The Courtyard Restaurant

It is precisely what you would expect for an afternoon tea — a pot of tea and a delightful tower of mini sandwiches and pastries. Like most such teas, it’s really a meal unto itself. It’s quite pricey, but you’re basically paying for experience and setting (both of which are beautiful). Definitely not something you’ll make a regular experience of, but worthwhile, and I could see doing it again.
If you’re coming with children, I would not recommend getting the children’s tea service ($ 15). The main service is plenty lavish to share with a kiddo and still leave plenty for you. There are also child-​friendly herbal tea options, though some can be bitter, so ask the staff first. I found the staff pleasant and very accommodating of small people.
By the way, if you have a preschool princess in your life, this is a great treat for her, especially if you split it like I suggest. Mine loved her real life tea party.

I went here for my birthday and the afternoon tea was to die for! I got the wedding tea, which turned out to be amazing, and when a friend spilled the beans about my birthday, the waitress asked if it would be okay if they brought me a free drink. It turned out to be a delicious champagne cocktail with three blueberries floating in it.
There were enough sandwiches, cookies, cakes, and scones for each one of us to try one of everything. They were all bite sized, and it was nice to be able to eat so many different things but also made me really want more of my favorites! The fruit tart, the chocolate petit four, and the pâté finger sandwich in particular. I thought the lemon poppyseed cake could have been more moist, but that was just one cake in a tray of many.
This is a great place for special occasions, and well worth saving up for! I wish I was rich enough to go whenever I felt like it.

Fair warning for people considering The Courtyard for a work lunch: this place is not good at handling even a gentle amount of volume.
A group from work came for the Restaurant Week/​Dine Out Boston prix fixe menu, and although the food was pretty good for the price point, on no planet should a Tuesday lunch take 2 hours. (45 minutes between courses!) But let’s go through this, chapter by chapter:
The Good: Although it’s a bit awkward to arrive at through the Library Café, the décor and space they have here is impressive. The menus being served in books is an endearing touch. The food itself was good considering the price and the area, and it’s nice to see attention to presentation.
The Bad: After years of doing Restaurant Week and dining out in Boston, no place has ever come close to the glacial pace at which this restaurant served food. At a typical restaurant, when there is going to be a significant delay in service, the server will at the very least alert you to this, and a good restaurant will find a way to make it up to you. It was one of those service experiences where at first you’re perplexed, and then you get angry, and then you start to worry that perhaps something terrible has befallen the kitchen staff and you should go in to help them.
The Ugly: Some places are slow. That’s fine. Some places are ridiculously slow, which is less than fine, but hey, these things happen. But running out of the one desirable dessert after you’ve paraded it out on the display trolley for us? For shame.
As much as I love the BPL, they should probably stick to the lending of books. It’s unlikely I’d return unless I have an afternoon to kill and I’m with my Grandmother or a turtle.

Came here for afternoon tea with my parents when they came for my graduation ceremony. We were able to get reservations even though I called the day before! It’s pretty easy to find in the library — just next to the map room. We were quickly seated and the staff were all very friendly and helpful.
The set up of the room is very nice and bright. I would have liked to have seated outside, but that’s not offered.
We ordered three afternoon tea sets. The finger sandwiches were good. They ran out of scones so we had to wait before they gave us fresh-​out-​of-​the-​oven ones. It’s strange for them to run out of scones during an afternoon tea seating! Some of the desserts were too sweet and I ended up skipping some. I really enjoyed the tea and we were able to switch teas during the service so we could try other flavors.
The best part about this restaurant is that it’s in the library IMO… after we had tea we walked around the library and just enjoyed the day strolling around. It’s definitely a place to try!

3.5 stars. Came here during restaurant week and ordered soup, fish, and dessert selection from the dessert cart. Everything tastes so-​so in general. However the ambience is beautiful and made up for some of the food.

This is a review for afternoon tea. Friend and i came at 3:30 on a weekday and they were very pleasant to accommodate us. They have us a seat next to the window overlooking the courtyard of the library.
The tea menu is a set one, so you don’t get to make any choices, but everything was flavorful — the scones and fruit tart were great. The variety of sandwiches was good: cucumber, salmon, lobster. The service staff was really attentive and the ambiance is classy but not stuffy. My server was knowledgeable about tea, which I appreciated.

Love it here. Feels like a hidden gem. Love the little touches like menus in books and the amuse bouche always makes me feel fancy. A favorite spot for a weekday lunch in the area. Oh, and the cranberry pecan rolls are amazing.

