The Spicery In Our 1895 Home

We are snowbirds from Illinois and decided to see something in the Phoenix area that is historical. We loved the quaint shops and so friendly shop owners in downtown Glendale. The Spicery was recommended by a lady in one of the shops. We found our entire experience at The Spicery outstanding. The hostess and waitress were extremely accommodating and helpful. The two of us split a salad and sandwich. The waitress did a great job in getting the orders split. The soup, rolls, salad, sandwich, tea were marvelous! We will be back!

I have to give one star otherwise I won’t be able to do a review. I have to say that when I first made reservations, I spoke with a very nice man named Matt. As the days grew closer to our afternoon tea, I was getting phone calls from a woman, my guess is the owner, to ask if I had a final count of those of us who were coming for afternoon tea. She called me a day earlier than what Matt and I had agreed on so I gave her the count as far as those who had rsvp’ed to me. Now she called me on a Tuesday and our reservations weren’t for 4 days, until Saturday. Unfortunately, I received a cancelation the night before our scheduled afternoon tea, something out of my control. We then showed up for afternoon tea today, 4 of us instead of the original 5 we had made the reservations for and upon arrival, the owner/​hostess was extremely rude. There were only a few people in the restaurant so they all could hear our conversation. She asked if we were expecting the 5^th person and I kindly apologized and explained that the 5^th person had cancelled the night before. In front of the other customers in the small restaurant, she proceeded to very rudely make a face and say to us that we were going to have to still pay for the 5^th person and just take their food home with us. We simply said we were okay with that.
We proceeded to sit down and start our afternoon tea session semi embarrassed because of the way she had reacted in front of the other patrons, so needless to say it felt awkward and uncomfortable. I thought to myself, wow they must’ve prepared a lot of food for our afternoon tea, we must really be putting them out. As our food came out, I can actually give a quick run down of what they actually served us, to start a tiny scone and a skinny shortbread cookie. Our second course consisted of a bite sized, yes bite sized ham sandwich, a bite sized tuna sandwich, if you can even call it that, and maybe a two to three small bite sized chicken salad sandwich, all with way too much mayo! Oh yeah and a bite sized cucumber on top of a small piece of bread. They might call that a sandwich too. For dessert, yeah you guessed it, bite sized desserts. I can say that everything we ate could have fit on a small salad plate. It was really humorous when our server came around and told us to eat our tiny parfait before the other bite sized desserts because if we were too full, our parfait wouldn’t hold up well if we had to take it home. Seriously?! We weren’t the least bit full! We paid the bill and split it between 3 of us, since we were treating the guest of honor, and we each paid $ 50! My husband and I had to go out to eat about an hour after we finished with tea because at that point I was getting hangry! I received text messages from my friends saying they were doing the same!
Oh and the tea wasn’t very good, I ordered the Queen Victoria tea, I had to peek inside my teapot because I thought they had forgotten the actual tea but nope, the one measly tea bag was floating in there, and let me just say for such a stuffy atmosphere, they had NO sugar cubes! How uncivilized is that for an afternoon tea, no sugar cubes?! I’ll stick with driving all the way to Carefree to go to the English Rose Tea Room, always great service there, delicious tea and food, and sugar cubes!

My daughter and I went to the Spicery in late October. We haven’t been there in years. We had her birthday parties there when she was young, Saturday afternoon lunches and many other get together’s with family and friends over the years. We had a wonderful experience there in late October and decided to place a reservation for their Holiday Dinner. This was not as successful as our October visit. First of all parking was a problem. I had to park several blocks away as did another guest in our group. She paid $ 10 and I paid $ 6 as the public garage was closed as were just about all the streets around the Spicery for Glendale Glitters. After hoofing it about 6 blocks I finally arrived. The Spicery was serving a pre set menu. I had informed the woman who called me the day before to confirm our reservation that one of the guests was allergic to cheese when she asked about allergies. My friend was served soup with cheese for her first dish. They were accommodating and replace it with a double salad. The gentleman who owns the Spicery did come and speak to us and was quite pleasant. However the woman who was doing the payments had come to our table and stated that we were the only party that hadn’t paid yet. Mind you we were still eating. She seemed inconvenienced by this. We also overheard her comment to another table about it being time to wrap it up. The food was warm but had good flavor. The ham entrée was a bit dry and the broccoli was over cooked. Bread pudding for desert was dry. I think I will stick to lunch.

