Tea Room at Cauley Square — Restaurant in Goulds

The experience I had at Tea Room at Cauley square was intensely negative. A group of my friends and I went for a birthday and did a high tea service. Firstly, there was a lot of back and forth regarding servings. My friend, ( who has never been to this place before and was not familiar with the rules for high tea) requested the service for 10. We ended up being 9 people only. They told her she had to pay $15 for the person that did not attend as that was food wasted, she agreed to this but at the end was charged about $75 USD. Their reasoning was that while she reserved tea time for 10 we ended up using only 5 High tea trays, but they advised us to do so because each one feeds 2 guests. However, this was not explained to her prior and therefore they wanted to charge her $15 for the 5 she did not use; totaling to $75. This in my opinion is extremely disrespectful of a restaurant to do. ESPECIALLY when it was clear in our case that they gave us less portions than was normal. In the end for 9 people we got 2 and a half trays of sandwiches and pastries and when I did the math there were not enough sandwiches for us all. There should have been one of each type per person and many of us did not get to try some as there was not enough. Yet this was promised to us as a serving for 9 guests. I believe they gave us less than is standard and on top of that lied and tricked us into paying more than we should have just because one person did not show up to our party and my friend did not understand the rules as it was her first time there. They were not clear and concise and neither was their website. On top of that my friend talked to the manager on the phone and in person and both times was misdirected. The customer service also was not amazing as they barely checked on us and the servers clearly didn’t know what they were doing since every time we asked questions they gave us different answers. Overall it is a restaurant that clearly has no idea what they’re doing and exploits the customer that wants to partake in a tea time experience. They were harsh and not accommodating towards us regardless of the confusion they cost and they made my friend pay a lot of additional money on her birthday. Which in my opinion, was their biggest offense. On top of that, we were all dying of heat cause apparently a restaurant that charges $40 per person doesn’t provide AC. We were all sweating and my husband had to step out a couple of times because he felt dizzy from heat. Additionally the food that was provided was subpar. Not only were the servings too small for the price ($40 per person for bad sandwiches ? Are you serious?) but the food taste was not good and the amount we paid of $50 per person including tip was too much for the little food and bad experience we got. Needless to say, we had to go eat somewhere better after the fact as what we were given was nowhere near enough food. I do not recommend this place at all and especially not for their high tea or afternoon tea packages. It was an absolute scam. Don’t let the aesthetics fool you, it is not worth it at all. My family and friends will no longer use...

Such a shame really… the place is beautiful, and the food great, but good food and beautiful scenery I can find anywhere, and unfortunately what this place lacks is organization and good customer service. I came to bring my family for Mother’s Day, they weren’t taking reservations for brunch so a long wait time was expected, when we arrived we were told the wait would be 1 1/2 to 2 hours, it’s a holiday, we were expecting this, so we jotted our name down and waited. 2 hours went by, I went up to ask for an update, I was told by the same hostess it would be an additional 30-45 minutes. I keep seeing people leaving and no one being seated. The 45 min passed, I go back up to get another update from the hostess, from the beginning we wanted a table inside, she tries to give us the only table outside that was not under shade and had the sun beaming, I told her we had requested inside, she stated we only had one large party like ours ahead of us and that she could seat us in another table outside that was in the shade once the people there finished in another 30 minutes or we could wait for the other party in front of us to be seated and then we would get the next table inside. I said it was fine that we would wait, at this points it’s been over 3 hours since we had arrived. 40 more minutes go by, more large parties have left and now the manager comes outside and tries to sit us in the outside table, when I tell her what her hostess had advised us of her response was “well I don’t know who told you that but what I have is this outside table if I put you inside you have to sit in separate tables” I stated her hostess is the one that had been advising me of this and that we saw larger parties leave and that we had been told only one large party was ahead of us what was the reason we couldn’t be seated? Again she ignored what I said her hostess had told us and stated we had “many” parties ahead of us, I asked why we were told there was only one and she stated again without acknowledging what I said “you can sit here outside or I will break your party up inside.” Her demeanor the entire time was so rude, never have I been treated like this by someone in a management position, someone who literally shows you they don’t care about your experience. At this point we had waited so long we had to take the outside table. I went into the restroom inside moments table a saw multiple tables that could’ve accommodated my party empty. The food takes very long, my aunt gets upset and tells the server she would at least like the appetizers to come out because the babies haven’t eaten during the whole time we’ve been waiting. Some time after she goes to use the restroom and that employee follows her into the restroom and as she is literally in the stall using the toilet the employee is talking to her from outside the stall asking if she can change her attitude because it is disturbing the table next to ours. How unprofessional to address a concern like that as you are quite literally using the bathroom. Professionalism...

I was excited to try this place for the first time and went to get some breakfast. It was really hot outside, so I was glad the inside was cool and well insulated. When I first walked in, there wasn't anyone at the front to greet nor seat you. I sat in a chair with many servers passing me, and no one bothered to say anything nor notified anyone that there was a customer at the front.

No one told me how long it'll take for me to finally get a table, either. I was the only one waiting, so I was surprised to be left there for a long time before someone finally came to ask me what I needed and take me to a table. I had a simple order of ice mocha with pancakes and strawberries. The coffee and food were very delicious. I thought I would be on my way, but I had to wait again to get a passing server's attention. I made a gesture that I was ready to pay, and she nodded at me. But again, she left me waiting for a few minutes before coming back to recall my order and print me my bill. I had my card ready to give to her, but she just gave me my bill without saying anything and walked off. I was confused about whether I should wait for her, because I noticed other tables had a payment booklet, or I should get up to pay myself. So I just decided to wait a little more.

When I realized she wasn't coming back, I got up and waited at the front for someone to charge my bill. I waited more before the server from earlier, who handed me my bill, finally noticed me, and checked me out. All I needed to do was sign and give the bill back to her. I was ready to add some tips and give the bill, but she walked off again without waiting just a few seconds for me to sign and hand back the bill. I got tired of waiting again, so I just left the signed bill at the register. Overall, the ambiance and food were good. However, what should've been a short and simple breakfast turned into an almost two hours' worth of waiting to get seated, billed, and...