This could be a five star experience if customers weren’t rushed out. We know we would be asked to leave at 90 minutes going in, but this should be a two hour or two hour and 15 minutes experience. We enjoyed the food, tea, and cocktails, but I will seek a different location for tea next time.
Brian
an singularly unique experience!!! from the environment full of history to the food and tea. I am recommending to anyone whom will listen to me to have high tea and the library. I was worried it would just be touristy etc... but it was a truly wonderful meal and experience for us.
Craig Day
The atmosphere was wonderful! I would highly recommend. Only downside was the bread was a bit dry.
Lisa Vaccaro
Such a fun experience with my mom and part of my first experience in Boston. All of the little sandwiches and desserts were delicious, they accommodated dietary restrictions (I’m a pescatarian), a neat way to experience more of the library.
Caileigh Feldman
I’ve been here twice now for the afternoon tea and I really enjoyed both experiences!
I came here first with my husband and another time with my mother-in-law. They both loved it!
The savory sandwiches are really good and they are kind about swapping out one or two if you have dietary restrictions (I’m pescatarian.)
The tea, scones, sandwiches and sweets are delicious! The first time I went, they gave us a soup and delicious quinoa salad as a starter. The second time they just gave a soup broth and I did miss having the salad element.
I love that this place has lots of non-alcoholic beverage options like sparkling NA champagne & mocktails.
It’s a truly lovely experience but I do hope that the price doesn’t continue to go up. When we went in May, it was $64/person and in November it was $72/person.
I am looking forward to going back again soon!
Jessica Dapson
Amazing experience! Definitely the only meal needed for the entire day. Lovely ambience and delicious, fine cuisine. Peter was a fantastic host—ask for him when making your reservation. Highly recommend him and this experience! The historic, Greco-Roman architecture here is outstanding! I’ve attached the menu that we were served and after this first page are a few pages of the various teas and lattes with maker & ingredients listed.
Alexi Gilmour
The food was not special, especially the lobster role… it was bad. There is blasting bumping music from The bar next door that takes away the special tea room ambiance, it’s so distracting. The services was fine and the staff was nice, nothing special about this and not worth the price
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Liz Mintz
Overpriced!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Emilie Dunnenberger
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by this tea room experience. It started off well. I was excited to see all of the tea options we’re from local tea procurers, MEM Tea, and the tea itself was delicious. Both mine and my friend’s strainers had debris from previous use when we sat down. The food selection was very interesting and exciting but may have worked better in theory. The best part was the mini lobster roll and most of the other elements fell flat in comparison. Some portions were drastically bigger or smaller than others, I.e. the egg salad sandwich was not much of a finger sandwich and more like half of a normal sized sandwich. While other elements were a single bite.
The biggest issue is that there is a 90-minute cut off for each reservation. Im assuming this rule is leftover from Covid but it completely contradicts the point of afternoon tea. And by 1 hour into our reservation, we were being rushed to finish and feeling neglected by our waitress. It just felt strange and rushed, especially with so much food in front of us. For almost $90 per person (after tax and tip) it was really disappointing to feel rushed through this experience. Probably won’t return or recommend to friends until they remove the 90 minute rule.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Katee Sharp
Had afternoon tea and it was such a lovely experience! Staff was very professional and polite. Food was diverse and tasty. Love the use of old books for menus and decor!
Food and atmosphere was spot on. We didn’t had reservations but the staff was nice to seated us and have us try some tea and scones. Blood orange Hibiscus tea was very good. And the pumpkin spice scone with apple butter was delicious.
We also tried mochi ice cream from daughter dumpling and omgggg they were amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Scones with Cream
Abby F.
very nice experience overall. i liked the sugar cubes. compared to other afternoon tea experiences, the tea pots were a little small and the portions of food as well compared to the price you pay. most of the savory items had onions which were a little strong. it would also be nice if there was soft music playing for a better atmosphere. would recommend for something unique to do in boston.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Karissa Parker
Food was nothing special to be honest. We only liked half of the items served, which was disappointing. It’s cool that the tea room is inside the library but the experience was not relaxing. It was very loud in the small one room restaurant! The constant sound of silverware and plates clattering was annoying. Also, the menu we had was not the same as advertised on the website. I’m glad we got to experience the fancy high tea but it is a bit overhyped and definitely overpriced for the amount/quality of the food.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Tiffani Montoya
Very cozy atmosphere and delicious treats. I had a great time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Scones with Cream
Eric San José
The Tea Room and the Boston Public Library are the star ⭐️ of this place. The food and the tea are good. The mini Lobster 🦞 Roll is the favorite. Clean facilities. Staff is friendly. The price is reasonable. Credit Cards 💳 are accepted. There’s a 90 minute time limit which goes quickly. Getting a reservation is difficult due to the popularity. Give it a try if you can get a reservation. We will definitely be going back.
