Tea’s the Season

Tea was amazing, sandwiches were good and had gluten free bread as an option, macaroons were amazing.

Cute neighborhood spot in downtown San Mateo, not far from the entrance to the multiplex. Worth getting out of your car and exploring the neighborhood. Great for meeting up with friends, whether you order the full tea or just a la carte. Everything is freshly made and tasty, and there is a good selection of teas. Good value and quality for the price.
If the onstreet parking is busy, there are garages tucked away in the middle of nearby blocks. It’s not far from the CalTrain station, either.

Great place with cozy atmosphere. It’s the right size, not too small and not too big.
Sandwiches and scone was fantastic, and the price is right. I had the $ 21 tea set and my friends and I really enjoyed our time there.
Service was quick and unobstrusive. I would definitely come back again. I like this more than Lisa’s Treasure, and it’s less expensive than the Ritz and other fancy places.
Keep in mind that you can’t see this shop from the streets. You park in the garage or the streets for the Theater parking and walk towards the entrance of the theater and you’ll see it.

TEENY TINY PLACE BUT CUTE! Take a walk down Main Street and you’ll find hidden places like Tea’s the Season!
TWO TIMES IN A WEEK, OH YEAHHH
Came here for the first time with my cousin on a weekday and again with a bunch of friends on a Sunday afternoon, both times the place was fairly empty. Which was a good thing because we didn’t have to wait to be seated and didn’t have to deal with slow service. =) BTW, there isn’t much seating. There’s probably around six tables and majority of tables are tables for two. =T
TOWER OF GOODIES
The bottom platter has your sandwiches and a little savory snack, you get four sandwiches which are the Chef’s choice. The second platter has your scones, clotted cream and jam and last BUT NOT least, the third and final platter, the tip top of the tower. YOU HAVE YOUR ASSORTED DESSERTS! (THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR DESSERT) Mini cupcakes filled with jelly, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies and lemon bars. (Keep in mind that the sandwiches and desserts change).
SERVICE
Service was okay, not fast nor slow. Teapots were refilled when needed but took awhile to get back to our table.
CONCLUSION
I’d definitely come back/​will be back. I’ve been to one other high tea place and I prefer Tea’s the Season! =) I just wish they had a wider selections of teas!!! =X

Great little tea house hidden in the alleyway before the movie theatre. Service was very friendly and attentive. I like the relaxed atmosphere of this tea shop, not overly pretentious or frou frou, just a simple spot to have some afternoon tea. We sat in the sofa area next to the fake fireplace which was cozy. We had the tea for two (about $ 20/​person) and I like how you’re able to order a la carte if you aren’t in the mood for an entire tea set. I enjoyed the savory sandwiches a lot and the scones were also quite tasty. The desserts were mediocre. I would come back!

My friends took me here yesterday for some girl time. I was shocked to see that this place even existed! I have passed by it so many times without knowing what it is :) It was a pleasant surprise. The interior is very cute and girly. We ordered lattes and cappuccinos and some sandwiches, truffles and the dessert assortment. I will only speak for what I personally had.
Cappuccino was good! The dessert assortment not so good. It came with a red velvet cupcake, ginger cookie, cinnamon cookie, and a chewy cranberry square. The cupcake did not taste like a red velvet, but it was edible. The other cookies were good. I really did not like the chewy square.
In the end, I would recommend coming here and I probably will again too, just make sure to choose your own desserts out front and don’t get the assortment because most likely you will be disappointed with it too!

I used to really like the café that was here before. Unfortunately that’s given way to a proper tea shop. Now that whole ritual isn’t up my alley but am a bit of a caffeine lover. Looked at their selection of green and black teas and got one that was a Brazilian guava to go. I kept getting it to try and steep but the thing just never got very strong. Im not a huge fan of weak flavor. Maybe I choose poorly? Not sure but a black tea with not much flavor kind of left me yearning for more.

