Avalon Tea Room & Pastry Shoppe

My husband and I regularly visit the Avalon Tea Room. The homemade soups and scones are delicious, the portions generous, the sweets decadent, and there is a wide array of tea options. We love the cozy décor and the warm and friendly service. This little tea room is a gem. I can’t wait for our next visit during the holiday season.

I’ve been going to the Avalon Tea Room for years. It has always been a fun little place to go to. They have many more kinds of teas than I could have imagined existed. It has been fun to sit and visit with friends and relatives in this quaint little spot! The food has been good every time I was there too!

When asked if they could accommodate a peanut allergy, «Well, you know, we might be able to cook in a different area but, you know, we might not.»

Quaint. Had tea and sandwich. Many many teas to pick from. Lovely if you have time to wait while tea is being brewed. Hot or cold.

We stopped in after lunch. Elegant is the word. However it was a hot day and we chose to sit in the hall, because it’s cooler. They have the best iced tea, they offer about 3 and I got the peach. They do the coolest thing and serve it with their concoction of liquid sugar, so it dissolves better. We just had a simple shortbread. loved that as well. It was a last minute stop, so I want to try the other goodies next time. No tea bags for sale here.

Beautiful, 20-​year-​young tradition in the heart of White Bear. Delightful staff, very accommodating and sweet. Gorgeous vintage tableware and tea accoutrements. Sandwiches are appropriate choices for high tea, crustless, fresh and delicious. Pie has flaky crust and lovely presentation. BUT, as a practiced devotee of Devonshire teas I was disappointed with the scones and cream. Americans just plain have difficulties with scones. I think it’s the cream. It should taste buttery, not sweet or tangy, more like whipping cream just seconds before it turns into butter. And then serve plain scones with a light strawberry jam. Simple. Don’t complicate things with flavored scones. These ladies are experts:

I attended a wedding shower here. Setting is cute and girly. The food was good, although portions for our occasion were dainty – that’s a nice way of saying smallish. Our group of 10 occupied two tables pushed together in the middle of the main room. As the bride was opening gifts, her mother was asked to move from her spot so there would be more room for occupants of an adjacent table. When she was done opening her presents, I bundled the used wrapping paper into a small bag and asked the waitress if they would mind throwing it out. She took it from me with a smile.
The bride and her mother contacted the proprietor afterwards to say that they weren’t happy about being moved in the middle of the festivities. Instead of apologizing, the proprietor said we were too loud (we were laughing and talking but didn’t get too crazy – our party included four twentysomethings and six ladies in their 60s and 70s.) Then the owner complained that mother of the bride didn’t spend enough and griped about having to throw away our wrapping paper!
If the place is too small to accommodate a party of ten, or they need a minimum to make a profit, then the proprietor should simply have said so up front and our event would have been held elsewhere. This place would be fine for tea with one or two friends but I do NOT recommend it for groups.

I found 3 tea rooms that served a formal tea in the Twin Cities area. I chose Avalon because my 3 year old was allowed, it was slightly cheaper, and it advertised a child’s tea service that was better suited to my daughter.
There were 4 of us, my mother, sister, daughter and myself.
The room and décor were nice. The place is in a small older style mall and split between two rooms across the hall from each other. At first I was worried, thinking that we would be forgotten over in that room by ourselves, but we were not. Several other parties were seated after us, but it was never noisy or overly crowded, as the main room seemed to be when I went to settle the bill.
The tea was delicious. My mother had the Lady Londonberry, a strawberry flavored tea that was just right for summer. I’m blanking on the tea names my sister and I had, but we enjoyed both. The only thing I would fault is that the tea menu doesn’t describe the teas leaving you to guess what they might be like based simply on the name. I asked my server about several and ultimately decided to go with a natural black instead of a flavored tea.
My daughter was offered juice in place of tea if I wished it. I thought it would be better and chose apple. What I did not expect was that they would bring it in a teapot. Even though she was drinking juice, we called it tea and she drank it from a china teacup. I thought this was a nice touch and it made my daughter feel a part of the afternoon. The teacup was another thing. They seemed to have no problem letting a 3 year old drink from the nice cup. In every way they treated her just like the grown-​ups even when they brought out the food tray. The server pointed out and named all the food on her tray, just like she did ours. I’m not sure how much my daughter heard as she only had eyes for the sweets at the top.
Speaking of the food. It was very good and plentiful. When they first brought out the tray, I thought, «that’s it?» It didn’t look like much food, but let me tell you, looks were deceiving. I wasn’t even able to finish everything. There were 5 savories, 2 scones, and 5 sweets. All were good, but I liked the roast beef the best and wished there had been a second one on the tray. The scones were small, one a blueberry-​white-​chocolate-​chip, the other the traditional crème. They were served with lemon curd, a delicious berry jam, and real devonshire crème. There were raspberry thumbprint cookies, mocha frosted brownie bites, cranberry bliss bars, and a lemon berry pound cake so creamy it bordered on butter-​cake consistency.
My daughter’s tray was similar to ours but with 4 sandwiches, egg salad, pb&j, turkey and cheese, and an open-​faced cream cheese strawberry all cut in cute shapes, 2 scones and 3 sweets. We requested an additional pb&j because she wouldn’t eat the egg or turkey and they brought us one very quickly.
The website recommends planning an hour and a half for the service and we took a little longer than that. Not because service is slow, but because you really do linger that long.
We will definitely be returning, but next time plan to dress up and wear hats. It’s just that kind of experience.

My sisters and I surprised my mom for her 70^th birthday by taking her to the Avalon Tea Room for their four course tea. What a magical place! The ambiance is warm and cozy with lots of curtains with patterns and flowers and lace table cloths and teapots. There are hats on stands and in baskets all around the room. This was my first time at the Avalon Team Room and my first time going out for tea. The young woman who served us was very polite and explained how the four course tea worked. The four course tea can take 1.5−2 hours, depending on how chatty your group is. Every 20 minutes or so they bring out another round of treats. Course 1 quiche, course 2 sandwiches, course 3 scones, course 4 desserts. I tried everything they brought out and I liked every bit of it. My very favorite was the scones. They bring out as much tea and as many different kinds as your heart desires. The dishes are beautiful and delicate. The room was quiet so it was easy to talk. This would be an awesome place to meet up with friends to sit and talk and enjoy some tasty treats after a walk around White Bear Lake.