High Tea With Gerri

Such a wonderful treasure! Gerri is fantastic, and everything she makes is a delight! The variety of sandwiches is enough to satisfy the pickiest eater. My children adore the cucumber sandwiches and scones, and really enjoy the hats! The location is charming and beautifully decorated. This place is the reason I come to Long Grove.

High Tea With Gerri earns one star for one reason– it’s a cute place.
Do not be fooled by the looks of the place, you can NOT judge a book by it’s cover (I was there for a storytelling program), nothing about it is like authentic high tea. Upon presentation of the 3 tiered tray of finger sandwiches and sweets, I had high hopes which were soon dashed. The sandwiches were nothing but a variety of store bought breads (think wonder bread, Butternut, Pepperidge Farms) and whatever was put in between the lackluster bread was equally disappointing, not fresh, not delicious, just plain mediocre. The sweets were also abhorrent. Recognizing that you can’t do everything well, they would be wise to contract with someone else either for their savories or their sweets (plenty of good choices for this near Gerri’s High Tea).
At the end of the storytelling and tea experience I was ready to pay my bill. I asked if they take credit cards and was told, «no, they don’t.» However, as I was leaving I passed a table of three women who were not only paying with credit cards, but, had split the bill 3 ways and were EACH paying with their own credit cards.
I left feeling disgusted by the whole thing.

We had a bridal party tea and everything was elegant, delicious, and fun. Gerri shared her story with us and we learned about the history of high tea. We will be back with a group of church ladies soon!

A lighthearted glimpse into the past. The idea is cute and the presentation tries to be classy. This place just suffers in the details. The China dose not match, and the atmosphere feels like a doll house. I got the vibe that I was in a low budget recreation of a Dr. Who episode. The tea tasted like Lipton and the food just as lacklustre. What topped the cake for me was the $ 37 price. Overall this was as big a tourist trap as I have seen

We have celiac disease in my family and as a result I usually avoid teas and tea places like this because they don’t have foods I can eat. I called Gerri in advance and she said she does prepare gluten-​free things on request. I was very pleased with the selection she provided. It was almost exactly the same things that my friends had, but served on gluten free crackers instead of on bread. The service was very good, our tea was kept fresh and hot throughout. I would return to Gerri’s again.

High Tea with Gerri was an authentic Victorian tea experience! We went for our Mum’s birthday and Christmas on 26^th. Gerri was very accommodating to our schedule and when we arrived we were warmly welcomed.
The 3 tiered tray was served and had a delicious assortment of scones, petit-​fours, and finger sandwiches. Earl grey was served in charming non-​matching porcelain.
We loved the ambiance and Gerri was so gracious and warm. She made us feel very comfortable… we walked around the salon and dining rooms freely to explore the décor.
Will come again and treat ourselves and visiting guests to HTWG!

Wow your kids will Love it! It was my girls first tea and they had the best time! The food, sweets and scones soooo wonderful! We had fun with the hats!

High Tea with Gerri is nice to look at, but that’s about all it’s got going on.
We experienced so many problems while having tea here that you could almost write a farce about it. We were here checking this place out, thinking we might have a regular group outing, but there is no way I’m bringing my group here.
First of all, my friend and I were meeting there, and she called HTWG because she couldn’t find the place. When she asked the woman who answered the phone what their address was, the woman had no idea.
My compatriot, who organized this outing for the two of us, had made arrangements ahead of time due to dietary restrictions. She called three times to confirm things (speaking to both Gerri herself and her assistant, Trudy) and was told it was no issue, that she could just have the tea and a scone and would only be charged for that. When we got to HTWG’s, though, the server brought us both plates of sandwiches. My friend pointed out that she’d made arrangements ahead of time and would only be having a cream tea. The server, poor thing, had no idea what to do. She’d been left on her own. Gerri was out of the country, Trudy wasn’t responding to texts, and no one had told her a thing about special arrangements. After some confusion, she took the plate away and brought my friend her scone.
Now, the finger sandwiches I had were good. The scone, however? Terrible. It was airy, whereas scones are supposed to be dense and filling, and it tasted a bit like cardboard. On her website, she advertises that she serves devonshire cream with her scones, but it is absolutely not… it’s (much cheaper) whipped cream. The lemon curd was bitter (and not in a good way), and the jam tasted like the stuff you get at American diners to spread on your toast. The apple pie was just like something you’d buy from a supermarket (I didn’t even finish either the scone or the apple pie). Honestly, I could put together a better scone than this, and I don’t have «culinary training in London». Everything just tasted so cheap.
But the price was not! $ 35 a person! That’s almost what they charge for a proper afternoon tea at the Drake! And remember how my friend had been told she would only be charged for her cream tea? You guessed it. She was charged the full $ 35. When my friend reminded the server again about the special arrangement, she said «I’m sorry, but Gerri herself wrote this up» (referring to the $ 75 check). Eventually, the server did work out something, but my poor compatriot was still stuck paying $ 20 for a cream tea (which is usually around $ 8-​$ 10).
Skip this place. It is WAY overpriced, and Gerri cuts corner. Maybe she thinks Americans won’t know any better?
PS: I realized after we went there that there is another Unilocal section for her previous location in Riverwoods. I highly recommend you read those reviews. I wish I had.
Update: My friend called to complain and was refunded the cost of the tea. However, when she (who is from England) talked about the inauthenticity of the tea, Gerri told her «You’re not in England anymore». Unbelievably rude. Does she believe that being in the US justifies falsely advertising what she serves?

The service is rushed. The tea was not always hot and the offerings were not that good with the exception of the trout serving and cucumber soup.
In addition, the price was $ 40
I can’t suggest this except for the atmosphere. Which was lovely