Ivy Tearoom - Afternoon Tea & Caviar — Restaurant in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque

I don’t want to rate any lower because I’m not here to be unjustly critical of a small business.

This was a highly enjoyable time for me and my friends. It’s beautiful and we really enjoyed the tea and food.

Before you can even start to have a good time, you first have to get through the RULES. The paperwork and pre pays and check boxes and confirmations all exist for a reason I’m sure. But if you have such strict hoops to jump through just to get in the door, then expecting minimum customer service is reasonable. I tried calling about 8 times on different days and times while they were open and never got an answer. Me and my friends work on call and one member of our party had to withdraw but I thought it was okay because I called 2 days in advance. I truly believe that 72 hours for modifications to a reservation when you have a pre fixed low cost/inventory is wild. I tried calling several times. The outgoing message said to text if there was urgency. I left a message and didn’t hear back for over a day. Because I work on call, I missed when they called back but listened to the vm which said if I wanted to modify there was no refunds just credit for that session.

Getting a tipsy tea session with coworkers and then using up a $70 booze credit seemed unwise and unsafe. Since I learned they wouldn’t answer the phone, I decided to keep the reservation as is and invite someone else. When I arrived there was an awkward, too long, and impolite exchange because they had automatically removed a person from the reservation without telling me in the voicemail or asking if that’s what I wanted. It was pulling teeth to just get another tea cup brought to the table and made the added guest feel like we didn’t want her there. I was 5 minutes late and that seemed to be a VERY big deal to the tea house (traffic happens)? We had already been warned that we needed to order but the guest mix up and a broken tea cup ate up way too much time.

Our experience started off really awkward and stressful, I’m glad I was with people who rolled with the punches. After joking about how intense the rules were we had a great time. We were really really rushed throughout the whole experience but when we rang the bell for service, no one ever came. We never fully felt welcomed.

I would totally try again, especially if someone else was dealing with the rules, contracts, payments, etc. I really hope that as a business, the Ivy chills out a little bit and let the guests enjoy and relax with their awesome offerings. Nothing in food service is all that personal so instead of trying to make a point, just answer the phone or bring another tea cup. Clarifying the rules yet again or making excuses serves no one. You have to be able to provide the same level of standards that you’re asking your guests to meet.

Like Cher says in Clueless:

“But it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I said RSVP because it was a sit-down dinner. But people came that, like, did not RSVP. So I was, like, totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, squish in extra place settings. But, by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier!” “And in conclusion, may I please remind you that it does not say "RSVP" on the Statue...

My family and I came here on our trip to Albuquerque, and we LOVED it! We came visiting to see if Albuquerque was a place we would want to live (it is!) and this was probably my favorite restaurant in Albuquerque. I am an avid tea drinker, and I collect tea sets, so I love visiting tea rooms, and I have to say, I think this is the best one I have ever been to! We had our high tea in a private igloo in the garden, and that was such a unique experience. I have never been to a high tea where we had our own private space, and for me, that was a huge plus! The decorations were lovely, and the food was delicious. I though it was nice that each course was brought out separately. At other tea rooms I have been to, all the courses come out at once, on one tiered tray. With each course coming separately, you could really enjoy the pairing of the each tea with each course. You receive a pot of tea with each course, and they do provide their recommendation for which tea pairs best with each course. They had plenty of teas to choose from, which you could choose if you preferred, but we went with the recommendations. I was particularly impressed when our server brought our tea and advised her/the Ivy's recommendation of how to enjoy it (i.e., with cream and/or sugar, or without). I can't remember the names of all the teas we had, but I do remember the first was called Sparkling Cherry, and I was surprised and delighted to see that there were actual sparkles in the tea! That was something I had not seen before, and I thought it was really cute. I was also impressed with the menu. It was standard high tea fare (scones, finger sandwiches, and sweets), but not only did everything taste delicious, but all of the food was designed to fit the season. I could see on their website that each month has its own menu, and it looks like they take special care to create a menu to fit each month. The staff were friendly and courteous, and we never waited long between courses. The servers do not check in between courses, which in my opinion is a plus, because you do get more of a feeling of privacy that way. Finally, I really liked how the price included taxes and gratuity. Their website says that their staff is paid a living wage, so tips are not expected. For our group of four, we paid 41 dollars per person, and I liked that I paid in advance, and then didn't need to stop and pay anything when we left. I did purchase some tea before we left though, one we enjoyed during our visit, and one we did not try but sounded really good. We are planning on moving to the Albuquerque area in the next year or so, and the Ivy Tearoom is definitely a place I will be coming back to...maybe even monthly so I can try each month's menu! I highly recommend this if you enjoy tea and elegant dining experiences. I am definitely looking forward to...

This afternoon my two nieces and I had an absolutely wonderful High Tea in our private garden igloo! It was cold outside, but warm and toasty inside - we didn’t need to turn on the heater. We wore masks into the lobby of the Ivy Tea Room to get our temperatures taken, and to find out which of 3 igloos was ours. Once seated in our beautifully decorated room, we took off our masks only while alone, eating and drinking.

We used our smart phones to download the menu of teas and edibles. We only changed one of the recommended teas - Unicorn tea for our 2nd course instead of Dream Catcher. No food was changed for any of the 3 courses. Each time our tea and edibles were delivered, masks were on, and we were introduced to all of our edibles. We had so much food that we took home three small boxes. We were so full!

All three pots of tea were delicious, and we finished most of them. Our first tea, Ivy, needed no sugar or cream. It was aromatic and sweet. The Unicorn Magic tea really did taste like fruit loops! We didn’t see the sprinkles, but it did shimmer. The Maple Caramel Donut tea was as sweet as a donut, and smelled divine.

The vanilla mousse and raspberry jam were sweet and excellent additions to the raspberry white chocolate chip scones and sour cream & cheddar Japanese style breads in our first course. No leftovers! For the second course, my 11 year old niece loved the open faced cucumber sandwiches, eating 2 of the 3. Her mom and I loved the egg salad on English muffin. Each of us eagerly devoured the fantastic mini Waldorf chicken salads in sesame seed shaped baskets. We had no room for the spinach and artichoke puff pastries. They’ll be snacks tonight, along with the 3rd cucumber sandwich and 3rd egg salad on English muffin.

The third course was decadent desserts: Ivy Earl Grey Blondies (only one was homebound), mini vanilla cones filled with blueberry mouse (all packed up for home), and brown butter birthday cake macaroons (one leftover). We were pleasantly & delightedly stuffed!! The women and young gentleman delivering our tea and food were masked, friendly, and terrific! We never had to use the call button for anything. The pace was perfect.

After our 90 minute tea time, we paid our bill inside and took a tour of the rooms inside (closed due to CoVid). Each was magnificently decorated. We will return after the pandemic to take tea in at least four of the rooms that tantalized us - especially for one or...