Columbia Kate's Teahouse

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with tea. The portions are very generous. The Buttons tea is a favorite. The Almond Orange rooibus or black is extraordinary. And if you're getting tea (which you really should), then the apricot scone is a must pairing. Service today was cordial & helpful, but on the slow side.

This was my first High Tea, but my wife has been to many. We found the service good and the food excellent. We liked the iced tea so much my wife purchased some loose tea to take home.

We were walk-ins as we waited for our session on with photographer. We were seated outside in the shade. We did not do the tea service as we did not have time. Iced black tea in the heat was great. I ran over to the bakery while we waited for our savory bread pudding, chicken salad sandwich, and cowboy turkey sandwich with butter not mayo and two scones. When I came back from the bakery, we were relocated to the air conditioned interior . We enjoyed our food. We will come back. My sister and I brought back half a sandwich . The bread for the sandwiches was made at the bakery ( they do not sell the loaves, the brand goes to Kate’s).

I LOVE Columbia Kate's!! Any time we have a visitor from out of town/state, etc I take them there! It's such a cute little, relaxing place to have tea and lunch with friends and family! They have such a wide variety of teas and have descriptions with them all! The bakery items come from their bakery right across the street. We got the 4-6 cup pot of "Butte Tea" (has health benefits for heart, stress and tummy!) and had plenty left over after about 4 tea cups each!! My Mom and I had the cowboy sandwich on a croissant, she had the salad and I had sweet potato soup. (I believe it was the daily soup provided) YUMMY! I LOVED the soup!! And my Grandmother had the Three Tea Sandwich Trio with salad. You can mix and match the sandwiches for that one. (Egg Salad, Cucumber and/or Chicken Salad) Their presentation for all of it is so beautiful!! This place is classic and such a joy! Definitely give it a try!!

Honestly, best food in Sonora and Tuolumne county. My wife and I frequented here quite a bit. Their sandwiches, tea, and french onion soup are worth it every time. Also both of the owners are amazing.

Outstanding Motherload Tea for 2. Everything was outstanding. Get one of each scone, one of each salad. Dessertsbwe got Bread pudding, chocolate tart, and cheesecake. Glad we stopped! We'll remember this tea experience forever.

Kate's teahouse is a must visit while in, or going through Columbia. The food is excellent, the service is great, & the atmosphere is charming. Their creamy zucchini soup is to die for(their creamy garlic soup is great too). Food is delicious, & very aesthetically pleasing as well. These pictures are of two different visits to this teahouse.

It's a great experience. The Tea is all super good, the scones were a big hit, and the desserts were great. The sandwiches we had were fine, but they weren't as big of a hit as the other courses. But overall it was a great experience. Be warned though, if you do the Motherlode, it's gonna take a while, but that's kinda the point.

Great service, yummy food, and great tea. I've been here many times and it's always consistently good. This tea experience is always worth it and reasonably priced. I always get the Chichén pot pie which is creamy and crispy and the Kate's Tea ($34) it comes with a pot of hot, scone with toppings. Tea sandwich trio, a house salad and a 1/2 dessert. They serve it in courses which allows you to enjoy each item individually. The family that owns it is very sweet, it's great seeing family owned businesses!

We hosted my daughter in law's baby shower at Columbia Kate's Teahouse on Sunday 1/11 and it was everything she wanted it to be. Delicious food with many options available at a reasonable price. It was cool outside but nice and cozy in the little room. Our guest of honor chose lemon blueberry and apricot scones (which come with jams, butter, and lemon curd); power blend salad; chicken salad and cucumber tea sandwiches; and cheesecake for dessert. She also chose lavender lemonade which everyone seemed to love, as well as Berry Blast tea. The food was a big hit, the service was excellent, and our mama to be was stunning. Perfect way to celebrate new life, and we will definitely be back.

We are here for my Moms 83rd birthday. I was here 3 years ago and I wasn't able to give a good review. Today I can, the service was a bit slow at first, the food was very good my salad was delicious, my mom and her sisters's lunch was okay each bad their own opinion something was missing in the everything sandwich, the mushroom soup to salty. Over all the experience was satisfactory.

I enjoyed my lunch visit and dining experience at Columbia Kates. The best ambiance in Columbia, kind wait staff and really delicious/authentic English menu items.

