The Royal Tea Room — Restaurant in Shorewood

Second visit update:

I recently visited this tea shop for afternoon tea, and unfortunately, the experience left much to be desired.

The shop itself is beautiful and very clean, and I appreciated that I could make a reservation via their website. However, I didn’t receive a confirmation, so I had to call the next day. The timing of their hours was confusing: the door says they close at 5 PM, but I was told they close at 4 PM. Additionally, I was told that no reservations could be made after 1:30 PM because it would be too long, even though there were plenty of open spots.

Our welcome from the owner at 1:40 PM was simply, “You’re late.” No hello or welcome, just that. There was only one table getting ready to leave, so what was the issue? The posted hours said they close at 5, but verbally we were told 4. No other customers came the entire time. It was obvious they didn’t want guests. Why have a menu for lunch if you don’t want customers?

The tea service was quite expensive, over $200 for three people, with a four-course offering. The first course was a strawberry cold soup, which was tasty but felt more like a smoothie with whipped cream. The sandwiches on the tray were small but delicious, including carrot and cheese, cucumber with cream cheese, coronation chicken, and egg salad. The banana scone was nice, but the condiments were ridiculously tiny—about the size of a dime for jam and no real clotted cream, just honey butter. We also received only four sugar cubes for three people, which felt quite stingy.

The service was not what I expected for a relaxing tea experience. The owner was quite rushed and made us feel like we had to leave within 90 minutes, even though the place was empty and there was no clear reason for the rush. This happened during a previous visit as well, so it seems to be a pattern. The timing and the overall atmosphere just felt off.

Given the price and the discomfort, I don’t think we’ll be returning. It’s a shame because the place has potential, but the experience just wasn’t worth it.

First visit: I recently visited the Royal Tea Room in Illinois and had a lovely overall experience. The only downside, and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5, was that we felt rushed during our visit. Despite the tea room being empty and still open for several hours, our waitress repeatedly came by asking if we had paid the bill, which disrupted the otherwise peaceful setting. It made us feel like we needed to leave, even though there was no apparent...

I was very much looking forward to visiting this place. While it is a beautiful establishment, the experience was just ok. Our waitress must have been new. We felt forgotten. She was nice but inattentive. The tea was exquisite. The food delicious. The overall experience left more to be desired. Very expensive but I can see why. The details are there. However for the price, I believe service should have been much better. Also, for the Mother’s Day event, There was no communication /organization about the flower activity for Mother’s Day. We didn’t get water at our table until maybe an a hour after arrival . We were not offered sugar cubes. We saw them on another table that had them while we were on the way out . The tea was actually so delicious without sweetener so no real complaints about the tea . $200 for two people. A great experience overall. I hope the next visit will be more pleasurable. My mom agreed there was something lack of communication but overall, she...

When you walk in, there is no area to wait. Everyone just kind of stares at you. Their "sitting area" is in the back of the room so that was odd. The room was nicely decorated but it was super quite like a library. There was only 2 servers the day we went (we had reservations) so it took a while to get served. I did not like the fact that we had to keep asking for more sugar, creamer, honey, butter etc. They literally give you one serving portion of everything per person. So waiting on a waitress to come back was like 15 mins every time, that was frustrating. Food was really good but for the amount you pay per person, I did not feel it was worth the cost. The sandwiches were one bite size per person. I was hoping for more like "finger sandwich" sizes. You are paying for the experience I guess. I would suggest everyone try on their own at least once but do not think I...