The Perfect Birthday Treat at an English Tea Room
My life has been so hectic lately and I have had little to no time to do something civilized, and just for me. My sweet friend, Christine made reservations at the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, Arizona for my birthday celebration. I cannot believe I did not know about this establishment and it is a complete delight! I am so excited to share this with you because don’t we all need a little more civilized experiences in our lives?
About the English Rose Tea Room
From their website: Established in 2002, the English Rose Tea Room is regularly voted Best Place for Afternoon Tea by Phoenix Magazine….and I can see why.
With an interior to rival the Ritz Hotel and a romantic, shady patio for tea al fresco, the English Rose Tea Room is a true gem in the desert. From scones to crumpets to cottage pie or a Ploughman’s lunch, you are guaranteed a culinary experience to remember.
Gorgeous Interior
Upon arrival, you instantly feel transported to an English garden, abundant with roses, hydrangeas and flowers in all shades of pink and white.
Even the chairs have teacups and teapots painted on the back.
The minute you set foot in this dreamy place you feel like a character on Downton Abbey.
The Outdoor Patio
Our table is on the outdoor patio in an equally lovely setting. The table for two is perfectly set with a tablecloth, vintage tea cups, dishes accordion-folded napkins and menus. And check out those chandeliers, laden with roses and tea cups dangling below.
The patio is equipped with a misting system which instantly cools down the air temperature by 5 to 10 degrees.
Formal Afternoon Tea
The Formal Afternoon tea includes a 3-tiered selection of sandwiches, scones, petit fours and a selection of tea. Gluten-free options are also available. This is plenty of food for both of us, but I ate far more than Christine!
The scones with clotted cream and fresh strawberry jam are so delicious. I am obviously too busy eating one to get a good photo. Even the cream and milk for the tea comes in this sweet container.
Small Shop
There is a small shop with tea related items and a wide variety of tea for purchase. Don’t you just love how they use teapots as room dividers?
And of course, you can always take your picture with Queen Elizabeth!
Outside the tea room is the quintessential British telephone booth, complete with a wall of roses.
And here is my sweet friend, Christine who made this delightful birthday experience possible.
Such pretty details like this vintage bike and basket full of flowers, makes the tea room experience flow to the exterior of the building.
All the Details
What a wonderful place to visit and experience great food, delicious tea, a lovely setting and a chance to have good conversation with a dear friend. I definitely need more of this in my life. The English Rose Tea Room also has etiquette classes for children, scouts and young adults.
It is never too late to brush up on your table manners, tea party manners and general etiquette. Also, the tea room hosts private events for bridal and baby showers, birthdays and celebrations. Here is the link to their website.
As you can imagine, reservations are a must as they fill up very quickly. They are open 7 days a week and I can tell you, I will be back. And I would love to take our guests and visitors to show them an English Tea Room in the desert.
Inspiration
Now I want to host a tea party. Don’t we need to get back to the simpler times where we conversed over tea and scones? My very first blog post is about a charitable tea we hosted with New York Times best-selling author, Rhys Bowen. This event was such a success that we did it again the following year. But with the pandemic and all the other nonsense going on in the world the ability to socialize in large gatherings is a bit diminished.
But now after having the English Rose Tea room experience, I would love to do another tea party. Who’s in?
Happy Wednesday and thank you again for joining me. Hopefully you will be inspired to take a sit and enjoy a cup of tea today.
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I am definitely in for a tea party. This place is magical. What a lovely way to celebrate Mary.
Kim, next time everyone gathers here we will definitely go. It was a slice of heaven.
I’m IN! A tea party is so much fun. And what a wonderful birthday celebration! I want to go there and have my picture taken with the Queen. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your lovely day.
What a delightful way to celebrate with a friend. This spot is just amazing! I would love to be able to recreate some of the decor for a garden party!!
What an incredibly lovely and joyful place! Happy Birthday Mary – how nice to have been transported to another “time.” Great pics too! Thank you for sharing.
OOPS!!! Got so busy typing I forgot the most important part:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR MARY,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
(AND MANY MORE) ♫ ♪ ♫
Michele you’re great! I can just see you sitting at your gorgeous piano singing our lovely Mary a happy birthday! Thanks for the extra smile today – I’m so glad I met you through the wonderful internet!
Michele,
Thank you so much for the birthday song!!
I think that is about as perfect as it gets, Mary. I am not blogging much these days because I am trying to downsize lately – but if you look back at older posts I have many tea posts. I miss having proper Afternoon Teas. Haven’t done a truly proper one since the Christmas before Covid hit. I have many one on one little Cream Teas with friends but nothing huge. This Sunday I am hosting a May Day tea luncheon – those invited prefer a solid lunch versus having fussy tiny finger foods (and Lord knows it is waaaay easier on me to provide that!) It should be wonderful, though it is supposed to be cold and rainy. Boo. Was hoping it’d be perfect to have outdoors. Welcome to unpredicable Ohio, right?
Anyway I think your tea house there does it perfectly and I tell ya I would love love love to go there one day. Keep going to keep them in business. So many have closed, which always makes me cry. We are the capital city of my state and we don’t have ANY anymore. Oh if I were only 30 years younger I’d open one in a heartbeat.
Thanks for this beautiful post. Have a blessed day.
Michele, if you are ever out this way let me know and we can go to the English Rose Tea together! I will check out some of your older posts as I would love to host a tea party again.
May Day is one of those special times that I seem to miss each year. How nice to have a May Day luncheon. I’ve always wanted to make May Day flower bundles and place them on my neighbors’ front door knobs. Maybe one of these years.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
Oh my goodness! This is amazing! Happiest of birthdays to you.
Renae, thank you!~
What a lovely time! Thank you for sharing with us, and all the best Birthday wishes to you, Mary
Sue, thank you very much!
Count me in Ms. Mary! Whenever, I have out-of-town guests, I surprise them with a visit to the English Tea Room. You are right it is a gem…even if one isn’t a Southwest Anglophile!
Felicia, what a treat to finally go to this wonderful tea room. And figures, that you already knew about it!
A Beautiful day celebrating Mary’s Birthday… How fun it was sharing with her such a charming place.
Wow what fun, perhaps we can put this one on the list of things to do the next time our group gets together. How very delightful.
Lovely… I give a tea and cookie exchange every Christmas….. love all the new ideas I can use… the stacking of tea pots especially as I have many….thanks for sharing… Teresa