The Courtyard Café is a real gem. Excellent food and service in the grand surroundings of the library. Linen tablecloths, silver Wedgewood cutlery, an amuse bouche, bread rolls served with real butter pats and all for café prices.

Eating at the Courtyard was truly an experience, from start to finish. From the menus inside the books to the cute little amuse Bouche to the dessert that came on a book trolley, they certainly took inspiration from the boston public library and ran with it in a way that just made eating there a wonderful experience.
The space itself is quite beautiful, much calmer than other restaurants I’ve been to in Boston, probably because the food is really quite expensive for what you get in terms of taste, but I think people really come here for the experience more than anything.

The afternoon tea was wonderful. The quality of the food was top notch. Also, being in the public library is unique; what was especially surprising was the menu was bookmarked in a book. Very clever idea. We sat next to the window that faced the courtyard; it was beautiful with all the snow! Our server was very attentive. I would recommend this tea over some of the hotel teas.

It is a really really nice restaurant! No doubt, I have been there for twice during a day. For lunch and afternoon tea. It is really worth to visit there and enjoy the meals.
Besides, they also offer very good service, everyone was so sweet and friendly.
High recommend!

I’ve had Afternoon Tea here several times. It’s always a good experience. Good, tea, good finger sandwiches, scones with the jam and clotted cream, cakes. I’m so glad they don’t muck around with the successful formula by adding shrimp cocktail, or smoked salmon or insalata caprese and other food items that are not part of Afternoon Tea which can be a cup of tea and a cookie (biscuit in Britain) or the three-​course ‘meal’ eaten in the following order from savory to sweet: sandwiches, scones and then cakes/​cookies.
If somebody wants shrimp, it goes well on a finger sandwich as shrimp paste, or smoked salmon strips laid on smoked salmon paste laced with a little Scotch.
If you’re from Cornwall you put the clotted cream on the scone half, then the jam. If from Devon the other way. I lived in England for 4 years. I can never understand why my fellow Americans want to toy with and mess up tried-​and-​true food combinations such as Afternoon Tea (and real Italian food).
Afternoon Tea is NOT High Tea (sometimes called Meat Tea in Ireland: this eaten by the working classes between 5 – 7. It’s their dinner: a hot dish followed by cakes and most often is the beverage. If one is from Northern England or Scotland Afternoon Tea can be called High Tea, but NOT in Southern England.
Of course every person has the right to drink what he wants. If he or she does not like or cannot drink tea, please don’t make it a coke (which is suitable with a perfectly prepared small hamburger served on a toasted potato bun with American cheese, a lcie of tomato and lettuce)!

A friend and I had Afternoon Tea here today. Because it’s between December 3 and January 2 it was their «Holiday Tea» which has the same offerings as regular Afternoon Tea for sandwiches and scones but the sweets are different. I’ll have to come back when they’re offering regular Afternoon Tea because the sweets were the only part we didn’t enjoy.
The room is comfortable and cozy, tucked between the Map Room Café and the elegant outdoor courtyard. The staff were all so very friendly and welcoming. Service was prompt and attentive. We received our tea and goodies promptly after placing our order and someone came around three times during the meal to ask if we needed more tea. Excellent service!
The sandwiches were a creative collection of wonderful unique flavors and were all delicious (we ate every last one). The scones were tender and scrumptious and came with clotted cream, lemon curd and a delicious apricot jam which was our favorite (also completely devoured). The sweets were disappointing in comparison to the creative and delicious morsels that were the sandwiches and scones: a lemon bundt cake that had no lemon flavor at all, an uninspired gingerbread man, a cookie containing crushed candy canes, etc. We left all of the sweets half eaten. Overall though, a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon tea, and I’ll definitely be back again.

A lovely elegant experience. Felt completely comfortable in jeans. Great relaxing atmosphere. Amazing champagne. Wonderful staff. Outstanding food.

