Royale Tea Room

This place is such scam. I brought a groupon and made a reservation which I got a confirmation for. When I arrived the place was closed with no sign of operation hours and a huge post «for lease». The phone number also isn’t valid. Probably on the verge of going out of business and trying to make some money off groupon

Save yourselves the time. I drove to this place after purchasing a Groupon for the picnic basket option. Went online abs made a reservation. Their website mentioned that they’d call to confirm. When I didn’t hear from them I called myself, only to find out their number had been changed and the new number was unknown. I drove from Santee to La Jolla abs finally found this pretty hidden tea room only to find it closed. No sign… nothing. There was however a for lease sign on the window. I think it’s safe to say, this place is out of business!!!
I called Groupon and they confirmed it’s closed and gave me a credit for any other Groupon in the future.

I’m disappointed so far in trying to get in contact with this business. After having bought two Groupon deals and after having done some thorough research there seems to not be a current working business phone number that works for the «Royale Tea Room». Nor have I received any replies yet through email. Dear Royale Tea Room, please contact our prospective customers.
PS: are you going out of business? Seems that on Unilocal it states you are only open on Sundays now? How can this business still sell Groupon deals with no contact?
We’d really appreciate a reply. Thank you.

I purchased a GROUPON and now can’t seem to use it as the phone number isn’t working and a new number isn’t given. Also you can’t order online the link is not working, are they still in business???

CLOSED? Just tried calling them to make a reservation to use my Groupon. Unable to schedule a reservation online. Phone number is disconnected.

My daughter purchased a Groupon for my birthday. I made the reservations online and then called the tea room to inquire if they had gluten free options as I have celiac disease.
I was excited to find out they offered gluten free food items.
The gluten menu ended up being glutino crackers and lettuce that you could put the sandwich spreads on. The only dessert choice was strawberries and whip cream with what appeared to be glutino crackers crumbled over the top.
Gluten free choices are not difficult for high tea. The chef can have a gluten free bread frozen like UDi’s and make delicious finger sandwiches. For dessert miniature chocolate lave cake, Crème brûlée, coconut macaroons or a mousse/​pudding could be offered. Again these could be frozen and thawed for customers requiring a gluten free menu.
My daughter enjoyed the experience and I was thankful it was purchased on Groupon making my tea basically free.
The atmosphere is nice and the host was very friendly. Only way we will come back is is we purchase another Groupon.

If a business could be arrested for false impersonation, it would be this one. The name is even deceiving. There is absolutely nothing refined or English here. I had tea on 10÷10÷16 and it was by far the worst anywhere. I was thrilled to find out there was a new tea room in La Jolla but very disappointed that this tea room does not meet the expectations of this type of business in a community like La Jolla. I’m also disappointed for the people who choose this establishment to experience their first afternoon tea because this is not the true English tea experience. There were no «Hits», they were all «Misses».
#1. The ambiance was a miss. As much as I love Marvin Gaye’s rendition of «Heard It Through the Grapevine», i don’t feel it’s appropriate for a tea room. The music playing was perhaps a Motown radio station because I even heard commercials. Photos on the wall were not suitable and appeared to be on consignment or for sale?
#2. Staff was a miss, We had a lovely server but she clearly was not knowledgeable about teas, drinking tea, tea etiquette, the ceremony of high tea, or the menu they were serving. She didn’t know the difference between black teas and fruit teas, or black fruit teas.
#3. Tea a BIG miss. My supposedly black tea (which was a fruit tea) came in a pot with a… «GASP» tea bag!
#3a. Poor tea selection. You are a tea room IN La Jolla. You need to invest in real, loose leaf teas. Don’t buy boxes of tea bags from your local grocery store and serve it in a tea pot and think that is satisfactory!
#4. Menu items were not available. There were several menu items our server said was unavailable (but then again she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the menu so maybe she was incorrect).
#5. Find a decent scone recipe. Scones are a staple in tea rooms. We were offered, pumpkin, white chocolate, blueberry and another flavor. I selected white chocolate and my friend selected pumpkin. The server gave us both pumpkin because the scones were pumpkin and white chocolate. Well, I didn’t want pumpkin. That should have been addressed earlier and she should have given me an option to change my selection. After a bite of the dry, tasteless scone I didn’t need one anyway.
#6. Tea sandwiches. I didn’t know the roast beef and turkey sandwiches we ordered were also cheap, packaged deli meat.
#7. Desserts-​not memorable or appetizing and served in cupcake liners. They weren’t even sliced nicely.
I can actually go on but I think you get the gist of it. Also, our table was so tiny the two teapots and dishes didn’t even fit. Tea is usually a 2 hour ceremony/​dining experience. This was less than an hour, in spite of the long wait for the tea. The time it took parking the car was longer than the entire tea itself. It’s very unfortunate that this tea room will give tourists and residents an inaccurate perception of an English high tea.