We have been back multiple times since this first visit. Always good service and the food and tea is wonderful!

One star is being nice. This has to be the worst restaurant I have ever been to. Not only did we wait to be greeted, when there were clean tables in front they put us in the back. (I personally feel we were put in the back due to the fact that, I myself am black.) They had only the black people in the back restaurant where it was dark and loud. The hostess was hard to hear when she was explaining the specials and mumbled. I had to leave and will never be back to that bigot restaurant ever again!!!

The Spicery is a very cute place to go eat some find homemade food. Their yeast homemade rolls are to die for. It brought back memories of the way my grandma used to make them when she was around. The Orange spice tea isbthe best Ive had. Ever nice place to take mom or a bunch of girlfreinds. Very freindly.I felt lice I was eating lunch at my grandmas house.

Amazing experience. The food was delicious. The atmosphere was adorable. It is so quaint and pretty. We were lucky that we came when we did because if you don’t have a reservation they will turn you away. You must make a reservation if you want to eat here! The tea selection is amazing. I definitely recommend it for anyone!

This is a very unique restaurant and very, very good food! The people are friendly and helpful and the house is gorgeous! There are many rooms for dining and a lot of history to go with it! It is a definite place to visit and enjoy a meal!!!

Went to the Spicery for the special Christmas Dinner Saturday the 6^th. Very disappointed Ham was lukewarm, red potatoes cold, grilled vegetables cold. The salad was good the dinner rolls cold. Deserts was good. Service was great too bad the food didn’t match service at $ 23.00 should have been much better. I went last year food was hot and very good. Really disappointed this year.

Stop by & say hello to my longtime friend, Matt Borowski! Delicious food, tantalizing desserts, and a quiet, intimate décor completes this beautiful spot. Homemade bread from Martha’s recipe! The flavors and atmosphere will captivate you & call you softly to return with a friend. I recommend the beef barley soup with turkey sandwich on their homemade bread, and don’t skip dessert or you will regret it!

I just went there this past weekend for their Royal Tea event, (my second time there) and it was lovely and COOL inside, even though the place is fairly tiny, which can never be underestimated in this weather. You could carry on a conversation without feeling claustrophobic or as though you had to shout over everyone. Also, the décor, lawn and atmosphere were beautifully vintage and feminine. The tea was delicious, as were the finger foods, the staff was friendly and attentive. We’re actually planning to make a monthly trip there from now on as a sort of treat.

Enjoyed a nice tea party as a babyshower. The fingerfoods provided were yummy! The dessert was very tasty and plenty that a babyshower cake was not necessary. Wonderful set up and sweet waitress. We had a little mishap with the check out, but was resolved nicely. However, if you book a party be sure to get the quote in writing before committing to the date. That is why there was confusion with the cost when the party ended. I have been coming here since I was very young. I adore this establishment and the delicious food.

The ambiance is really cute — a house that was transformed to a restaurant and a cute patio area. I had the quiche — I’ve had quiches before and I do have my fave’s so this quiche doesn’t even compare in taste and texture. The server was friendly. I probably won’t be back anytime soon because after all, it is a far drive from downtown Phoenix and there are a multitude of great restaurants around me that I haven’t even tried yet.

Went to The Spicery for tea and the food was amazing. Everything was freshly made and they have a great tea selection. The ambiance was very laid back and relaxing. The servers were very efficient and friendly.
Can’t wait to go back.

