Columbia Kate's Teahouse

Honestly, best food in Sonora and Tuolumne county. My wife and I frequented here quite a bit. Their sandwiches, tea, and french onion soup are worth it every time. Also both of the owners are amazing.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Scones, Tea Sandwich Trio, Apricot Scone, Scratch-Made Soup of the Day, The Cowboy w House Salad, Lemon Bar, Vegetarian Pasty, Side of Fruit

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with tea. The portions are very generous. The Buttons tea is a favorite. The Almond Orange rooibus or black is extraordinary. And if you're getting tea (which you really should), then the apricot scone is a must pairing. Service today was cordial & helpful, but on the slow side.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Scones, Tea Sandwich Trio, Savory Bread Pudding, Apricot Scone, Scratch-Made Soup of the Day, The Cowboy w House Salad, Chicken Salad Sandiwich, Chocolate Torte and Bread Pudding

Not the typical afternoon tea experience and service. The service needs improvement; the staff is hanging out inside the kitchen while customers are waiting to be seated or looking for their waiters for assistance. The clotted cream tasted old. The strawberry shortcake was very dry. Have said that, bread puddling was probably the only thing I enjoyed from the motherlode for two menu.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

Right after my sister’s memorial, we decided to come to a place she and I frequently visited. It was bittersweet walking in and realizing Kate wasn’t in the kitchen. This was a very hot day, and as a Columbia native, I know hot days but even some other locals said this particular day was unusually intense.
We had a larger party and didn’t make reservations, which we take full accountability for. That said, we stood at the front for quite some time without being acknowledged. Multiple people walked past us without so much as a smile. Eventually, a very scattered man spoke to us. We let him know we wanted to sit outside, and he quickly said there were no tables. I mentioned that I saw several empty ones, and he explained that although they were empty, he was too busy to get to them for a long while, so we should sit inside.
We agreed and began an incredibly uncomfortable, long wait for a table. No water was offered to us, despite the intense heat and the fact that we had two little babies with us. After about 30 minutes (with many tables sitting empty but uncleared for long stretches), a young child seemingly the child of the new owners ran around the restaurant.
When we were finally seated, it was in a room that felt like a greenhouse. I won’t lie I was upset, but I kept my composure. We waited even longer for drinks, and the ice melted instantly from the heat. The air conditioner wasn’t working, so I had to get up and stand by a fan in another room just so my 4-month-old baby wouldn’t overheat.
I ordered a cucumber sandwich with a side of potato salad to split with my daughter, along with specialty drinks. The waiter repeatedly mixed up where items went, set things in front of the wrong people, and didn’t take everyone’s order properly one of our group members didn’t even get to order.
Did I mention it was sweltering? The plastic over the windows made the room feel like a hot box. Everything tasted stale, like old bread. The love and care that Kate once put into this place was completely gone. Tables sat dirty for extended periods, the flavor was off, and the service while I understand he was also working in the heat was lackluster.
Sadly, this place has lost its charm.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Columbia Kate’s Teahouse – Columbia, CA
Columbia Kate’s Teahouse is an absolute gem tucked away in a charming little corner of California history. The food is house-made, fresh, and absolutely delicious—you can taste the care in every bite. Whether you’re having a crisp salad, a warm quiche, or a delicate dessert, it all feels like it came straight from a storybook kitchen.

It’s the perfect spot for a mother-daughter outing, a bridal shower, a tea party, or just a group of ladies getting together for a beautiful afternoon. The atmosphere is cozy, quaint, and filled with character—like stepping into the pages of a classic novel.

If you’re looking for a relaxing, memorable lunch with a personal touch, don’t miss this place. It’s the kind of experience you’ll want to revisit again and again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My boyfriend and I are here for lunch and it was super cute and delicious! We had the Motherlode for Two, which was a full meal. I definitely want to come back, someday! Imagine having a whole tea party!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Tea Sandwich Trio, Chicken Salad Sandiwich, Egg Salad with Fresh Fruit

Been coming here for at least 15 years. Columbia Kates used to be some of the best food in all of central CA. Unfortunately due to new ownership, they may have jumped the shark. They would not seat us outside (we had a dog) and so turned us away - with a smirk. Terrible customer service will no doubt be the end of this place. Oh well, nothing lasts forever.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 1

Unique tea varieties. The roasted almond orange rooibos tea has a wonderful aroma and taste. The apricot scone is delicious.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Scones

It is a quaint taste of what its like to socialize in the past with tea and sandwiches. The chicken salad and bread pudding was delicious, i left wanting more.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was my first High Tea, but my wife has been to many.
We found the service good and the food excellent. We liked the iced tea so much my wife purchased some loose tea to take home.

Words can not express how terrible, disorganized, and slow the service was here. Other reviews highlighting poor and slow service drastically understate the problem. We were a group of 5 ladies for mothers day and a birthday.

We waited 45 minutes before we were able to track down some staff to take our order and then we waited more than an HOUR AND A HALF before we got anything we ordered. Wait staff was nowhere to be found at any point and when we did get up and find someone they were irritated and dismissive. We should have known something was wrong when we walked in on Mothers day and the place was half empty.

Throughout our ordeal there were so many mishaps - they said they had run out of ice but dont worry in about 20 minutes someone would be here with some. No one ever brought us any we had to go find some staff after about 40 more minutes to ask if ice for iced tea (at a tea house!) was here or not yet. At 2pm they said we couldnt get a croissant because they were out - not that by that point we were willing to wait until 4pm to see one had they had it! 2 of our group are highly allergic to walnuts. We got up to ask the kitchen (because remember not one time during our entire sit down here did a waiter or waitress come to us for anything) to please be sure no walnuts came on any of the salads.

When the food finally did arrive, there were walnuts on one of the salads.

Over 2 hours after arriving we were beyond ready to leave. Still no server in sight coming to check on us or offer us anything - we had to again get up and find one. No boxes offered to go. No check brought to the table. Same indifferent attitude about it.

Leaving this place knowing I will never return after they took more than 2 hours of what was supposed to be such a nice and special day was the best part of the experience.

Such an amazing place. Had the Power Salad with chicken and it was amazing! Will order the 1/2 size next time. The pear pie was the best! Will be going back, even though it's an hour away from my house!

My husband and I had a lovely lunch here today. We are visiting from out of town. The people who work in this teahouse were so nice. Although there are limited vegan options, we did find a couple of delicious items. We had the Hildreth veggie sandwich minus the cream cheese on their homemade wheat bread. The sandwich was delicious. The bread was so fresh. The sandwich came with a side of fruit. We also shared the kale salad with a turmeric dressing, which was also delicious. There were so many tea choices it was hard to decide. We each picked a different flavor, and we were brought our own little tea pot with a tea cozy. They have teacups and saucers on the tables. You can choose your own. We really enjoyed our lunch here. The teahouse is very quaint. We left very satisfied. Give this teahouse a try. Updated from previous review on 2025-04-30

...we held our daughters 30th birthday party in the outside seating garden area with a group of 20 people. Every aspect of the visit was perfect. Great food, great service, great atmosphere. It was very reasonable to have it there. A perfect tea party!!!

Refreshing little shop with lots of delicious options