Tea Time in Palo Alto — Restaurant in Palo Alto

A small group of girlfriends and I were celebrating the arrival of my baby at Tea Time on Sunday, March 10. There were 6 of us in attendance that day. It was meant to be a joyous and celebratory occasion on a casual Sunday afternoon, and we did not appreciate Tim (the manage)'s consistent and periodic verbal reminders of the minimal charge per person at our table. My guests as well as the host of my baby shower were quite embarrassed that I have to be involved with this portion of the event. Given that it was a super rainy day (and all of us are coming from various locations), we opted for the first-time, first-serve table option instead of making a formal reservation. NOTE: For the ENTIRE DURATION of the event (over the span of two hours), only 25% of the available seating inside Tea Time were occupied (if you don't count the two empty seats outdoor); Reservations would have been irrelevant anyway. I was told that Tim prevented my party to place any tea or food order until 10 minutes prior to the event. We fully respected the venue's policy with minimum charge, but as guests and customers, we should have have to periodically calm Tim down and remind him that we will hit the minimum order expense requirement. His response and attitude were really disrespectful and tacky. When I finally approached the counter to place the food order (we want to spread the order out so food and tea would roll in constantly for our guests), I did enjoy the courteous exchange from the Tea Time staff. She patiently introduced the menu options of savory and sweet sandwiches to me. However, Tim instantly approached the staff and quickly took over the order. He appeared to be so eager to track our party's orders just to make sure we order enough to meet the minimum charge per person (as a party of six). Most of my friends were moms, and one of them had a last-minute meeting (which was the reason that she was running late). We did not want to order everything at once to make the late comers feel bad. Honestly, I did have access to Tea Time's Yelp review prior to our event, and I was not completely adamant in hosting the baby shower at this place. But being local enthusiasts, we wanted to give Tea Time an opportunity to prove the reviews wrong. My friend, being the great and stoic friend that she is, also really wanted a place with artsy ambiance to celebrate the arrival or my baby. If it wasn't because she had placed the tea orders upon my arrival (and it was raining so hard that day), I would have requested everyone to move the venue instantly. I did not appreciate the way my guests and I were disrespected with such horrible customer service. I also did not believe that we had to provide constant provide verbal reassurance to an insecure venue manager about us spending enough money at this place. The food and tea were mediocre at best, yet the customer service really tainted such a wonderful and beautiful reunion/celebratory occasion. Towards the last fifteen minutes of our gathering, for some random reason, Tim came over and offered an extra small square table to our party. We really have no use for the table by that point, and he could have not given all the guests a hard time about the space or minimum order charge, because the entire venue was no more than 25% packed for majority of the Sunday afternoon. I have reached out with for a full refund for the event, because the entire experience (especially the customer service) were not up to part with our expectation. Feel free to see other reviews on 3/10 regarding the same situation before you make your decision to check out Tea Time...

I would have originally given 4 stars if it weren’t for the attempted fraud. I debated whether to leave a review or not and decided that screw this place.

I came here with my friend back in March 2025. I had made a phone reservation and had given my credit card info they as needed it as insurance/deposit if we canceled last minute. We arrived on time, and we each had a High Queen Tea. We were happy as my friend has autoimmune issues and there was a gluten free option for her. It was a good time.

When we got the bill, we noticed they added a service charge fee of $25. It kinda rubbed us the wrong way. They could have easily put this added fee into their prices on the menu, rather than spring it on us as we take out our cards. We split the bill and both signed on our separate checks.

I check my credit card statement a week later and notice that I got charged for the ENTIRE bill AS WELL AS the split bill. Instead of paying $82 for my share, I essentially paid 3 times over!! ($82 + $164)

I immediately called them and asked them for a refund. They had to check the receipts and they’d call me back. Spoiler: they didn’t call me back.

I call them again the next day and reiterated my overcharged fees. They responded that it would take 3 days to find the receipts. I promptly told them that I would call my credit card company and have them dispute the charges. I hang up.

Three minutes later (not kidding) they call me back saying they had “miraculously” found the receipts. Then, they had the AUDACITY to tell me that it was a problem on my end. My friend’s credit card payment didn’t go through, and thus I was charged the full amount. However, that’s complete bull and it doesn’t explain why I got charged the full bill AND the split bill.

I got my friend to send me a screenshot of her credit card statement that Tea Time Palo Alto DID in fact charge her $82. So, they absolutely lied to me.

I marched back into the tea shop and demanded they show me the receipts. I found our originally receipts with me and my friend’s signatures, but turns out, there was a THIRD RECEIPT with a FORGED SIGNATURE THAT WAS NOT MINE. Worst part is that if you look at the time stamp of the extra receipt, it was made 2 minutes BEFORE we got our checks. And all three receipts were done by the same cashier, Tim.

(Unfortunately the pictures I took are the receipt copies and not the actual ones, so you don’t see the forged signature)

They gave me some bullcrap excuse “oh thank you for bringing it to our attention, we’ll look into it” and begrudgingly gave me a refund.

Screw this place. The shame of it is that we actually had a good time and would have probably returned if it wasn’t ruined by their attempted fraudulent activities.

If you come here PLEASE CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS AND CHECK IF YOU WERENT...

Let me preface this, I've visited Tea Time a few years ago with an outing with friends. I'm quite pleased to know that they are still in business. So I've reached out to the owner via email to book a reservation for my mom and I. It was her 76th birthday and her wish was to have afternoon high tea with me instead of gifting her something. She remembers having afternoon high tea when she was at Raffles in Singapore and a few times while she was in London years ago. So, this was a treat for her!

I'm thrilled that the owner called me back and booked a table for two inside.

We both reserved and pre-ordered the High Tea packages. We found parking nearby and we were the only ones dining in since it was an 11:00 am rsvp. We met with the owner and had a wonderful chat about his origins. They make their food offerings in-house. Everything tasted fresh. Amongst the three teapots they served us, we both loved the Ceylon and the Lychee blend teas. The savories were delicious and by far, our favorite. I think that's what we'll order for next time! I loved their brie, pesto and fig along with the smoked salmon, caper and dill tea sandwiches the best.

You DO need to contact the owner by email to reserve seating and food/tea packages; the contact information is located on their website. As far as the price point is concerned, I feel it is priced fair. The vibe is nice and comfortable.

Thank you for the warm and friendly hospitality, Tim and staff. The staff prepared and included a nice birthday plate for her with some tea samples, a heart tea strainer and spoon with a birthday candle on top of a pistachio cake. You've made our experience memorable. We will...