I was in Akron the other day for an event and I had about 2 hours until the next activity, so I searched for teas and came across the Tea Lady. It was 20 minutes from where I was, so I thought it would be a perfect fit for my time.
I was fortunate enough to get a parking spot right out front. As you can see there is some outdoor seating as well as the ones indoor.
35 S Main St, Akron, OH 44308
The interior is very nice. Every table seems to have a different theme- which is very fun.
She has a variety of tea items for sale as well.
This is the selection of teas I had to pick from. Now, normally I would NOT want a bag tea, but these were good teas for the most part. I have found if a tea company also makes a loose leaf tea then their bagged teas are not too bad- they know how to make tea taste good. I always like Taylors of Harrogate, Harney & Son and Pinky's Up, so I know I could easily pick one of them and be happy.
I came because I saw the tea was on sale. I have to admit for the area that I am in, $35 plus the large gratuity that she is asking and sales tax I would not spend $45 for an afternoon tea like this. But, $28 is more reasonable- still more than I would normally spend on tea in the area, but I thought I would try it.
She did sale the sale was over, but she would honor what the website said.
There were several signs around the room and on the table about requesting 20% gratuity- which I was not really a fan of. I base my tip on my service.
Here are other tea options.
The table setting was very nice.
She brought out the tea. It was one tea bag with about a 12-14 oz tea pot- so I think there should have been two tea bags, but she did mention it should steep 4 minutes. I appreciate that she knew the steep time and that it was passed along to me. That is not always the case at a tea room.
We started out with a cup of fresh fruit and whip cream. It was very nice.
The owner was attentive to my needs. She was constantly checking on me.
The food was tasty (although my scone was dry), but I have to say it seemed sparce. Maybe it was because it was on the big serving tray and it looked small. And I really didn't need more food, it was an adequate amount, but for $28 I expected more. If I got this amount of food for $22 even I think it would not have been bad. I just felt I was paying for so much and I didn't feel it was worth it. Maybe if I had been in a fancy hotel or having a super unique experience it would have felt differently, but it just didn't do much for me.
I do understand that bills need to be paid, prices of food have gone up, and I am sure Akron is an expensive place to be located. This just was a miss overall for me.
She seems like a super sweet lady and I do wish her all the best!!!
And then the thing that really bothered me was when she offered to heat up my tea, she just added hot water to it. Before I even knew what was happening hot water was added to the tea pot...and no tea bag was added. I know- I should have asked questions. I should have asked for another tea bag, but I was just so surprised that she did that.
She stressed several times that everything was homemade.
I am giving this afternoon tea 3 teacups. The food was good, although, my scone was warmed, but dry- I can tell it was warmed in the microwave, but it was just dry. The price was high and the overall experience was just okay.
She does have lots of options for teas and classes, here is one of them below.
I enjoyed this tea flavor so much, that I did purchase it.
This tea was really great!!! I loved the white chocolate and raspberry flavors. It was a home run for me!
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