Cute little tea house tucked away from the hustle and bustle of downtown San Mateo. It’s a nice quaint place to enjoy a cup of tea with friends and relax.
Tried the Darjeeling tea and the assortment of desserts. The dessert plate has 5 or 6 different mini size desserts which was the perfect size to share amongst 2 people over a pot of tea.
I also think this is a good place to host small parties and showers. What’s better than getting all your friends together, fancy up with hats and accessories than gab over tea and cucumber sandwiches? :)

I visited this place earlier and was very surprised. I loved the atmosphere and the treats were great! The service was very friendly and helpful, they even let me take a bunch of pictures and snoop around their store! I definitely recommend going here and I plan to go back.

A cute laid back tea house with some of the charm of a more traditional afternoon tea room. The tea room is next to the movie theater with cute little hats and accessories for you to wear while enjoying a cup of tea.
The prices I felt were a little steep and the food and tea wasn’t too impressive. The Earl Grey I ordered never stood out and the only nice thing I felt was the fact that they had fresh soy milk to go with my tea.
I doubt I’ll go again but it does have a quaint charm to it. Just wish either the food and drinks were better or else the prices cheaper.

I didn’t even know about this place until I saw the groupon.
I brought a friend here for his birthday cause I’ve been raving about how great high tea is, and he’s never tried (of course).
When we arrived, everything was already prepared and set out on the tables. The woman who worked here is very nice and let us choose to sit anywhere we wanted.
I ordered the coconut truffle (black tea) and he ordered the french earl grey tea. The coconut truffle was so fragrant and had real coconut flakes in the tea. It tasted even more amazing with a sugar cube. The earl grey was aiite, nothing too special. Tasted a lot better with a cube of sugar and some milk.
For the sandiwches, we ate carrot and ginger, egg salad, pesto chicken, and turkey basil. The carrot and ginger was special (never had it before), egg salad was nothing special, the pesto chicken was pretty good, and the turkey basil tasted pretty fresh. But I’ve had more delicious sandwiches elsewhere. There was also a mini spinach cheese quiche (a savory) that I did not especially like. A bit dry and oily, maybe something from a costco box?
By the time we finished the chocolate and a crème scone we were pretty full. Maybe it’s cause we were eating 10 times slower than usual, but the scones were noting special.
There was also a chocolate cupcake, cookies, and a bread pudding. We took those to go.
Overall, I liked the overall experience, but the food could have been better. I felt like at other places, there’s more emphasis on fruits and sandwiches, and not on cookies and sweets. For $ 39.50, I would like to try another high tea place

I came here because my girlfriends and I like to try different places for afternoon tea. It is a great opportunity for the adults to sit down and chit chat without having to worry about the kids running around.
The location is near the movie theater and if you were looking from the street you wouldn’t be able to find it.
As you walk in, you are greeted by friendly employees who seat you down quickly. The décor is «tea themed» but it isn’t frilly or too girly.
I believe an afternoon tea per person cost $ 21.25, but if you have the «tea for two» it comes out to be $ 39. There were two vegetarians among us and that was nice that they could split the vegetarian tea items among them.
Each person had the option to choose the flavor for their pot of tea.
There were 4 types of tea sandwiches — we had cucumber sandwich, chicken sandwich and a few others.
The savory of the day was this spinach puff pastry item.
And how can one have tea without scone served with cream and jam? The scone wasn’t too dry, but it also wasn’t too memorable either.
Finally we ended with a variety of desserts that included chocolates, mini cakes and pastries.
When we were finally done and we received the bill, it came out to be $ 25 per person (tax & gratuity). Even though I enjoyed having the chance to meet up with friends, the food wasn’t that great to justify it for the price per person.
Will I come back again? Probably, but only if I am in the area and I’m craving some tea sandwiches and I’m too lazy to make some at home.

