I’ll say before I begin this review that I am incredibly biased here. I love La-Tea-Da. It’s definitely in my top places to go around Rochester. More of a tea room/cafe, La-Tea-Da has an extensive menu of teas in just about any flavor you can imagine. The décor has a quaint, Victorian influence, and there’s a large porch to sit out on as well. It’s been in business for years, and it now also shares space with the Sugar Mountain Bake Shop, which serves some delicious cupcakes!
La-Tea-Da is easy to find; it’s right on the corner of Park and Alexander in a big purple building. They offer parking across the street. Joe and I arrived today close to 2:00 p.m., and the hostess/owner greeted us promptly. We’d seen her there before, and she is always upbeat and very accommodating, even if it’s later in their day. Because of the heat, we decided to sit inside where they had air conditioning. The owner told us to let her know if the a/c was too cold, but to us it felt great (and I’m usually the one reaching for a sweater when I go from 85 degrees or more outside to 70 inside—I’m such an old lady!). We sat in their main dining area. In the Alice in Wonderland-themed room in the back, we could hear (I believe) a bridal shower going on, but for most of our stay we had the room to ourselves. Later on, two older women sat at a nearby table.
This main room is my favorite—it has Victorian-style décor, with red walls, a fireplace, and an ornate mirror above the mantle. One interesting thing about the table settings is that they have so many teacups and saucers that they don’t even bother to match them. Normally, this would irk my OCD tendencies, but instead I’m pleasantly surprised every time with my place setting. Another fun thing about the place is that they keep an abundance of hats around that guests can wear (and according to the owner, yes, they do clean them!). For those arriving with kids—La-Tea-Da frequently hosts parties for all ages—they have a selection of toys and costumes for the little ones. I noticed on this visit that they’ve cleared away most of the hats and their shelf in the hallway between the dining areas and kitchen and restroom. This was a good move since it makes the entryway brighter and less cluttered. The hats and accessories, like feather boas, are a fun touch, and even manly men such as Joe like to don the hats when we go!
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| Joe as "The New Yorker" |
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| A very pink Jen next to |
In keeping with the old-fashioned theme, the servers are called “nippies,” which sounds like baby talk but was an actual term used for English tea room waitresses in the 1920s. To my surprise today, our nippy was a former coworker of mine. (Thankfully, she was one of the competent people with whom I worked; with some former coworkers, I would have been worried had they been handling my food.) After some chatter, we placed our tea order.
As I mentioned before, they have a myriad of tea flavors, but the one I simply cannot resist is their Chocolate Mint tea. At $7.00 for a full-sized pot (cheaper for an individual serving), it’s definitely worth the price. A pot of tea split between two people should provide at least four cups for each person. The tea is sweet, but not too sweet, and it goes down well—no weird aftertastes. Two other wonderful things about tea service here are that the tea stays warm at your table and you get to add sugar cubes to your tea. The teapots sit atop ceramic candle holders with lit tealight candles inside them. The sugar cubes are an especially nice touch and too cute. (When is the last time you saw sugar cubes at a table, honestly?)
Joe and I had already eaten a few hours earlier, so we ordered off the menu for croissants with strawberry jam. We’ve eaten desserts there before, and even some of the meals, and they are, in a word, colossal. Arrive hungry if you choose to eat more than a snack! The croissants were warm and not too flaky, and the jam was served in small crème brulee-style cups—very cute!
Another nice thing about La-Tea-Da is that they currently offer 10% off if you pay in cash rather than with a credit or debit card. The table where Joe and I sat had very comfortable wide chairs, which definitely lent themselves to the relaxing tea room experience. Also, the dining areas are very clean. The only negative we could come up with was that the flowers at our table needed replacing (or some serious watering).
Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot to complain about when it comes to La-Tea-Da. Each time we’ve gone there has been an enjoyable experience. It’s a great place to take women, be they your wife, girlfriend, mother, sister, grandma, or even just your friends! While I do seldom see men in there, besides Joe, if the guy in question is up to it, he should have a good time and, if he has taste buds, enjoy the desserts. If you’re lucky, he might even wear a hat! This visit definitely reinforced La-Tea-Da as one of my favorites, and I know Joe and I will return again.
Rating: 5/5 stars
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