My friends Lotty, Regina and Vienna (and occasionally our friend Frank) and I get together monthly for tea. Sometimes we go out and sometimes we do it at our homes. As many places as we try, however, we always end up going back to Lovejoy’s.
There are many reasons for this. One of them is that Lovejoy’s is the most comfortable tea room we’ve found. It looks like your quirky grandmother’s living room, and the place invites you to stay and linger for a long time. Another is that the service is superb, a little bit contrived in that they are super-friendly, but your tea is topped and your requests are quickly fulfilled. But probably the main reason we keep going back to Lovejoy’s is that the food is superb. Their scones are always warm and fresh and just fluffy enough. Their chicken salad sandwiches are even better than mine. And their tea – I always get the English Breakfast – is quite good as well.
Today was not different than usual. We went at 3 and stayed until they closed (must have been around 6), talking and enjoying the food, the ambiance and each other. We’ll probably be back soon.
March 2010 Update
Once again, Vienna, Lotty and I went to Lovejoy’s for tea. Yummm. The tea (English breakfast) was excellent, and the large, warm scones with double Devon cream and strawberry preserves, are out of this world. Indeed, I ordered the cream tea so that I could get two scones 🙂
The tea services are pretty expensive, in particular after you compare them to The Golden Tea Garden in Hayward, my new tea hang out, but the atmosphere is so relaxing, and the scones so good, that it’s definitely worth going there as an occasional treat. Still, given the limitation of their menu, I think the Golden Tea Garden is a better choice for little girls (who love cake), so I probably wouldn’t bother taking Mika there.
Lovejoy’s Tea Room
1351 Church Street
San Francisco CA
P: 415.648.5895
http://www.lovejoystearoom.com/
Original Review