Chado Tea Room — Restaurant in Torrance

This was such a fun experience. I was in town visiting family and my aunt decided to treat me in a few people to this tea experience. When you walk in, it is so huge and beautifully decorated. To your left, it looks like over a hundred teas lining the shelves and, to your right, beautifully decorated tea pots that you can purchase. Finally, in the center, a beautiful fountain that gives the place that extra elegance a tea room should emit.

Now since this was my first time at a tea room, I wanted the real experience so I ordered the afternoon tea service. So for my tea, I ordered Decaf Marlene de chocolate. I love trying different teas and chocolate flavor is one I had yet to try. To put it simply, on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 5. It was okay but not something I would buy in bulk.

I also tried two other teas: Reenas herbal chai and White champagne raspberry. The herbal chai was very good, a 8 out of 10 for me. This tea would be something I would drink when wanting to cleanse my body, especially when I am sick or starting to get sick. I would add just a smidge of sugar though. My favorite out of the three that I've tried however, was the white champagne raspberry. I would give it a 10 out of 10. It was such an amazing tea, with just a small bit of sugar, it was one of the best teas I have ever tried. It was very clean and crisp in taste. I made sure I took some to go. I will have to order it again.

Let's move on to the food portion. At the top of the tear, was a variety of four different have sandwiches. My two favorites was there version of a cucumber sandwich and a salmon sandwich. You can get it toasted, or non toasted if you prefer. The second tier consisted of a scone, cream, and a perserve. Now I would have given five stars for this review, had it not been for the scone. It was very overcook and hard. The last tier consisted of petite macarons and thin, lemon cookies. I'm not a sweets person per say so I just ate the cookies, which were delicious. Another bonus, is that you can take your leftovers to go!

The staff here were great. Orlando was a great host, gave good recommendations, and answered all our questions. All in all, my first experience at a tea room was a success. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will...

My husband and I love to visit tea rooms! I’m slightly obsessed and we’ve been to quite a few tea rooms in the UK as well. This was a far cry from any tea room we’ve been to—US or UK. I am gluten intolerant and was thrilled when I saw they offer “gluten free options” (all the tea rooms we’ve gone to have had this also.) We thought the price was somewhat reasonable given that it looked like we were going to get a good atmosphere and good food coupled with some quality tea. The service was fine, although the man who brought the tea seemed like he had a short temperament, especially when he got into an argument with another customer and I overheard him say, “Well, we have to make money, what do you want me to do?” Not only was the tea very weak (no loose leaves or strainers), but it was served in tea pots that had the lids rubber banded on the top with stained rubber bands and sponges under the spouts that looked nasty. It didn’t look sanitary. The sugar was brought in packets, not sugar bowls. Very cheap. The decor is a bit cheesy as well. The food was not at all what we expected. Because we requested the gluten free option, we didn’t get a scone with cream (expected) but got a small ramekin of a few plain strawberries. All other tea rooms we’ve been to have gluten free scones if they offer gluten free options. Strawberries are fine, but there was no cream, nothing. The sandwiches were filled with the slightest amount of filling. And we got small macarons that were definitely supermarket—the ones you get from the freezer section and have to thaw. This was absolutely not worth $27 a person. I’m attaching photos of a tea room we went to in Bath, UK that was the same price, way better atmosphere, and was in there style of Jane Austin’s house. They also had gluten free scones. That is the way a tea...

My pregnant wife has been craving tea this entire pregnancy, and after weeks of research, she decided the Chadao Tea Room would be our first stop on a special trip. We drove hours from out of town to come here.

Because LA traffic is unpredictable, I called ahead. Mike answered. I explained our situation clearly:

“We’re coming from out of town, our appointment is at 4:30, but traffic’s bad — we’ll probably be a little late.”

Mike reassured me:

“As long as you get here before 5pm, you’ll be fine.”

I even repeated it back to confirm, because I didn’t want any misunderstandings. He confirmed it. I even asked for his name in case anyone tried to turn us away.

Despite our best efforts, LA traffic was brutal. We finally arrived at 4:56pm. I dropped my pregnant wife off at the door while I parked, excited for her to finally get the tea she’d been craving.

Moments later, my phone rang.

It was her — in tears.

Mike, the same person who promised us we’d be fine if we arrived before 5, had personally turned her away. He claimed “it’s 5pm” when it was 4:57pm. His excuse?

“You wouldn’t know what you wanted.”

Let that sink in.

A pregnant woman who spent weeks dreaming about this visit, who drove hours through LA traffic, standing in front of their door with three minutes to spare, was denied and sent away in tears.

This isn’t just bad customer service. This is heartless. It’s dishonest. It’s cruel.

Mike could have honored his word. He chose not to. And because of that, our special first stop — the one my wife was most excited about — turned into a humiliating, crushing disappointment.

If this is how Chadao Tea Room treats people, especially vulnerable customers they promise to accommodate, then they don’t deserve your trust, your time, or your money.

Shame on you, Mike. Shame on...