Quaint and cute. But the service and attitude of the owner is far from that.
Its clear that the owner of this restaurant has never worked for any hospitality based business that has the customer in mind. If you’ve been to The Ritz Carlton… this is the opposite.
If you can slide in without much interaction with the hostess and have all the time in the world for an afternoon with your lady friends… then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

LOVED LOVED LOVED this place!!!
The people are extremely friendly, the décor is beautiful in each tearoom and the tea, food and desserts are delicious!!! I don’t have anything bad to say about this place except you have to go and try it!!!

The Spicery, a quaint home steeped in beauty and history. I’ve been a resident of Arizona since 1977, and watched this adorable home transition over the decades, frequenting it as a customer over the last two.
First off, I called weeks in advance to get a seating for four on Mother’s Day. I was told that The Spicery was closed on Sundays, and just because it’s Mother’s Day… they weren’t going to be open. So I make a reservation for Monday, May 13^th for a tea for four.
When we arrived for our 1:00 PM seating, we were told that we did not make the correct reservation, that because we did not give notice for a «HIGH» tea, that we were stuck with the normal lunch menu. I had made it very clear that we wanted a «tea» for four. Second disappointment.
Then when we went to order, everything we wanted was not available. The restarant had been opened only two and a half hours since being closed the previous day, and they had «no soup» and «no potato salad». When asked what type of teas were available, I was told there was ice tea and lemonade. Our waitress, dressed in a too small tank top and yoga pants had no knowledge of the menu. Sweet girl but I can only assume she was very new.
I ordered the broccoli and cheddar quiche, which was less than an inch thick, and had ONE floret of almost brown, shriveled broccoli. The flat, flavorless quiche was filled with lots of chopped celery and onions. Almost NO broccoli and very little cheddar. I believe that was a store-​bought crust. It truly tasted like it.
For dessert, I ordered a crème puff, which was black around the edges. This delicate pastry had been burned. The egg-​laden custard however was delicious.
This once quaint, exceptional tea house that had us drooling over their delicate finger sandwiches, delectable desserts and teas with notes of spices and fruits… was a massive let down. There were so many disappointments that there was no way to save the experience for four women scraping the egg custard from a burnt cream puff. We would have had a better experience going to a chain like IHOP or Denny’s.

I came with a group for lunch. It’s a nice place to take a date; it’s beautiful in an old house in historic downtown Glendale. The food was ok, took a while to come out and was a bit overpriced for the portions. I was still hungry after I ate, but it was a nice atmosphere.

As a true lover of all things tea, I have a strong desire to try any tea place in town. I frequent English Rose Tearoom quite often and feel it is the best around, but I am always willing to try something new and have been wanted to go to The Spicery for awhile. So, the Hubs and I ventured all the way to Downtown Glendale for a new tea experience. We called ahead for reservations and my Husband even requested scones, since they aren’t on their menu everyday. Upon our arrival, we were greeted warmly and seated promptly by the window (a nice spot). The place was packed, which I was pleasantly surprised about.
The scones/​shortbread we were presented with were warm and served with cream and lemon curd. All of it was very tasty and clearly homemade and fresh. We ordered a pot of tea and I had the chicken salad sandwich and the Hubs had quiche. I felt the chicken salad was just ok, as was the tea. We had the Queen Victoria and after awhile I felt it became really bitter. Also, they didn’t have sugar cubes, only the packets, which was a bit odd to me. The Hubs enjoyed his quiche.
All in all, this was a nice experience. I loved the old house and the fact that everything was homemade. This restaurant is a bit far for us, and there wasn’t a huge tea selection, which is my favorite part of the experience typically. If I am in the area, I would definitely consider popping for in for a nice homemade lunch in the future.

Beautiful place, and a super sweet family that runs it. The food is great, and you can’t beat the service you’ll receive. My Mom goes here faithfully, and they now know her by name. I can tell you the Strawberry and Chicken salad is the best I’ve ever had! The food is reasonably priced, and the portions are decent.
It’s fun to be able to support small local buisnesses, and that’s what downtown Glendale is filled with.
I live in San Diego now, but I know I’ll be visiting the Spicery next time I’m in town.