I come here often and love the food but my friend and I just left after waiting way too long for service. We waited a very long time to be acknowledged and were then told we could only sit outside, however we weren't sat outside. Instead, she said one moment and then walked away. Many moments later a child came out, sat us outside. We waited for 25 minutes with no one coming to our table. The child walked by a few more times with things for other tables. Still, we weren't acknowledged, even as we left. The owners need to hire staff, not rely on their kids because this was an absurd almost comedic experience if we didn't have to leave hungry.

What a great and fun place to have lunch! My son & I met my daughter and her in-laws for lunch here for a visit. The place is so cute and the food was delicious. So many teas to choose from. I got iced chai and everyone at the table got something different. I ordered the chicken salad sandwich and it was great! My son-in-law's grandma recommended Kate's and we were not disappointed. In fact, I'm taking my friend there for her birthday next week.

Such a fun tea shop! They have beautiful hats on the wall that you can use during your visit. There were five of us and we each enjoyed our tea and delicious food choices. Very friendly service and great offerings on tea and food.

Super cute tea house in Colombia, CA. I would definitely come here again if I were in town. You get a lot of food for the tea time experience. Great for sharing. Service was a little slow but we went on a Tuesday and they were unusually busy. Lots of options to choose from.

We have been to this place a few times which says a lot considering we live more than 7 hours away. This whole area is amazing from the charming towns, to the nature to the charming places to eat. But this one is top notch. The salad with the walnuts and berry vinaigrette I could have a large bowl. The chicken salad and the cucumber sandwiches were my favorite. But the winners are for sure the large list of exquisite teas. If you are in the area it should be the place to stop in for your afternoon pick me up.

My brother in law had been here and suggested we have lunch there when we made a trip to Columbia for the day. I figured I would end up with a salad when I saw they have gluten free options on the menu. Well they had gluten free apricot scones, gluten free bread for sandwiches and gluten free quiches (without crusts). I had a sandwich and a scone. Both were great. The tea was wonderful. If you like they have hats you can wear with your party. Cute place reminiscent of times past. The service was great. If I could recommend anything it is cushions for the chairs for those who have low back issues to be comfortable. I will definitely go again.

Let me first start by stating that it's a cute little place tucked away behind the historic street. When we walked in, it was so cute and we were very much greeted by a very pleasant young lady. We were seated in what I would say as a sunroom it was so beautiful. Everyone was so pleasant. Our tea came so quickly . The lavender lemonade I would go back for 100 times over. It was very delicious not overly syrup or a fake lavender taste like most of them have you could tell that they used real lavender and high-quality. We made our order and she did suggest having the scone since that's what they are known for and I Did not decline as I do. Love a good stone. Everything was great. It was a beautiful atmosphere very well put together. They have hats for people to wear if they wanna do a traditional tea of wearing cute little hats. I definitely would suggest this place and on top of it. They do have a bakery just across the street where you can go pick up these phenomenal treats as well. I would highly recommend it for someone who has the desire to have a nice tea and sandwich.

My friend and I made reservations,however they did not check phone messages. We were seated and each ordered a meal and tea. Had hardly finished our tea when waiter told us we would have to leave as they had people waiting to be seated!!! Paid our bill and will never darken that doorstep again!

It's a cute setting, but maybe it wasn't a good day. There was only 1 waiter and I can not recommend the cheese cake at all, but the tea was spot on. And my wife enjoyed the drive so I decided it's worth a maybe.

Love this place! My parents took me here! The veggie sandwich is the best! I enjoy trying the different flavors of tea! The service is always excellent!

Love this place. My family and I visit at least twice a year. Wonderful teas and food. A must in the summer.

My husband and I had a lovely lunch here today. We are visiting from out of town. The people who work in this teahouse were so nice. Although there are limited vegan options, we did find a couple of delicious items. We had the Hildreth veggie sandwich minus the cream cheese on their homemade wheat bread. The sandwich was delicious. The bread was so fresh. We also shared the kale salad with a turmeric dressing, which was also delicious. There were so many tea choices it was hard to decide. We each picked a different flavor, and we were brought our own little tea pot with a tea cozy. They have teacups and saucers on the tables. You can choose your own. We really enjoyed our lunch here. The teahouse is very quaint. We left very satisfied. Give this teahouse a try.

