Lillie L.
Google
I will never buy tea from this shop again. My friends and I and our kids decided to sit in the common area of the Factory with the small kids tables next to the bakery, after patronizing the surrounding businesses for snacks and drinks, including this cafe. As 10 toddlers are, it was a bit loud, even with normal voices and footsteps, and the Factory echos due to the concrete floors. The owner of Nashville Tea Company approached us incredibly rudely and said "Can we not do this?" and vaguely gestured at our kids, speaking down to us as if we ourselves were children. Because we were made aware that our kids were disturbing others (though it was quite empty), we began to keep them quiet, completely off the stage, and away from the Tea Co. Then, she began to discreetly film us and our children from her cafe while we ate and talked. Finding this wildly inappropriate, we went to her to delete the footage and ask for more information about why she is so bothered by our children so we could address the issue. It is apparent that she has much frustration built up about kids being in the common space of the Factory. To us, it was more respectful to buy a tea and then sit outside of her shop instead of bringing all of our children inside. To her, that wasn't enough, so unfortunately, her rudeness reflects poorly on her business. Columbia is a community made of many families with small children, and it was hugely disappointing to feel so unwelcome by a local business owner (in a public space next to her business).