Whistle Stop Tea Room — Restaurant in Lutz

I am an avid tea drinker, as is my mom and sister. We frequent tea rooms in the area, specifically the Angel Tea Room in Dade City and Tilted Tea Cup in Brooksville, among others that have closed down over the years. Here was our experience: the tea was brewed very weak. We chose two Black teas (an apricot blend and a Blackberry Sage). When our server delivered the tea and we began pouring our tea, we thought she’d given us white tea, that’s how weak this tea was, and they used loose leaf. So either they 1) were not steeping the tea long enough, 2) over compensated water level which made it weaker, or 3) the water they were using was not at the correct/recommended temperature for brewing these teas. They also did not offer additional teas and limited our tea to only two pots and no refills. They offered no milk or cream on the table (not that I necessarily need it, but typically this is offered for those who enjoy it). the salad and scone that were offered first were delicious, no complaints here and the portion size was nice. when the tiers were brought, there was no fruit, which is often used to fill bare spots on the tiers but also offer as a refreshment. For savories, there were: chicken salad on a croissant (good but not great, a little bland), ham and cheese on marble rye with homemade mustard (couldn’t taste the mustard and there was a lot of cheese compared to the amount of ham), a bite size ham and cheese quiche, and of course the classic cucumber open face sandwich. I did not eat the quiche as I don’t like the texture of quiche, my mother advised it was a little dry but had good flavoring. The cucumber sandwich was my favorite of the savories. For sweets there was a bite size cheesecake with a pistachio mousse on top, brownie bite with chocolate mousse on top, and a lemon custard phyllo bite with a lemon mousse on top as well. The cheesecake bite tasted like it had been frozen, the pistachio was a nice offset. I did not like the brownie bite, it tasted and looked like the ones you get at Publix, it was very dense and way too sweet. The lemon curd phyllo bite was delicious, also very sweet, but I enjoyed the intense lemon flavor as other tearooms tend not to have too much of a lemon flavor. Now, they brought all the food from another building, so I can understand why store bought or frozen items may be used to preserve texture, flavor or to just free up time for the cook, no big complaint there. It just wasn’t as much of an offering as other tearooms typically serve. No substitutions were offered. the atmosphere was nice, it is a small, quaint little room and they have outdoor seating overlooking a lake. The Whistle Stop plaza in general is very cute and pleasant with the ambiance and shops available.

The biggest reason for my 3 star review is this: although the tea was weak and not at all what we expected, the food was ok but not great, we could have looked past this if the price wasn’t $38/person. When I looked on the website the menu for an afternoon tea for a party of 4 is only $28/person, we had 6 in our party but for some reason had to pay $38/person? We got nothing different than any other table, no better service, no additional tea or food offerings, gratuities were not included, and I know tax on a $28 plate does not equal $10, so I’m confused as to WHY the plate per person is $38 (not including gratuities)?? This was not explained at time of booking, but since it was our first time here, you pay what you’re asked and determine based on experience if you’ll be going back. I understand that, at the time when I booked I didn’t know about the quality of food or tea, the reviews are mostly positive and over 4 stars. But I would have just as easily split our party in two groups to save $60. In groups larger than 6 you also pay in advance, which is not out of the ordinary. But no, we will not be coming back to this tea room. It is over priced compared to other tea rooms, and the other tea rooms have better tea service and consistently good quality food with...

I really really wanted to give this place five stars. It has all the bones and potential to be amazing. Ms. Laurie was delightful and friendly. The lady that brought our treats was sweet as well.

It was Ms. Anna that soured our experience. And now I wish I could give negative stars.

After initially being helpful in removing a wasp that was crawling on my toddler’s head Ms. Anna was short tempered and yelled and hollered at our kids even though they were polite and kept their hands to themselves and were marveling at all the pretty flowers and trinkets in the outdoor space.

She yelled at the girls when they were going to the bathroom together (the went together because the light in the bathroom was burnt and they were scared to go alone) so they were going to wait for each other at the bathroom. She yelled that she didn’t want them walking around. We explained the situation so she snapped “fine two by two then” weird but we let it slide and told our girls to go in pairs.

After we finished our brunch my friend took the girls to walk around and look at plants and flowers. Anna then yelled at the girls to not touch anything. In the presence of their mom.