Columbia Kate's is a very cute historical Teahouse in Columbia, with a huge variety of teas and delicious food. The apricot scones made fresh are delicious-however they are hit or miss- if you get a warm fresh one or a more stale one. Their Teahouse bread is amazing, super fresh every time. Their soups are good too, however sometimes they are cream-heavy. Their fruit is always super fresh. Their Teahouse sandwich trio is the perfect size sandwich if you're looking for something light to go with your tea. The only complaints are the service is pretty slow, and it's pricey.

This review is much overdue as I have been coming to Columbia Kate's for years although not frequently because I don't live in the area. It's the best place for tea and pasties set in a museum town dedicated to the California gold rush. There's plenty of entertainment and things to do and then when you want to sit you can have cold or hot tea here! The food is very good and you can order small pots of tea if you'd like to taste a few different kinds. I never liked Oolong tea until I had their quan yin oolong.

We went here for Mother's Day and the service and food were so poorly executed. The food took a very long time to come out, and when it did, well it left much to be desired. For the price, it felt like we were being served really low quality dishes. The bread wasn't fresh, the jam was everywhere! They used the same jam on all the different dishes; it was a bit overkill.

Service is good, food always great. I will drive to Columbia just for a pastie and the pies. Very cute place, great tea selections but not super fancy and rarely do I see people wearing hats for afternoon tea here.

Took my daughter here for the Motherload Tea for two. We picked the Mother Load tea, with the first course being apricot scones with toppings. Second course was the hidden treasure salad (do not recommend the gorgonzola ). Third course was 4 tea sized sandwiches, we picked the Nutella and strawberry, chicken salad, egg salad, and cucumber. Last course was the dessert Trio. We picked chocolate torte, lemon Bar and bread pudding. The service, the atmosphere and the tea were all the stars. We didn't love the food though. We did enjoy the scones with 4 toppings, the cucumber sandwich, the Nutella sandwich and the bread pudding. We could have skipped the rest. Would love to go back and try out some more teas.

My favorite place to get a nice meal and have some tea. But this employee who you can't barely see his face totally ignored us to take our oder. He asked us to go or eat in the place. I said to go and then he started doing others things. He walked away and this was very insulting. The other employee who was a girl looked at us and asked if he took our order but this was after 20 minutes. I told her that he ignored us. Youn guy when you graduate from college learn some manners. You ruined our Sunday. This guy gave to this place a bad reputation. I am not going back there.

Great teas and unique menu. Desserts and lunch fare. Friendly staff too. Make reservations for a window seat. We had the chicken salad sandwich and beef pasty. Both were kind of dry. Usually fairly good but today was lackluster. Teas are great. Good scones.

Yes, it's a nostalgic tea house. I took three of my friends . They have fancy tea hats you can borrow for cute girl fun and pictures. The food was extremely comforting. It was busy but the wait staff did their very best to please. Loved the experience .

My friend and I were celebrating my birthday. The food was wonderful, service was top notch. Ambiance was very quaint.

Spent a lovely afternoon at Columbia Kates teahouse! So excited for this young couple's venture into providing "the tea experience". Customer service: superb Restaurant & Tea menu: varied, precise, delicious Desserts: Amazing! We opted for the dessert sampler with our meal so we actually had half sizes of 6 desserts offered. Highly recommend ending a day of discovery in this quaint teahouse. Plan your day accordingly cuz they close at 4pm.

