Teavolve Café & Lounge

What a waste of money. The food is not good at all and the service is really slow.
Mimosa and bloody Mary — decent
Red velvet pancakes — you’ll get cavities that day… it’s so sweet!
Funnel cake — the worst of all funnel cakes I’ve ever had. It crumbles apart.
Steak and eggs — the best dish we ordered… although at normal brunch restaurants, it would probably be rated as just mediocre.
Drinks take forever. Food took forever and was cold when it came out. The only good thing about this place was that there was no wait to be seated on saturday at 11am. That should have meant something…
Oh, and they automatically include 18% tip, so make sure you dont tip again when you sign your credit card receipt. I almost fell for that because there is a separate line asking for tip again.

The first time I was introduced to brunch at Teavolve was in Mother’s Day… score for the hubby getting reservations in advance, we went again a few weeks later for our anniversary and it will probably be a monthly outing for us! Aside from being a tea lover in a coffee crazed world, the food is absolutely DELICIOUS and fresh. I’ve had a couple of omelets, which are always cooked to perfection and served with a generous amount of sides, I’ve also had the waffle, French toast, and cheese grits — all of which are equally delicious. THANK YOU finally for brunch done right!

I’ve been to Teavolve quite a few time since last summer and its a great place! One of my dear friends took me there for brunch and ever since then I’ve been addicted. The service is always friendly and welcoming. The café is very spacious and on some nights they have live music (that’s always a plus). Not to mention, Teavolve is a black-​owned business.
Food I’ve ordered:
— Carolina Shrimp and Grits
— Salmon burger
— Sweet potato tater tots
— Brussel Sprouts with bacon
— Sangria
EVERYTHING that I’ve ever had from Teavolve has been delicious. Makes me want to work there, y’all hiring? My favorite of all time has to be the ‘Shrimp and Grits’. They flavors are impeccable and just right. All shrimp and grits are different, Teavolve’s isn’t the tomato based kind, but it does have a sauce.
Try Teavolve out whenever you’re in the area.
TIP: Park the block over, behind Teavolve. There’s a street with no metered parking there.

Sign said ‘please seat yourselves and we will bring the menus’. We did, they didn’t. ‘Nough said. Why you gotta be so rude. You came in like a wrecking ball. I know that I can’t take no more it aint no lie, bye bye bye.

This restaurant has a great concept with the tea infused drinks. The drink menu is outstanding. I enjoyed the sangria. The food and service were both just mediocre. I ordered the shrimp and grits and I give it a 2 out of 5. Quite different from most low country shrimp and grits. It was extremely soupy, peppers were crunchy, grits were lumpy. The apple and chicken salad was only okay too. The chicken was very dry and the dressing was not good.
The service was okay. Perhaps the staff is young and needs more structure. Our waitress was wonderful but the food was very slow to come out. I would return to the restaurant because I think it has potential. I would not order the same things from the menu.

Love this place. So cute. Perfect for breakfast meetings or have a nice cup of tea! The food is great too. Very large portions. Sweet staff!

I went here for brunch on Mothers Day. The space was a little dark and dining room management was touch and go, but the food more than made up for any flaws (more about that later).
Anyway, we had pancakes, funnel cake French toast, eggs, turkey sausage and shrimp and grits. Everything was EXCEPTIONAL! I know you’re wondering how scrambled eggs can be exceptional, but they truly were… Fresh, light delicious and very well-​prepared. The shrimp and grits were a standout and so were the funnel cake French toast and pancakes. I highly recommend all! The tea infused sangrias were great too!
My concerns… We had a reservation for 7 (which I had to leave a credit card for… wasn’t ecstatic about that). I called ahead twice to change our reservation to four (they put me on hold indefinitely the first time). We arrived on time and still waited for 20 minutes to be seated. Then they still put us at a table for seven??? Waitstaff timing was also a little off.
The kitchen and bar were both on their game. This place would exceed 5 stars if the dining room were managed better. I believe in second chances (and great food), so I will definitely be back.