My friend and I went here on a weekend and we were greeted by staff that seemed very awkward, and seemed like they had no idea what they were doing. It took far too long for our waitress to take our order and even longer to bring out the tea. Why does it take 20minutes to put a tea bag in a pot of hot water? Who knows.
Anyway, it is a cozy place to go to for people who want to try the high tea experience or hang out with friends in a casual environment, but don’t expect the classy factor at all.
*Food is alright, nothing too great — sandwiches were a little dry, but the deserts were good.
*Tea was ok — no sugar or milk offered at all
*No drinks on the table until 20minutes later
*Reservation was easy
I would suggest to management and any one that visits to display/​ask what deserts are being made for those with food allergies or dislike for certain deserts.

Seems like there is a lot of confusion as to the «vision» of this place and it’s not worth the hassle of La Jolla weekend parking nightmares and prices if you’re looking for a decent place for restaurant quality tea.
The name is deceiving. Although the logo, menu, entry way and tables give the initial impression of an English tea house — they’re lacking the fundamental. 1. It didn’t appear to have loose teas on the very limited tea list (everything was in tea bags with brands you can buy at the grocery store.) 2. No tea spoons or proper serving spoons for the condiments. I asked and they were «all out» 3. No cubed sugar — («one lump or two» didn’t apply here) 4. Sci-​fi and fantasy artwork on the walls. I had to stare at a robot’s head for 2 hours. 5. Linen table cloths but paper napkins? 6. The food took a long time to come out — does cutting fruit and making two sandwiches really take that long?

Wow, seems like the reviews here are so hit or miss– happily, my experience was really good.
I came here with a friend who was in from out of town on a visit– we had a reservation on a Saturday late morning. The gal who waited our table (Neve, I think?) was competent, efficient, and she timed out the courses nicely. We did the queen’s high tea option, and admittedly the tea itself was neither great nor awful, but everything else was honestly quite good. The atmosphere is fun– a bit of a hodge podge with lots of local art up on the walls. Generally I think it was more or less exactly what I expected, and the price is on point for what you get and where they are. Bummed to see so many others have had such issues with service, etc, but really, when they’re on their A-​game, this place is a gem.

My boyfriend and I went here last Saturday. Be advised you should make reservations online on their website, and they are only open on the weekend. We made ours for 4 pm, and there was no hassle getting in. We arrived at about 3:45 and were seated promptly.
We came because we had a Tea for Two groupon. Our waitress kindly explained it to us: two pots of tea, three types of tea sandwiches, and assorted fruits and desserts. Our tea was on the table 5 mins after ordering. While it was good, one was just a store-​bought tea bag steeping in hot water; not impressive for a tea shop.
Our food came about half an hour afterwards. The presentation was pretty; it was a three-​tiered tower with fruits on top, sandwiches in the middle, and mini cakes on the bottom. Everything tasted fine. I enjoyed the roasted chicken and apple salad sandwich, and the chocolate mousse cake.
The place itself is a small hole-​in-​the-​wall location, underneath another restaurant. It wasn’t horrible, but I doubt we will be back without another groupon to entice us.

