English Rose Tea Room — Restaurant in Carefree

Miscommunications happen. What started as a lovely experience, was ruined at the end. As a reviewer I will make it clear for future guests, they take their 90 Minute reservations, very seriously.

I was a guest, invited to a little girls birthday. We were blown away by how beautiful it was, the tea is wonderful, and the food is very flavorful. Our wait staff was great, but a very large assumption was made, and it ruined our entire experience. When you make your reservation online you are told it is a 90 Minute reservation time slot; understandable, it's a small and busy place.

However, the staff assumed that this was remembered by the stressed mother who had booked it three weeks prior, and that it was communicated to all the guests. It wasn't. We took our time, and that was apparently an egregious mistake on our part. We were suddenly presented with our check by the owner, we politely said "Oh, we were actually going to order more." We are grazers and like to order as we go. We obviously would not have done so had we known that the schedule is strictly enforced. We were guilted by the owner and told that they would sit the next party outside (it's Arizona and warm, this made us feel awful). So we started to rush our little girl to open her presents and ate what else we order, really quickly. Another check was brought and the second she was done opening her presents, the owner once again came and started hastily gathering up dishes; message received, get out.

This all could have been avoided. A simple introduction at the beginning of the meal by your waitress would have avoided this entire fiasco. "Hello Ladies, today's reservation is 90 minutes, at 30 minutes we will ask if there is anything else we can get you, if not we will bring you your check, and this will conclude our experience today." Or a small display on the table that reminds guests that it is a 90 minute reservation. A miscommunication should not have ruined what should have been a lovely experience, nor should the blame so blatantly been placed on the guests, who were not responsible to know your...

I was genuinely looking forward to visiting this place, especially since it claims to be the best spot for afternoon tea. Unfortunately, that reputation clearly does not reflect the reality. The staff was unprofessional, cold, and outright rude. Our reservation was for 2 pm and due to a car accident and resulting traffic, we arrived 8 minutes late. We called ahead to explain the situation and the person on the phone told us they would hold our table but also made it a point to say we would be losing those 8 minutes. The tone was not helpful, it was dismissive.

When we got there, the atmosphere was unwelcoming. Thankfully, our waitress was kind and tried her best and that was the only positive part of the experience. While we were still eating, staff began clearing our plates without asking, literally taking food off the table while we were in the middle of eating it. It felt like they were trying to push us out. Then what seemed to be the manager came over and bluntly told us we had 2 minutes left. No warmth, no courtesy, just a warning of the time remaining before me must leave .

Yes, I understand they have a schedule to keep but there is a way to handle guests that does not involve treating them like an inconvenience. We were not late out of disrespect, we communicated, and we were still treated with complete disregard. It was embarrassing and frustrating to be treated that way, especially after driving over an hour solely to enjoy this experience.

I had originally planned to book a private event here but after this visit there is no way I would consider giving them any more of my business. I left feeling disrespected and very clearly unwelcome. I hope management seriously rethinks how they handle their bookings and trains their staff to treat guests with basic courtesy. No one should be treated the way we were, especially not while spending money at an establishment that claims to offer a high...

This place doesn't even deserve a single star. Such a cultured lovely place. A pity it's employees are beyond savages. They advertise that they are open until 5 PM. We took my Mother all the way out to Cave Creek (which is not close) freshly visiting from England. We arrive at 4:02 PM only to have them tell us "the kitchen is closed! Closed? What else do you do at a restaurant between 4 or 5 PM other than eat?? We then asked if we could order anything at all and the most they could offer us was dry scones and high end tea served with what they called silverware (styrofoam containers and cups...truly such class). We then asked them if we could at least sit and eat in the dining room or outside on the patio since there were people freshly served and they were open til 5 PM. They denied us and suggested we eat their premium pastries and tea on the concrete tables out in the heat in the park. My Mother then went to the register and joked about the tea towels she was purchasing being the priciest she has ever bought (being from England) and the sneering lady behind the desk blurted out "well you don't have to buy them!" Real winners on the sales team at this place. We then decided since they couldn't be bothered to clean their own mess, that we would leave the empty containers after our stellar dining experience on their outside tables since it wasn't the parks responsibility to clean up after them and the sneering lady came out and lifted up the bag and mocked us as we left. If you know football you will realize they have an Arsenal menu with Tottenham employees. Avoid like the plague. Which is how they treated us. And change your bloody hours to 4 PM if you are going to close the kitchen at 4! And remember, the kitchen isn't the...