Wow. What can I say about this place other than it was AMAZING!
Let’s start with the food–
I had the shrimp and grits— Now, I’m verrry critical of Creole food– but this was ON POINT! The best shrimp and grits, I’ve had. Grits were perfect. The sauce was nice and creamy– spice blend was on point.
Shrimp were a nice size… and fresh.
My hubby had the steak breakfast— cooked just right… excellently seasoned… the red potatoes were DELISH
Kids had the funnel cake french toast– Very good. Not nearly as sweet as i awas imagining so that was a plus plus.
Apple cinnamon french toast… REALLLLLLLLLYYY GOOD.
Nutella Mocha Latte— YUM. ⁴⁄₅
Dirty Chai Latte– coffee and chai latte mix… tastey.
Homemade sangria… huge pitcher for $ 15… VERYYY tastey.
Manger was nice. Owner was super nice as well.
Services was just super super awesome.
I’ll def be back for their live music on weekends… can’t wait to try other things on the menu.
Oh and their tea selection… CRAZY… sooo many selections and they all sound divine.

Went here Tuesday to have brunch with my cousin. I had been here before in the evening and wasn’t fully impressed with the food. I did want to give the place another chance and boy am I glad I did.
The brunch was amazing. We both started off with drinks. She got the red velvet latte and I got the hot pomegranate tea which was amazing.
We then both ordered the French toast. Hers with strawberries and bananas mine with strawberries and pecans, both had whipped cream on the side. We also ordered the roasted potatoes best I’ve ever had and eggs with bacon.
The atmosphere is very laid back and chill. Great place to have a quick brunch or lunch. Nice outdoor seating and very café vibe. There is meter parking around the restaurant which is 2 dollars an hour which isn’t bad.
Really glad I gave teavolve another chance.

So I’ve been hear a total of three times and I will break down the review of each time.
Food: The first time I had the funnel cake french toast and its nothing short of amazing! Fluffy, sweet, buttery goodness. It was just simply good.
Food 2: This time I had the Red velvet pancakes as a starter and they were pretty good, best part was the cream cheese icing and actually. Then I had shrimp and grits with applewood bacon (come with Canadian just ask to switch) and babyyyyyy talk about delicious!!! The grits were unbelievably creamy and the cheese sauce was thick, it had green peppers and red onions and generous on the shrimp and bacon this is their signature try it at least once!
Food 3: So this time I opted for the shrimp and grits again, I was pretty hungry and I knew it was a sure winner right… ehhhh wrong! This time was just ok, sauce was watery and lumpy grits, shrimp didnt even taste fresh. It was a big flop!
Space: Very tight feeling I get that it’s a café but they neglected to include space for the dining experience. On Sunday’s it’s the worse so aim for the weekday. I have neglected to actually try the tea so hold on for that review lol

I found this place by looking at various Unilocal reviews. I sat by the windows and a waitress brought me a menu and told me someone else would be with me in a few mins. 15 mins later I was still looking lost and hoping someone would help me. I heard the second waitress ask the girl who seated me if she was going to take my order… Not sure what happened there. The tea menu is EXTENSIVE and you can get any tea in a pot, cold, or go to which I thought was nice. I ordered an orange oolong tea iced and a make my own omelette. Both were good! If the service had been better I would have given this place 4 stars. Will definitely come back to give it another shot.

My friend was raving about this place and took me here for my birthday. OMG I am so glad that she did! The food there is AMAZING! I had a hard time choosing from the menu because all of the items were appealing.
I ordered the apple cinnamon french toast, eggs and sausage. Let me tell you… it was soooo good and filling! I enjoyed every. single. bite. LOL. I am such a foodie and was quite pleased. The portion sizes are more than enough and I was able to take some food to go. My friend ordered the funnel cake french toast, eggs and turkey bacon. We shared a pitcher of white peach sangria (so good).
The ambiance of the restaurant is nice and the staff is friendly. The place was packed but I liked how they would send a text to let you know that your table is ready.
I definitely don’t mind making that drive to Bmore.

Champagne sangria was pretty good. As was the elderflower gin drink – very fragrant n not too sweet or spicy.
The shrimp n grits was tasty as well.
I think there needs to be a better sign in front of the place bc I wouldn’t have known it was even there if I wasn’t with my friend.

Only got take out… so can’t really comment on food and service… they have many kind of tea to choose from, and you can just get simple tea or tea latte (which they make it like a coffee latte) a little bit richer taste. and they also have smoothie, which is very refreshing (especially after those Old-​bay… it cleansed you pallet for more food… I wish i could sit down and enjoy a cup of tea, but they seemed very busy and crowded (which maybe a good sign) for the place… parking is meter parking (you do have to pay on sunday as well)… so be carefully to put quarter in your meter!

First time being here. Pretty good experience, our server was very nice. Food not bad

Loved EVERYTHING about this place! The food, drinks, service and the people! New to area and I had a girlfriend visiting from out of town and decoded to check this place out. Yep! It’s the spot!