I have always wanted to come here but I always went too late in the day or we already ate. I finally went with a large group so I won't tell you about speed of service or presentation because our situation was different. I will tell you that the staff was very kind and our server was very fun. The location is very cute and quaint. They have inside seating and outside seating. We were sat outside and thankfully, it was shaded and a beautiful day to enjoy the outside. Most of our table got the Kate's Tea: 1 pot of tea (iced or hot), scone, salad, 3 different sandwich halves and dessert. It doesn't sound like a lot but it was perfect. I am a huge tea drinker. I drink hot tea every morning so I chose the Gold Rush on ice. It had such a great flavor to be iced. I should have bought some to take home. Regrets. The first thing to come out is the scone, and I chose the apricot scone. Delicious. It also comes with lemon curd, strawberry puree, butter and cream. I loved all the selections. You also get to choose from two different salads. I got a very untraditional salad, which was the power salad. It had kale, shredded cabbage, shredded brussels sprouts with a turmeric dressing. It was amazing. I will go back just for that salad. It was amazing. The next course is the tea sandwiches: Egg salad, chicken salad, and cucumber. I'm not a tea party noob: I've been to afternoon teas at the Savoy in London, the Empress hotel in Victoria Canada, also in New York City and we have tea parties often at my house, where I make each one of the these sandwiches by hand. If you love tea sandwiches, do not come to this place for sandwiches. Each one of them I would not consider to have a traditional flavor. Next was dessert, I got the gluten free lemon pound cake. Gluten free anything is risky, but good Lord. It was sooo good. The consistency was not heavy. It was more like sugar cookie. Super delicious with the cream and strawberries on top. I also ordered a chicken pot pie to go. They gave it to me uncooked, which I thought was strange, but it worked out because I put it in the fridge and baked it at my leisure. This is a top-tier pot pie. It's a whole meal in itself. The crust was flaky and it had herbs in it. It went over the side so you will have a piece of flaky crust with each bite of your gravy, vegetables and chicken. Next time I go, I'm going to buy at least five to keep in my freezer at all times. I will be back!

Long wait but worth it! We loved our variety of Pasty (Vegetarian & Beef) everything is house made and was delicious! The salads were excellent!

Love this place - cute atmosphere, great food, and even better tea. The Meyer Lemon has been my favorite tea for years. And their scones! I'll start drooling.

Another one of my favorites in the area. Outstanding selection of teas Fresh tasty lunch items. Freshly baked scones and bread. Turkey cranberry sandwich is my favorite.

OK, I really love this place's food. However, the service the last few times have been.TERRIBLE! The last few times we've gone here, it has been incredibly slow and the staff ignore you. We went in this past weekend, and I was very excited to visit, and unfortunately three staff members passed by me, despite the fact that I was waiting to be addressed to put my name on the list for a table. I understand they are busy, however, intentionally avoiding eye contact and Rudely addressing me once I do ask for assistance is terrible customer service. What's more, they never actually called me to say our seats were ready. Nonetheless it did not matter because as soon as I was ignored, I decided I was not going to go here again. Sorry, Kate, I'll take my business elsewhere. I used to look forward to visiting as a treat but will happily try somewhere new.

Don't miss this adorable restaurant. The food and tea are fantastic. Chicken pot pie is the best ever, generous size and comes with a choice of salad. The power salad is excellent. I liked the chicken pot pie so much I got a couple to take home. We got a big pot of one of their signature teas which was good quality tea and so delicate and fruity. The service was pretty slow but definitely worth the wait and Columbia is definitely a great town to slow down and enjoy. Can't wait to go back.

A very cute and cozy teahouse with a very nice assortment of tea to choose from, and the best damn chicken pot pie I've ever laid taste buds on Scones are great as well and you get to choose 2 spreads - I love the apricot scone with scone cream and lemon curd sides/toppings.

I have loved the tea house since I was a teenager. And I'm a sucker for baked goods. Today's visit did not disappoint. New owners... and they are doing it right. The best apricot scone with clotted cream you will ever have!! Don't leave without trying the power salad. It lives up to its name. So happy to see my old co worker Iggy is part of the new ownership. Keep up the good work. I will be back!! 5 stars. Thanks. Donyl Sebold

This little gem is located in the historic park of Columbia. We randomly discovered this place many years ago when we went to Columbia with small children. Now we try to make it there for lunch at least once or twice a year when visiting the area. The restaurant is very small and not super comfortable, but they do the best they can with the space they have. What makes this place amazing is the bakery items. There is a small locally owned bakery across the street that provides all of the fresh baked items. You have to order the scones in the restaurant AND make sure you walk across the street to get some to take home! My favorite dish is the savory bread pudding. My family loves the pot pie. The magic is in the fresh baked items. You can't go wrong. Service is always a little slower but it's that type of place. Expect to wait a little bit for warm tea and yummy comfort food!

Good food, great tea and scones in a charming setting. Columbia Kate's has been a family favorite for a long time and still keeps us coming back.

