Sencha Tea Bar — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I held an event here at this location and was disappointed with the staff overall and the store manager, whom I contacted privately after the event.

I'm here to tell the honest truth because during the email exchanges with the SM, we were accused of several things and were not given a chance to further explain because they said "There is no need for further communication." and most likely will not listen to us anymore. I am still open to communication.

1. Staff was visibly displeased from the very beginning before our event even started. Staff appeared confused about the themed drinks that were created for us.

2. It had gotten too loud for the staff, but they did not confront the event organizers about this. Instead, they shouted from behind their counter to quiet down.

3. Toward the beginning of our last hour of the event, staff confronted me to "wrap this up" because it was past our time to be here. According to the confirmed email with the store manager, we still had one more hour. We confronted staff and in turn showed us that the SM had told them that we were supposed to end an hour earlier than our confirmed time in the email.

4. We made an announcement that due to miscommunications, we had to pack up and leave. Those who were still here for the event helped us clean up and set the tables back to where they originally belonged. We made sure there was nothing on the tables or floor.

5. I emailed the store manager about the concerns of their staff not treating us with respect and about our time slot. SM did apologize about the time slot confusion. Staff did try to reach out to them for confirmation, but we had already cleaned up and left by then. The store manager was not here this day.

6. We emailed back with suggestions for next time an event is held, as we were no longer going to hold events here anymore. SM emailed back accusing us that we were disrespectful to their staff and left a mess. Continued to tell us that we were disruptive and that staff had asked us to quiet down. We were accused of having explicit costumes. We encouraged cosplay and some people came in cosplay. We can't control who is wearing what. We didn't even know most of the people who came because we had advertised it anywhere we could. Everyone had their private areas covered. If your staff had issues with this, I had hoped that you would come to speak with the event organizers to please have others change their clothing.

I want to state that they did not ask us to quiet down but yelled at us from behind their counter to quiet down. This is what the problem is. This is why I initiated the email. If yelling at us to quiet down is respectful, then we live in different realities. I know the staff was capable of coming out from behind the counter because that's how one was able to speak with me to wrap up.

SM stated they will not review our suggestions and have no plans to do so. We are now banned from any events with Sencha. That's ok, I mentioned with my first post-event email that I would no longer host my events there anymore.

Communication is so important in everything. Learning to take critique is such an important skill and it helps us grow as people. No one needs to listen to suggestions or critique, but I hope for some self reflection. This is how Sencha treated artists and small businesses, which I am both. I recommend others to not take their business here. It is sad to shut down a conversation instead of seeking for understanding. Our event lasted for three hours. All this happened within three hours.

Lastly, the SM made it seem like we were ungrateful. The event was wonderful but not because of the location, the staff or even the drinks. It was the people who showed up enthusiastically to show support for the theme of our event. Regardless, thank you for giving us a space to celebrate. I want to thank the barista for creating our themed drinks as I didn’t get to personally thank you for your creativity. I want to thank the one kind barista working that day. May you guys thrive...

This was my first time at this Sencha Tea location. Not as bright and spacious as their Uptown location but has an old timey charm. (I'd recommend parking behind in the neighborhood since the main street in front is pretty busy). One of the things I really liked about this spot is all the local art and trinkets for sale in the front of the shop. You can get a drink and a souvenir on the way out.

I ordered the custom blue razzle lemonade, which was sparkly and aesthetically pleasing to look at, but suuuuuuuper sweet. If you get a fruity drink, I would make sure to ask about sweetness levels before you order because it was very strong. The cup sleeve I got with it was super cute though.

They don't take names for your order, so keep a close eye out for your drink, or it may get mixed up with someone else's, especially if they are busy. (After sitting down, one of the baristas was visibly annoyed and kept shouting over the wall a drink name while everyone looked at each other in confusion. It appeared everyone had their drink already so nobody knew who it would go to. The staff also shouted for everyone to be quieter, which was a bit jarring as well.)

During my visit, the Teyvatland Genshin event was happening. This was one of the highlights of my visit. I had been to Sencha's art gallery openings in the past but this event felt like a mini artist alley which I liked. The artists had super awesome anime inspired art, were very kind, and had fun activities (trivia and toploader crafts) for my friends and I to enjoy while we sat with our drinks.

I definitely want more events like this in the future. We stayed for the whole event relaxing and chatting with the local anime/gaming community. As the event came to a close, my friends and I ended up helping the artists clean, pack, put tables back, and tidy since only 2 of them were left to cleanup.

Overall, cozy location, fun event, and cute trinkets. I have only tried a few of their drinks so it may be hit or miss depending on what you get. For the future, I would recommend Sencha to have a name or number system to avoid drinks getting mixed up. It got pretty busy and I could hear and see how upset staff was which made the environment feel a little off. I think tweaking the pick-up process would benefit both staff and customers to avoid unnecessary frustration and confusion claiming their drinks...

I miss when the company was "Tea Garden". The new owners have 3 issues going on which compromise the business: 1.) The locations are filthy now. Sencha is a shadow of what Tea Garden was. I'm pretty sure nothing ever gets cleaned here. The flooring used to be clean enough to eat off of and occasionally they would repaint the walls because chairs knock into them and they get discolored from people leaning, their laptops scraping, bookbags, etc. The bathrooms are particularly gross now and instead of actual cleaning they just spray air freshener (this is not the same as scrubbing a sink or toilet but they seem to think it is.) 2.) The staff used to be true artists and took great pride in their work and in talking with other true artists. They used to be creative and if you wanted a unique drink they would jockey around staff to give you their full attention to keep you happy. This doesnt happen anymore and I've seen them roll their eyes at me or sigh when i ask the drinks to be made with loganberry honey rather than refined beetsugar (Sencha has the same flavor basically but they REALLY are trying to save money by not using premium ingredients and it shows. The drinks used to be medicinal even, now they're just pure sugar unless you requeat otherwise.) The new staffing since the change seems to be a lot of posers. All the appearance, but no authenticity or flexibility. No smiles anymore and that kind of atmosphere is a bummer for patrons. The staff used to have a lot of fun and these ppl seem to just be dragging through their days. It's not uplifting to be around. 3.) I kind of addressed this under part 2, but in a nutshell their drink quality has really taken a hit since the change. I emailed with the actual owner and he seems great, but I think he might have some specific managers working for him that don't really have his or the companys best interests at heart (much less...