Went here for happy hour on a Monday night with a bunch of my coworkers. Evidently, they do $ 5 apps and discounts on drinks all night on Monday. It was a cute little spot, they had some person playing some live music. The crowd there was interesting. Evidently the table next to us felt like happy hour should be a quite time, and they weren’t so happy about us laughing and talking.
The food was decent, we had some flatbread pizzas, some hummus, mac and cheese. Can’t remember what else was on the happy hour menu, but we had 2 rounds of everything. It was a decent place for hanging out. Food is decent. Might go back at some point to try some of the food off the real menu. And I hear this place has bubble tea, so I’ll check that out and post an update.
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Explanation of my rating system —
5*: Epitome of something, the best I’ve had, would LOVE to go back
4*: Great food and happy to go back regularly, but not the best of the category
3*: Food is fine. I may spontaneously decide to go there based on convenience. But no need to go back either.
2*: If you insist, I guess I’ll come along. I’ll find something to eat. But I wouldn’t have picked it.
1*: No plans to come back. I’ll try to talk companions out of going.

What a sweet brunch spot! Found this spot courtesy of amazing Unilocal reviews;). We tried the smoked salmon Benedict and the shrimp and grits. The benny was good but nothing special about it. But holey moley, the shrimp and grits was something else, Out of this world delicious! I would totally come back just for this dish. It had the right amount of bacon in every bite, along with the creamy sauce on the bed of creamy grits. Drooling just thinking about it! We also tried a pitcher of the white peach tea sangria (half priced! I believe it was $ 17). It was so delicious! I didn’t think tea would work in a sangria but it totally does and it had an interesting kick!
The service was quite awful unfortunately. No one came to greet us when we were seated. No one gave us a glass of water until we ordered which also took about 10 minutes until someone realized we were starving customers! Our food also took quite sometime.
Despite the awful service, I would come back for those shrimp and grits and the sangria!

Came here for a holiday event. The place is nice. You come through the front entrance and go up a few steps to an open floor concept with the bar and kitchen area to the left with seating throughout and to the rear. There was a wall made out of polished wooden two by fours that separated the dining space so that the rear area seemed more intimate. As l have been here before, we got there early to ensure we would have a seat. The server came over quickly and gave us a warm greeting and we placed our orders: 2 white sangrias, a shrimp and grits and an order of crab dip.
The food came in a reasonable amount of time and was hot. The shrimp and grits were okay (my friend had that). The grits were creamy and the shrimp, seasonings and sauce were good. My friend’s only complaint was that there weren’t enough shrimp! My crab dip came with warm pita wedges. The dip was good, but could have used a little more crab. The serving that l received had me asking for more pita wedges as it was enough for at least three folks. My only complaint was that the server had to be literally flagged down so that l could request more pita wedges and when l finally got them, they were warm, but my crab dip wasn’t. We ordered the white sangria as well which was tasty.
They have outside seating along the sidewalk available during the warm season. All in all a nice place to come and relax on a Sunday or weekday evening.

I like the Acai Berry bubble tea, but I think the thing that Teavolve does the best is their shrimp and grits. It’s unbelievably good. The Breakfast Crêpe is pretty decent, too.
There’s a bit of a wait at times but it’s generally not bad at all, though you have to find street parking before getting in the door.

I wanted to love this place. I think during the week it would get a better review from me because the service might be better and my motivation for going would be different.
I went on Saturday and the service was fair at best. The people bussing the table were nice. I thought the food was unremarkable and did not stick or in my mind to make me want to return. The tea selection was cool. So maybe a during the week visit but not a weekend hungry visit.

If there was one of these by my house I would be there almost everyday.
First of all the tea section is awesome. Second of all the cocktails use the awesome teas! Then the food is great too and the portion size is amazing.
A friend and I went for Brunch. I had the salmon sandwich and my friend had the shrimp and grits. Our food was excellent! We both had different sangria since they were half off for brunch. Delish!!!
Also they have live music on Friday and Saturday after 8 pm. We will definitely be back.
The only down side is that the waitstaff and hostesses seemed either over bearing or clueless. Not sure what is up with that. Then our waitress over charged us for a few things on the check and when we brought it to her attention she said those charges shouldn’t be on there. Then walked around looking confused for a minute or two. Kinda weird.