I hosted a baby shower for 13 girls. it’ great venue/​location, cute décor, tea is yummy, very reasonabe.
the only thing i would have requested is that they wouldn’t be so quick to kick us out. people didn’t get seated by 2:30 (our tea was from 2 to 4) but so many latecomers trickling in because parking can be pretty packed in the parking garage (for the shopping and the movie theatre), and they wanted us to end it by 4:15… I would understand if the place was packed and busy, but from looking around, there was plenty of spot (they can fit up to 35 ppl)

I stumbled across this place halfway by accident. I had walked by it plenty of times before while heading to the movies but I never really stopped to check it out.
One day, after watching Beastly the weekend it came out (yes, I do go to the movies by myself on occasion) I stepped in for some tea and to people watch. They have this neat little bar type seating area against one of the windows, which is pretty perfect for people watching.
I ordered some Earl Grey and sat at the little bar. The woman at the cash register was very polite and wasn’t pushy, entirely refreshing. My pot of tea was served with a little strainer and a cute cup and tea pot. I adore the fact that they serve the sugar in cube form. Maybe it’s silly but it feels classier than little paper packets.
I have yet to try the desserts or the sandwiches, but I’m definitely going to bring my brunch buddy with me here so she and I can further asses Tea’s the Season.

Very sweet setup and cosy atmosphere, perfect for a small gathering; indeed, we had a group of five in their lounge area and it was perfect.
The presentation is sweet — lovely porcelain teapots and an eclectic mix of teacups and saucers.
We called ahead to make sure there were gluten free sandwich selections. We had egg salad, carrot and ginger, cucumber and cream cheese and strawberry jam and cream cheese. The bread was a little dry and would have benefited from being toasted with a little more filling, but the fillings were delightful. The fact that they can cater to the wheat-​challenged (and vegetarian!) among us was a fabulous thing, however. And having just moved here from Pittsburgh, PA, I have to say I’m impressed.
We were also provided with some delightful macaroons, mini cupcakes and some cookies, all gluten free and very nice indeed.
Our company, who could eat wheaty things, loved their sandwiches, scones and desserts.
I think they’ll only get better in the future, particularly if they improve the quality of their gluten free bread :).

After seeing «The King’s Speech» at the nearby movie theater, we stopped by Tea’s the Season for the first time.
We didn’t want to spoil our appetite for dinner so we ordered Afternoon Tea for one for $ 21.00 plus another pot of tea. Our two teas were Chai and Chocolate Mint, and both were delicious.
The Afternoon Tea service included:
* Pot of tea
* An assortment of 4 mini tea sandwiches of the day — I think our sandwiches were:
— Carrot & Ginger
— Egg Salad
— Pesto Chicken
— Turkey Basil
* Savory of the day — some kind of spinach pastry that I didn’t care for
* Scone served with cream and jam
* An assortment of desserts — peanut butter cookie with Hershey’s Kiss, lemony dessert with raspberry, chocolate chip shortbread, and some other kind of sandwich cookie with pink icing in the middle.
We liked the tea way more than food. The food wasn’t terrible, but just didn’t seem special. I liked the sandwiches better than the scone.
Tea: 4
Food: 2
Ambiance: 3.5
Service: 3.5
It’s a cute place and we’d be happy to return for tea.

Gave it an OK rating because compared to the cute tea places in SF, this place is still behind.
We came on a Saturday afternoon with a reservation but the place was only half full. Throughout the afternoon, we saw some couples coming in but overall the place was not as full as we would imagined.
The website gave very clear instructions on where to park and where it is located at, which is good. Perhaps because it is not too established, although located right across a cinema, we don’t see the foot traffic as a coffee house.
The shop has some seating areas as well as a counter serving as dessert display. I think that made the overall impression of the store less cute. The seating area was nice and I could see that they had decorations and little cute things done on around most of the areas.
We ordered Tea for Two and from that choice, we only have to choose our tea. The rest of the food selections were pre-​determined by the store. So if you have a specific kind of sandwich you want to try, you have to ask them instead of making your own selection from their 10 choices.
Our set per person came with 1 savory pastry, 4 small sandwiches in variety (the size is about 1 sandwich been cut into 4 pieces, carrot & ginger, cucumber, egg salad, and petso chicken), 2 scones (one plain one with dried fruits) with jam and cream, 3 little cookies and 1 brownie.
Tea pot will get refilled with hot water, but by the 3^rd refill, the flavors were all gone.
The sandwiches were pretty good, the scones are ok although I wish they were a bit more buttery, the desserts were OK but not too special overall.
The service was pretty good, we got checked on quite frequently. I wish their dessert qualities and varieties can be more fancy given the price tag. The tea selection on the other hand was good.

