or somehwere similar. No mayonnaise or dressing for the deli sandwiches. There was a potato salad and broccoli salad that tasted good. The top and final tier had one slice of yummy coconut cake to share with whipped cream on top (soaked the cake). Along with the cake were 2 macaroons and bite sized cheesecakes, again most likely purchased from Costco.

When we arrived I discreetly brushed crumbs from the table. The tablecloth was spoiled in areas. My napkin was moist but smelled laundered. The tea cups were chipped. We asked for one to be exchanged as it was visibly dirty.

Despite the surprisingly good reviews for this restaurant, we left quite disappointed. The cost was just under $90 for the 2 of us combined after purchasing the...

The GPS made it difficult to find. Putting it aside made it much easier. But at least GPS showed a picture of it so I knew what I was looking for. I walked in and was greeted by no one. I could hear a conversation going on in a back room but not being familiar with the layout I wasn’t sure if I was welcome to go all the way inside. I waited eight minutes, still no one. A group of four women came in behind me and were waiting as well. The loud conversation in the back room never ceased. I finally stepped into the room and I could see a woman in an apron standing next to a table having a conversation. I realized there was probably only one person serving as hostess, wait staff and conversationalist. The buildings history and decorations were interesting but not interesting enough to stay. I left without having been greeted, seated or dining.

I did not see a way to respond to the owner so I will make an edit to my review as a response * What an amazing, quick and lovely response from the owner. I appreciate you wanting to make it right and I would love to come back but I was in town just for that morning for a business appointment. I am a diabetic and must eat every two hours and I was looking to absorb some local flavor before I got back on the road. If all the local flavor is as sweet and kind as the owner of this business then I should consider a road trip back there and bring my husband.

If I am able to do that I will ensure that the timing works out better. I did not realize you could make a reservation. Thank you for your...