Sunday brunch: ½ priced pitchers of all their sangrias ($ 15). Although there is a lot of ice, you’ll get at least six glasses!
The breakfast choices are really solid. I opted for the Croissant egg, crab meat, and cheese ($ 10). It was huge, and satisfying. The spicy sauce did not overwhelm the dish.
My friend had the breakfast crêpe topped with cheesy grits ($ 8). It was also huge. She enjoyed it, and I enjoyed my tasty one bite sample.
They certainly give you your money’s worth here. Folks may choose to wait in a long line at Blue Moon Café, but I’d skip the wait, and head up the street to Teavolve.

The sangria was great, but the food was just okay and the service was ridiculously slow.
We were seated within about 7 minutes, pretty quickly for 11 a.m. on a Saturday.
We started with the Blush Sangria. $ 15 for a pitcher at brunch? YES. Everyone commented on how sweet the sangria was, but I thought it was well-​balanced. It was definitely drinkable and really snuck up on us quickly.
After reading a handful of Unilocal reviews, I ordered the crab and egg croissant. It was good, but it came out lukewarm. As someone who likes her food super hot, this was pretty disappointing. The best part of the croissant was the aioli, but it wasn’t very evenly spread out and I didn’t get some with every bite.
A couple of friends ordered omelettes. These came out piping hot and I was pretty jealous! Both ordered them with smoked salmon so they were salty – too salty, actually. Overall, the food was nothing to call home about.
What really ruined our visit was that everything took so long. Our server Tirzah was super sweet and friendly, but she was super busy when the restaurant wasn’t even full. A different server brought us our drink orders. She got a couple of coffees wrong and definitely gave us a look when we corrected her. We waited far too long for our food, and only slightly less for our check. We were on a slight time crunch so this only made our experience more disappointing.
The brunch deals (especially the half-​off drinks!) are great, but I’ll stick to just a tea next time.

Poor service and less than fantastic food ruined my recent visit to Teavolve Café & Lounge. As this was a Sunday street parking was readily available. The building and inside is nice to look at, full wall windows allow an open look and great for people watching.
Service was really sub-​par, the waitress didn’t seem that interested in her job this particular day. I ordered a drink at the start of the meal and it didn’t come until I had already finished eating and was about to walk out the door. In the meantime while waiting, I inquired about my drink and she replied with it should come at some point. She appeared to have a complete lack of awareness or want to care.
Food was just eh too. I had the steak and egg hash, the steak was on the light side, this was mainly potatoes and very small pieces of steak. Steak also was a bit tough and overcooked. Eggs were good, sunny side up, nice runny yolk, I liked the eggs but as an overall dish, this left a lot to be desired.
I doubt a return visit is in my in future as Teavolve failed to even meet my basic desires. No go for me!

The plan was to visit the National Aquarium then meet family for dinner. I pondered suitable places because I really don’t eat in areas designed for tourists. I reached out to the lovely Bmore community manager for help. She ultimately recommended Teavolve located in Harbor East. Parking was easy. We grabbed a spot on the street right outside the restaurant.
This unpretentious café was very mellow when we arrived and had lots of indulgent food & drink offerings at reasonable prices. I was torn between several items, but when our server said people actually travel here just for their Carolina shrimp and grits, I was sold. Many restaurants tend to over complicate this dish so I was hoping for the best. Their version had several components like sharp cheddar, turkey bacon (instead of Canadian), bell peppers, and onions in a cayenne butter sauce which all worked in concert for a flavor filled explosion. The grits were so creamy and delightful, I was thinking about the taste long after I left… I also tried the salmon burger which was cooked to perfection on a fresh bun. I can’t wait to return for brunch and try more coffee and tea bevies.
+Open mic night weekly on Mondays
++Best Nights: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Though I didn’t think the place was amazing, I definitely didn’t think it was terrible either. There’s really nothing else quite like it in the Inner Harbor area, so in that sense it is at the very least unique.
I went here on a weekday night and the place is not exactly bumping like Ouzo or crowded like Ms. Shirley’s, but that’s not necessarily a marker of how good it is. I got a APB (acai, pomegranate, blueberry) smoothie with bubbles. The smoothie itself was solid and the bubbles tasted overdone on the outside and like powdery straight from the bag undercooked on the inside. How one manages to undercook and overcook something at the same time is indeed a feat in itself.
I also got the bacon cheeseburger which I ordered medium (it came out a nice well-​done). Despite all this, the plus side is that the server was nice, though I don’t recall my water glass ever being filled.
One thumb up and one thumb down, just to be consistent.