OK so here’s the deal: I usually drink tea as an accompaniment to an Asian meal or if I’m sick and have a sore throat, I’ll drink tea with honey. That’s the extent of my tea drinking experience, so when my friend suggested this place, I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ve always had this stereotypical image of afternoon tea as a rich English person activity and since I am neither rich nor blessed with a sexy accent, I didn’t know what to expect!
Turned out to be a super cute, adorable, and fun girl bonding hangout! :D My friend and I shared an Afternoon Tea for One, which included
— a pot of tea
— assortment of 4 mini tea sandwiches
— savory of the day
— scone served with cream & jam
— assortment of desserts
We decided on the pumpkin spice tea (DELICIOUS by the way! We ended up drinking a total of 3 pots of tea!) and the server brought out all the goodies on a 3 tiered stand! She explained what all the different sandwiches were (raisin bread with jam, rye with chicken salad, white with carrots & ?, and wheat with cucumber). The savory was some sort of spinach popup (?), the scone was perfectly crumbly and light, AND the dessert was YUMmm! Red velvet cookie, chocolate chip cookie, white chocolate truffle, and a custard tart thing! Everything was delicious and adorable! It doesn’t look like a lot, but the whole point of afternoon tea is to sit with your friends or family, talk, enjoy each others’ company, so my friend and I ended up staying there for a good 2 hours and we were actually pretty full from eating so slowly!
The servers are really nice and friendly and they were willing to explain everything (like how to use the tea strainer: T)
The whole atmosphere inside is so quaint and there are some beautiful-​looking teapots, plates, and teacup sets! I would come here every afternoon if I could! Afternoon tea rules! :D

Excellent concept and good execution. Here at Tea’s the Season, you get the taste of a cuter and more casual version of the high tea tradition.
The ambiance is less pretentious and cozier than Lisa’s Tea Treasures in Santana Row. Location is excellent. The patio on San Mateo main street has the right amount of sunshine — just enough to counter the early summer breeze.
For $ 10 you get a pot of tea and a dessert platter. ($ 5 if you just want a pot of tea) That’s a good amount of food to share for two. We had a pot of their chocolate chai. The tea was strong and flavorful. The cheesecake and the lemon bar from the dessert platter really stood out.
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could have afternoon tea anytime of the day? I wish they would open late too so I can grab some dessert after movie or dinner.
Girls will probably love this place while guys might find it very intimidating. Possible good date spot? Perhaps. I their their clientele are most likely going to be groups of ladies though.

We stopped by right before watching Alice in Wonderland at the Century San Mateo 12 next door. they were closing in 15 minutes and the place was completely empty.
I’ve always loved tea… I once had a favorite little tea house in Jakarta — furnished with the most comfortable sofas and private corner sections in a smallish place that always smelled divine.
The first thing I noticed was the limited selection (I wanna say 6, but let’s stick to less than 12). I’m used to dozens of options with thorough explanations of their popular (though unproven) benefits and uses and the combinations of flavors and beautiful smells as they serve you a pot. I want to call the place quaint… but really, the furniture/​décor looks like the type you find in 5 random garage sales. There were Christmas lights in a few places and a great deal of those paper lanterns many of us remember making as a kid. (Ref:
) I’m sure there’s a good reason for them… a cause or something.
Well, let’s forget about the questionable décor for a bit and focus on what matters: THE TEA. I ordered a blueberry something or the other and the boy ordered a chocolate chai. The blueberry was VERY good, but as for the chai (with which we requested milk BEFORE she prepared it)… Well, after filling our little cups completely with tea to-​go, she pointed to the end of the counter where she had a little saucer of milk… If you like tea, you’d know how awful it is to add as much as (or as little as) ¹⁄₅ milk to a cup of tea. Pair that with the actual flavor of the tea… that chocolate chai was unsuitable for drinking.
OVERALL —
Flavor: 2.5÷5 (Balanced out by my Blueberry Tea.)
Service: 2.5÷5
Décor: ¹⁄₅