I’ll start off by saying that I think the woman who appears to run the place is very accommodating and has the best of intentions. I guess I was expecting the same type of tea service I’ve received in the past at high end hotels, that’s not quite what you’ll get here, but it’s a cute place with excellent intentions. It’s pretty bright and has no set style or décor… The bottom floor had a sort of Asian décor with local artwork, I appreciated the artwork, but it was much different than the hotels I’ve been to in the past. The food tasted fine, but was also different then high teas I’ve been to in the past. Id say if you’re looking for a traditional high tea experience, you may want to go else where, if you want to go with the flow and try out some teas and have small sandwiches and sliders, this is the place for you…

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! SERIOUSLY, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME EVEN IF YOU HAVE A DISCOUNT COUPON. WHY?
1. Went with wife yesterday afternoon. Opened the door and was greeted by a musty /​moldy smell.
2. No air conditioning, fans, or other ventillation was working. There are no windows and the door was kept shut. We were seated in the upstairs loft where it was even worse than downstairs.
3. It took nearly an hour to get tea. We had to share, they will not bring you two different types of tea.
4. After an hour and 10 minutes of fanning ourselves our server told us our food would be right out. This was interesting because she had never come back to take our order after bringing tea.
5. Water was dripping from the ceiling. This might suggest the condensate from the air conditioning was leaking thru, but since there wasn’t any A/​C running, who knows what it was? Someone has drilled a series of holes through the ceiling nearby, but I couldn’t say if it was to let water out or air into the ceiling space. I imagine the space up there probably looks like a science experiment.
6. Another 20 minutes goes by and still no food. We asked the group of 10 ladies at the next table how long they had been there and they said 3 hours and were still waiting for the rest of their order.
7. Still no food at 1 hour and 40 minutes. Wife told the server we were leaving, citing a short version of the reasons above. Walked over to Karl Straus where I had an ice cold beer and delicions pork chops. From a guys perspective, this worked out just fine. But a nice afternoon tea with Wifey would have been nice, too.
BTW — Overheard this conversation between the group next to us and guy who was filling water glasses — «Why aren’t you open weekdays?» Answer: «Because we all have to work».
Given how poorly run this place is, they won’t have to work many more weekends.

Went in on Sunday to use our Groupon & it was horrible. We love going to tea rooms around the city but this one is the worst.
There was a roach on the wall!!! The man came to pick it up, we moved across the room. The woman kept apologizing over & over again.
The wait for our food was another issue.
Thank God we had a coupon, I would never want to pay full price & we will never be back.

Need to get the kinks out FOR SURE! We made reservations for opening day with a group of 6 people. We were the first customers of the day and thought we would be the first ones to leave. First of all it was challenging to find. There isn’t a big sign to clearly identify the tea house. There is only a little sidewalk sign and you would totally miss it if you’re not looking for it.
We each ordered our respective teas and snacks. The fiancée and I shared the Queens High Tea which was about $ 41. This came with tea, 3 sandwiches, scone, soup, crumpet, fruit and 3 pastries. Also came with preservatives and Devonshire cream. We chose the clam chowder (we weren’t given a choice) and the soup lacked flavor and creaminess unfortunately. Needed salt to taste.
We chose the roasted chicken & apple salad, slider and smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers as our sandwiches. For our tea, we chose the Lady Londonderry. The slider was the tastiest of all the sandwiches. The tea was nice and light. The only weird thing was that all our teas didn’t have strainers so when we poured the tea, all the leaves came out. Really never had tea that way before. We didn’t mention anything since we thought that was the way their tea house worked.
The service could have been a lot better. We were there for about 3.5 hours. Waaaay long for tea. Our server was friendly but we noticed that he was very nervous. Poor guys’ hands were shaking like crazy every time he set something on our table. I think we were so far away from the other customers that it was hard to remember that we were still upstairs waiting for either more water or even the status of our orders.
Kudos for an entrepreneur and the innovative tea house. I would come back when this place is more established. Great location that is super close to La Jolla Cove and Downtown Proper.