We began packing our leftovers and I was chatting with Ms. Laurie and then she said she had to talk to Anna because they’re closing soon. Anna continued to be strange. While thanked us for coming a minute later as I was showing my friend the beautiful herb garden she yelled at me, A grown woman, At the top of her lungs to STOP TOUCHING things so I raised my voice so she could hear me over her own roaring and said I am demonstrating how basil and mint grows to my friend. I haven’t touched nor damaged her plants. To that she rubbed her face and said oh or sorry. She then went around to where my friends’ 4 year old was standing patiently waiting for her mama and screams GO TO YOUR MOTHER STOP TOUCHING like a madwoman.

At that point I couldn’t stay silent. I responded with apologizing to my friend’s daughter loudly so that Anna could hear “adults should NEVER yell at kids”. And then I told Anna loudly “DO NOT YELL AT CHILDREN, she was waiting for her mama patiently and politely. You had no right to yell” as we were leaving.

My friend also told Anna she shouldn’t yell at her kids and that it wasn’t okay.

We didn’t wait to hear what she had to say. She blabbed something back but we just walked away from Crazy old lady. But shame on Anna and shame on the lady in the hat that works there for not stopping the verbal abuse from happening. She saw how horrible Anna was being to the kids and did nothing to stop her or let her walk away.

-Pros: Pretty location Delicious tea Delicious chicken salad croissant sandwiches Delicious cucumber sandwiches Ms. Laurie was sweet

-Cons: •Not enough food (like a slice of each per person for the adult meal) (the only reason we had enough to eat bcz our friend didn’t come so we asked for their boxed meal to be served. So we were able to fill up on the few extras that were packed)

•Only two pots of tea and you can only choose two (which is actually three because they gave us two pots of herbal tea and one of black and added pot of pink lemonade)

•The pink lemonade has a goat-y smell and aftertaste

•The kids amounts were measly and barely anything to provide sustenance.

•Anna (her presence, her attitude, her aggression, her verbal abuse of children and adults)

•More fans were needed to enjoy the outdoor space. One big floor fan and one skinny one next to each other barely made a breeze.

• no ice machine

•the place claimed to be “fully booked” but it was just us outdoors and one table indoors.

A big part of me feels like perhaps miss Anna is just a grumpy old lady that doesn’t want to deal with customers. (It doesn’t excuse her behavior one iota but it sure does explain it) If that’s the case then I recommend she remove herself from the customer service industry, because if you don’t have the generosity of spirit to be kind to children and adults, you need to get out of the hospitality...

Overall, I was left disappointed. I hosted my sister's baby shower earlier this month and other that the inside having a nice rustic ambiance, it left much to be desired. Our allotted time was from 2-4 and we were told we could come in at 1:30 to set up. We arrived about 1:15 and I went into the room to let the staff know we were already there and just to let us know when we would be able to come in. The young lady said they were done setting up and we could come in early. Well, we were halfway through our salads (which were pretty small and plain) when I noticed there was another girl cleaning the windows on the doors to the tea room. There were two sets of french doors that had about 12 panes per door (about 48 total) and the girl cleaned each one of them both outside and inside during our tea sitting. I guess I don't understand why anyone would think that was appropriate to do during someone's baby shower. It's not like the room is very large to where it wasn't noticeable. It was very awkward. I would have stayed outside the extra 15-20 mins if they still needed to clean the windows. The portions of food are very skimpy for what you pay per person, which was $30. You get the small plain salad, a small scone, two half sandwiches the size of your palm, a quarter size quiche (maybe 2) and a couple quarter size dessert tarts. I'm glad we did the time slot between meals rather than one actually during lunch hour because you and your guests will leave hungry. We had a random person come in to buy tea but thankfully it was before guests had arrived. Would have been nice to have a sign that the tea room was closed to the public for a private party, considering we did rent the room out. I did see Anna, the owner, in and out a couple times but she never greeted or spoke to me to ask how everything was or if we needed anything. That would have been a nice gesture when people spend $450 at your facility. Water is not automatically put on your table, each individual needs to request it. We were not allowed to bring in a cake which I felt to be a really silly rule. If we are paying a price per person what does it matter? It's not like we were asking for a cheaper price if we provided our own dessert. I don't think I have ever had a venue not allow a specialty cake in. They did pack up the extra food from guests that did not show and they had a nice selection of tea and like I said the decor was nice for a small baby shower but I can't say I would host another event here or...