Quaint treasure in the city of Columbia, CA. Beautiful ambiance. Owners and staff were very hospitable, the chicken pot pie is amazing, scones are warm, cream topping is delicous and lemon curd was just right and the signature tea called Buttons tea is on point! Bought some to take home and added sugar and half and half....my non frequent tea drinking friends delight in a flavor of butterscotch floral and spice flavors, telling me, I didn't know tea could taste like that. They had a back room that was Halloween themed...a little more goth/Tim Burton feeling but cute! Love this place.

A cute farmhouse styled tea house in a lovely little town full of unique shops in the beautiful foothills of California! Food was great, hats on the wall are for you to wear at your tea, service was exactly right and the place was packed. Be sure to call ahead for reservations and feel free to wear your gloves! A pro tip: this was NOT a fancy high tea--people were wearing their regular clothes, shorts and the like for summer, very laid back and low key and well behaved children can handle this. Tea sandwiches and everything related to the tea was very pretty and what you would expect. I look forward to going by again and making a day of it!

amazing local chocolate and candies. also located in Murphys ca on Main St all made with the best ingredients in the Sierra Foothills

I took my parents here for an afternoon tea and had a wonderful time. Jessica helped us and was just the best host, as well as server, and was just so caring and sweet with us. We arrived about 45 minutes before they closed, and she still treated us so well and didn't rush us out at all. Everything we ordered was scrumptious! Special shoutout to the kale salad. I'm not even a fan of kale and it tasted great. We also ordered 2 orders of the trio dessert special, which may have been one of the best decisions of our lives, haha! Every dessert was incredible. It was shocking. And even with the half portions you get, it was a lot. I ordered the chocolate tea, because I'm not very big on tea, and it was so good that I even bought a package of tea to make at home. The ambiance of the restaurant was so sweet. They even have hats available to wear while you sit there enjoying your meal. So my mom and I got to choose a hat and wear it during our experience. (My dad didn't want to wear one, haha) I can't say enough nice things about the experience. It was just absolutely wonderful. We ended up leaving way after they closed, but they didn't make us feel like we needed to rush out or pressured us to leave. I would highly recommend this place and we plan on going back again. Eating here and visiting with each other was the highlight of an already fun and exciting day.

Be ready for a hidden treasure! Attentive service and you havnt lived until you have an apricot scone with the homemade jam. Tea is wonderful. The food has amazing detail full of flavor, this is a must go

Loved the samples for sale! Lots of seating for large groups and a huge menu! (Grab a hat as you're seated. Enjoy.)

Lovely setting, delicious tea, scrumptious scones, delightful meal and great service!

Great food the chicken pot so delicious and the tea is very refreshing got to try this spot when visiting Columbia.

This was by far the best first tea experience with the kids. We opted for Motherland Tea for two and it is definitely enough for two adults and 2 kids. With over 70 teas to choose from we opted for our server's suggestion and it was a perfect one. Tea had hints of caramel and jasmine. Oh so good! The cucumber sandwich was the very best. Refreshing, clean and just delightful. As for the ending. The banana bread putting was my personal favorite. It was warm, not to sweeten character stood out from the rest of the dessert. You simply can't go wrong with any of the food here. The aroma coming from the kitchen says it all.

This place is super cute! We had the tea service for two. There is so much food! I saw other people get service and their portions were also big! The Lemon Poppy seed scones were delish, the tea was great, the sandwichs were okay, and the bread was homemade. The chocolate torte was perfection! Absolutely, heaven sent. The bread pudding was awesome. The service was nice. I hope to make it back one day and have the pot pie and more of the heavenly chocolate torte.

Truly such a fun, delicious way to spend an afternoon with friends or family! The whole experience took more time than we expected, so plan to stay a while, but it was so worthwhile. The garden is so pretty and peaceful.

We really enjoyed this tea house. The service was friendly and warm. The food was delicious, and the helpings were large! The tea and scones were tasty. They have very cute inside and outside seating and we sat outside. It was very busy, I would recommend making an appointment. But even with the business, food and tea was served very timely. We can't wait to come back.

My daughter and I are addicted to Columbia Kate's. We've been here many times and have always left feeling content and with smiles on our faces. We have loved every tea and food item that we've had here. I especially enjoy the chicken pot pie and the apricot scone with clotted cream and their homemade jam. Their soups are always perfectly seasoned and the salads are fresh. I recommend making a reservation, especially at lunch time and on the weekend. *One thing to be aware of is that they don't have a restroom, and the nearest ones are about a half block away.