This could be a five star experience if customers weren’t rushed out. We know we would be asked to leave at 90 minutes going in, but this should be a two hour or two hour and 15 minutes experience. We enjoyed the food, tea, and cocktails, but I will seek a different location for tea next time.
an singularly unique experience!!! from the environment full of history to the food and tea. I am recommending to anyone whom will listen to me to have high tea and the library. I was worried it would just be touristy etc... but it was a truly wonderful meal and experience for us.
The atmosphere was wonderful! I would highly recommend. Only downside was the bread was a bit dry.
Such a fun experience with my mom and part of my first experience in Boston. All of the little sandwiches and desserts were delicious, they accommodated dietary restrictions (I’m a pescatarian), a neat way to experience more of the library.
I’ve been here twice now for the afternoon tea and I really enjoyed both experiences!
I came here first with my husband and another time with my mother-in-law. They both loved it!
The savory sandwiches are really good and they are kind about swapping out one or two if you have dietary restrictions (I’m pescatarian.)
The tea, scones, sandwiches and sweets are delicious! The first time I went, they gave us a soup and delicious quinoa salad as a starter. The second time they just gave a soup broth and I did miss having the salad element.
I love that this place has lots of non-alcoholic beverage options like sparkling NA champagne & mocktails.
It’s a truly lovely experience but I do hope that the price doesn’t continue to go up. When we went in May, it was $64/person and in November it was $72/person.
I am looking forward to going back again soon!
Amazing experience! Definitely the only meal needed for the entire day. Lovely ambience and delicious, fine cuisine. Peter was a fantastic host—ask for him when making your reservation. Highly recommend him and this experience! The historic, Greco-Roman architecture here is outstanding! I’ve attached the menu that we were served and after this first page are a few pages of the various teas and lattes with maker & ingredients listed.
The food was not special, especially the lobster role… it was bad. There is blasting bumping music from
The bar next door that takes away the special tea room ambiance, it’s so distracting. The services was fine and the staff was nice, nothing special about this and not worth the price
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Overpriced!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by this tea room experience. It started off well. I was excited to see all of the tea options we’re from local tea procurers, MEM Tea, and the tea itself was delicious. Both mine and my friend’s strainers had debris from previous use when we sat down. The food selection was very interesting and exciting but may have worked better in theory. The best part was the mini lobster roll and most of the other elements fell flat in comparison. Some portions were drastically bigger or smaller than others, I.e. the egg salad sandwich was not much of a finger sandwich and more like half of a normal sized sandwich. While other elements were a single bite.
The biggest issue is that there is a 90-minute cut off for each reservation. Im assuming this rule is leftover from Covid but it completely contradicts the point of afternoon tea. And by 1 hour into our reservation, we were being rushed to finish and feeling neglected by our waitress. It just felt strange and rushed, especially with so much food in front of us. For almost $90 per person (after tax and tip) it was really disappointing to feel rushed through this experience. Probably won’t return or recommend to friends until they remove the 90 minute rule.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Had afternoon tea and it was such a lovely experience! Staff was very professional and polite. Food was diverse and tasty. Love the use of old books for menus and decor!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: High Tea Offering
Restaurantji Recommends
Food and atmosphere was spot on. We didn’t had reservations but the staff was nice to seated us and have us try some tea and scones.
Blood orange Hibiscus tea was very good.
And the pumpkin spice scone with apple butter was delicious.
We also tried mochi ice cream from daughter dumpling and omgggg they were amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Scones with Cream
very nice experience overall. i liked the sugar cubes. compared to other afternoon tea experiences, the tea pots were a little small and the portions of food as well compared to the price you pay. most of the savory items had onions which were a little strong. it would also be nice if there was soft music playing for a better atmosphere. would recommend for something unique to do in boston.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Food was nothing special to be honest. We only liked half of the items served, which was disappointing. It’s cool that the tea room is inside the library but the experience was not relaxing. It was very loud in the small one room restaurant! The constant sound of silverware and plates clattering was annoying. Also, the menu we had was not the same as advertised on the website. I’m glad we got to experience the fancy high tea but it is a bit overhyped and definitely overpriced for the amount/quality of the food.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Very cozy atmosphere and delicious treats. I had a great time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Scones with Cream
The Tea Room and the Boston Public Library are the star ⭐️ of this place. The food and the tea are good. The mini Lobster 🦞 Roll is the favorite. Clean facilities. Staff is friendly. The price is reasonable. Credit Cards 💳 are accepted. There’s a 90 minute time limit which goes quickly. Getting a reservation is difficult due to the popularity. Give it a try if you can get a reservation. We will definitely be going back.
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