If you don’t eat here while in Boston your truly missing out. The view of the courtyard, the dining room, service, and last but not least the food was insanely delicious!!! Could eat here every day
1. Bass ceviche
2. Bass entrée
Never thought I could want more bass

One of a kind dining experience only in Boston! I came here for their afternoon tea to treat my mother who was visiting Boston. (Afternoon tea $ 32 is served after their lunch hours from 2:30pm.) Everything from location, interior design, service to food was excellent! Really high ceilings beautifully overlooking the BPL courtyard with plenty of sunlight. I very much enjoyed my jasmine tea and my mother, her chamomile tea. Their scones and jam are absolutely delicious. I particularly enjoyed the rich bacon sandwich (I overheard the table next to us asking if it was possible to get only that sandwich for their next visit and the server responded yes, as long as they call in advance and let them know.) Even though my mother and I hadn’t had lunch, there was so much food we had some of our cookies boxed up.
TIP: Would not recommend for kids — this café is very high-​end and peacefully quiet. Let’s respect it that way :)

Came here for lunch on a sunny Friday at around noon. The room was less than half full. Staff was very attentive and friendly. Food was delicious though quite pricey. Our half bottle of white wine was great. Some highlights:
steak — asked for medium rare but it come out more like medium to medium-​well. However, the plate as a whole was still rather delicious.
calamari with grilled watermelon — at first I thought it had udon noodles or maybe melted cheese on top of the watermelon, but they turned out to be calamari. Delicious!
Great date spot especially on a sunny day. The light from the courtyard helps brighten the room.

If I could give more than five stars, I’d give this place a UNIVERSE’S WORTH OF STARS and it would deserve every one.
Rarely have I had such genuinely warm, respectfully attentive service… and such perfectly prepared tea. Being able to sit in the Courtyard’s lovely purple-​themed interior and take in it’s view of the courtyard and the street is worth the experience alone. The Courtyard is such a gem for those three reasons.
I came during a hectic Friday of Restaurant Week, but only ordered tea off their tea menu. My party was seated at 3:45, and they never made us feel rushed even though tea service ended at 4, and the library closed at 5. At one point our server fought off a grumpy security guard from kicking us out before our checks came back. All of the staff were so earnestly polite and charming that it was just a pleasure to be served with such amazing hospitality.
Our server brought out our pots of tea in a timely fashion and our food came right after. I scouted this place out because this is one of the few places that serves Harney & Sons, and Harney & Sons is great effin’ tea. The Courtyard steeped our teas at the perfect temperature, for exactly the right amount of time, for maximum flavor and fragrance. Most places don’t care and will pour boiling water over your green tea leaves and leave them steeping in the pot. Not this place. Courtyard respects your tea, and respects the nuances of flavor that comes with a Harney & Sons tea.
Our three tiers of scones, petit fours and finger sandwiches were pretty good, but not culinarily astounding. The sandwiches had breads were a little too sweet, and the fillings and toppings were a little less savory than I would have liked, but for tea it was a very filling, very enjoyable experience. The scones were served with a great orange marmalade and the macarons had a very intense flavor.
One of the most lovely dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory. I cannot wait to return.

The Courtyard knows how to tea party, hard.
I walked in unsure what to expect, and left convinced I was British Royalty (and with my pants secretly unbuttoned.)
After waiting for an unacceptably long time, I found myself alternating bites of dainty, perfect scones and devonshire double cream with sips of earl grey tea, and all my troubles were forgotten. If that essperience ain’t on your bucket list, add it.
Despite the overall daintiness, you get to gorge yourself on a disgusting amount of food, it’s just tiny food in vast quantities. Which is awesome. After scones came the finger sandwich selection, which included a multitude of delightfully ridiculous mini sammiches. Tiny lobster rolls with chive cream cheese on lemon butter crust buns, anyone? Say no if you hate happiness.
By the time you hit dessert, you’ll probably be full. We were. However, listening to your stomach is no fun when there’re chocolate sinclairs, Irish coffee bars, and salted caramel macarons to tend to. Listen to your heart. And me. You deserve it all… I mean, you are British Royalty. Why else would you be at Courtyard?

One of my friends works across the street and had always wanted to have afternoon tea so when I visited her in Boston, we finally made it over to the Boston Public Library for tea. When we stepped into the room overlooking the beautiful courtyard, we just stopped and stared. It looked like every five year old girl’s tea party dream come true, but fancier. There was a lot of purple and the whole room was very cutesy.
We were seated at one of the tables for two next to the window, in these massive purple armchairs. It wasn’t busy, but it took a while for our waitress to surface and tell us about the tea. I ordered the Raspbery Herbal Tea and my friend had the Lemon Herbal Tea. In addition to the teas, we had three tiers of finger sandwiches, scones, macarones, tarts, cookies, and all kinds of delicious finger food. We slowly worked our way through all of the food, but in the end, it was too much sugar and we ended up packing some of it to go. Definite favorites include the scone and macarones.
All in all, we had a good time. Afternoon tea is definitely a splurge and a lot of sugar, so be sure to save it for a special occasion.