CNJ Happy Hatter Tea Room

My friend and I drove all the way out to this location a couple of weeks ago. Our experience couldn’t have been worse. We had seen this place here on Unilocal and seen all the awesome reviews so we were so excited to go see what it was all about.
When we first arrived we noticed that the place was closed even though the website had said it would be open. There was a sign at the door that stayed it would reopen in a few minutes so we didn’t sweat it. We could see people inside and we thought it must have been a private party or something like that. We went next door to an antique shop to kill sometime. We loved the whole vibe of this area and everyone was so friendly. We were starving and excited to go back and eat.
We went back and the place was still not open but another family had arrived and were also waiting outside. After waiting a few more minutes a lady whom happened to be the owner greeted us warmly and with a smile. She invited us in and told us to feel free to look around and take a seat. My friend and I went inside and the family who had been waiting with us stayed at the door talking with the owner.
We loved the inside, there was so much to look at! It turned out that the people we had seen inside from the outside were her kids and a few of their friends or family. After looking around for a couple of minutes we were ready to eat. We sat down and looked at the menu. There weren’t many options but it all looked promising. We were so hungry we didn’t take any time at all to decide on what we wanted to eat. We continued to sit there awkwardly waiting for someone to take our order or at the very least our drink order. The owner was still standing at the door speaking with the same family. The owner didn’t offer any explanation or even a simple «I’ll be right with you» There were no other employees to be seen. My friend and I waited for at least 8minutes. And when we were totally ignored and dismissed we decided to leave.
We were completely disappointed because we really went there looking for the great food and hospitality all the other reviews had promised. The owner didn’t even bother to tell us «I’ll be with you in a moment» or offer water or anything at all she just continued speaking with the family totally relaxed and ignoring us. Even as we were leaving (clearly upset at the lack of service) she didn’t bother to stop talking to ask us what was wrong but only to say a quick goodbye.
In conclusion it was a waste of time and gas. We drove out there, waited about 35 min for the place to open, then when it finally did we were dismissed. More than anything we were confused as to why the owner didn’t bother to even take our drink order, or offer any kind of explanation, or even as we were leaving apologize and try to make us stay. If she had done any of this we would have stayed and given the place a chance. It was the biggest disappointment because I had great expectations for this cute little place. We are never going back there.

A lil small but nice

I love this place!
I come here once a month for Helotes Market Days, and it’s always been such a pleasant experience. The décor and atmosphere are so charming and the food I’ve eaten there is quite delicious! Especially their chocolate cupcakes … wow, they are sooooooooo good! So much better than many cupcake shops here in San Antonio. I usually don’t go on about cupcakes, but I was super impressed with these. They taste very homemade and they just have this comfort food quality I can’t quite describe. They’re exceptionally moist, fluffy, not too dense, not overly sweet, the icing is just right. Really, they’re just perfect. Also, the woman who I believe runs this place is so sweet and provides really great customer service. That’s always a big plus with me.
So yeah, I definitely recommend this lovely tea room. :)

Really fun place. Very whimsical and just like being in Wonderland! Feel free to wear one of the fancy hats from the hat tree while having your tea. The menu is very limited but the food tasty. Be sure to bring your patience with you. Yesterday there was only one person working and eight customers so she was working very hard. Perfect place to become a child again and sit and linger over food and conversation.