Marina Mercantile — Restaurant in Des Moines

The owner is a very sweet lady who made us feel like she was welcoming us into her home. The table was set with a white table-cloth and a proper tea setting. On the end of the table was a large selection of small sample bottles of the tea options. You take a sniff of each and decide which ones you wanted to try for the day.

The tea tower, as usual with these sort of things, at first didn't look like much. Holy cow were we stuffed when done, though! The cucumber sandwiches were light and refreshing. The other sported jam from PacNW berries. The pastries were made in-shop. She made little donuts filled with creme, and chocolate truffles to die for. And of course there were the obligatory scones and clotted cream. I like that she made them shaped as smaller biscuits so you weren't faced with this ginormous piece of crumbly pastry. Made it easier to spread the cream. ;)

The tea itself - so many yummy flavors! I had the Peach Cream first, a nice black with just the right amount of sweetness. My friend started with the Victorian Cream which featured a hint of lavender with fruit (black). Then we had the Masala Chai, which was perfectly balanced in flavors (green). By then we were too full of tea to try any more. You can see the devastation we left in the attached photos. ;)

After that we wandered the shop a bit. The seating area is both light and intimate, with some comfortable looking booths scooched into a section under a lower ceiling. There's also a short bar section (3 or 4 seats?); belly up and sip some good tea! Display cases of their original sandwiches, cheeses and meats (we've so gotta try their meat & cheese board next time), and European treats. And yes, the tea is available to take home and brew.

All-in-all it was a lovely experience and an indulgent way to spend a weekday afternoon.

Now I'm...

Marina Merchantile is such a gem! We visited Marina Merchantile for the first time this weekend for afternoon tea, and we had a wonderful time. It was incredibly easy to make an online reservation for our tea time.

When we arrived, we were welcomed with a tray of tea leaves in jars to smell and browse through along with the tea menu of a variety of green tea, black tea and tisane. We were able to pick a tea each and they even allowed us to try other flavors throughout our reservation! Tea is served with brown sugar cubes and cream.

They were also super kind enough to allow us to bring a paint by number kit to do as we enjoy our treats and tea! They do have themed events and sell watercolor paint kits as well!

The service was top notch, everyone was super friendly and checked in on us to make sure we were doing well and to just chat. I really appreciate the feeling of community here. Super welcoming!

The food we received was also more than enough for us to enjoy as we painted! There was a savory tier of egg croissants, egg bites, and cucumber cream cheese sandwich bites, then there was a tier of classic tea time scones, and lastly, a sweet tier of macaroons, blueberry muffins, and these delicious waffle bites! They also serve more food you can order separately.

Such a perfect space for a girls day! I will...

Marina Mercantile is a wonderful addition to Des Moines! I'm so happy we have a place like this. I'm from the Bay area and we had wine bars and cute little shops all over, so Marina Mercantile was a much needed addition! I have brought several friends here that were visiting from California. My husband and I have also done date nights here. We even met another couple that was also doing date night and kept in touch with them and became friends! Brenda, the owner has also helped me with numerous occasions like my daughter's birthday party with creating her a custom cake. In addition, Brenda has also helped me with cupcakes (the caramel ones are just divine!) for parties at the house and a more recent event was my birthday. They went above and beyond and actually delivered the cake to me while I was getting my hair done at Salon Michelle next door, just so I can make it on time for my own birthday party because I was running behind! Now, that's customer service and going above and beyond! They really saved the day and the cake was delicious and beautiful! Can't wait to continue coming here and telling all my friends and...