It's a treat to have tea here. The space is lovely and the service was exemplary! The food was delicious, very fresh and tasty combinations. We were served salmon mousse and lobster salad small sandwiches that would have been superb had they been on a lighter bread. All the other tea sandwiches were fabulous (egg salad, cucumber, and a mini roast beef in Yorkshire pudding) Scone with Devonshire cream and lemon curd was great and desserts were scrumptious. Individual pots of tea from a varied selection of teas rounded out our meal. I particularly appreciated the tea service - generous, hot, warmed milk if you take milk, "one lump or two" ?. Altogether a very nice time. A tad pricy compared to many but well worth it for a special time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Monika Tek
I have been to several tea rooms in the Boston area and the Boston public Library tea room is still my favorite. It has the largest tea room and largest selection of food. I highly recommend this place if you can get reservations.
Y F
My friend and I were looking forward to this place and the afternoon tea. The room was so beautiful just as we had seen in a picture. The food was fine, especially the tea and scones were awesome! It was more than worth the price.The only thing we didn’t like was the staff’s time management. Please don’t get me wrong; all the waiters were very polite and friendly. However, it was a little disappointing that we had to rush at the end. Initially we were supposed to be given 90 minutes for the tea. After we were seated, we had to wait for quite a long time until the tea and the starter arrived. 15 minutes after the main dish arrived, a waiter came to us and told that they needed to start getting ready for the next group. Although we still had 15 or 20 minutes left, they started to clean the tables around us, which made the atmosphere less comfortable and made us feel like being pressured to finish and leave soon. We should be allowed to enjoy the tea full 90 minutes, or they should have served the dishes earlier if they really didn’t have time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Joseph Hope-Hull
Very disappointed, specifically when it comes to the cost. That is nowhere on their website.
cam cameron
10/10 experience, such a boujee environment and food presentation! All of the food was yummy! I didn't think I would leave full, but I most definitely did! Loved the food tower! ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tony Giannotti
My friend came into Boston to visit and I wanted to treat her and took her to The Courtyard Tea Room. It was an amazing experience! It was her first time having formal tea like this and loved the environment.The food was amazing! It started with a quinoa salad and a cauliflower apple soup which was SOOOOOO GOOD! We both got the Cozy Cooley tea which was awesome on a slightly chilly day. We felt full at the end and were excited to hear that the menu changes every season. If you are looking for an awesome experience consider going here!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Salad, Lemon Curd E Devonshire Cream, Finger Sandwiches, Scones with Cream, Soup
Emma Reading
This place was lovely and so worth it. Such variety in the sandwiches and sweet treats (mini lobster rolls -- incredible!) and the service was wonderful. You had about 1.5 hrs to dine until the next set of timed reservations, which was plenty of time. A very fun experience in a lovely location.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jess I.
We celebrated my mom's birthday with afternoon tea at this charming establishment, and it was absolutely wonderful! The staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and special. From the fantastic selection of teas to the delectable assortment of treats, everything was simply fantastic. What truly made the experience memorable was the thoughtful gesture of a birthday card and complimentary champagne for my mom. It was evident that they truly care about their guests' experience. The ambiance was delightful, and the whole event was well orchestrated. My entire family thoroughly enjoyed it, and we'll definitely be returning for more special occasions. Highly recommend!
Holly De Nike
Lovely setting, delicious food. Excellent service. Will definitely be back.
Amazing and fun high tea experience. If you like tea and if you like libraries then this is the place for you. Great tea service.I love the high tea. There is an emotional comfort and recharge that comes from a quality tea service. The Courtyard Tea Room delivers and exceeds any expectations.
My family was planning on a nice afternoon here, but unfortunately I have food allergies which I am not able to eat the items served due to cross contamination. I would have loved to just sit with my family and have a glass of wine as they ate ..but this facility was going to charge me $64 to just sit at a table with my family (I would have bought wine). That's just absolutely ridiculous
Service: 1
Carita Sum
Came here yesterday for the first time and it was beautiful. The tea room itself was very cozy and spacious. Service was amazing as well. The price was $64 per person and it came with a tea option, appetizer, and the 3 tier. I was pretty stuffed towards the middle tier, so I brought my desserts home. The earl grey teas were delicious. I would definitely come again for a fun. 9/10 great experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Joyce K.
Having high tea at the Boston Public Library has been on my bucket list since I moved to Boston over 5 years ago. It's notoriously difficult to get a weekend reservation but luckily I was able to snag one for a Sunday at 11am. There is a mandatory coat check, and then you are transported into this beautiful room overlooking the courtyard. The menus are placed inside books, which is a cute touch. Really the only choice on the menu is type of tea, as the rest is preset. I got the Copley Cozy (earl grey latte), which was nice and cozy as the name would suggest. For food, they started with a mini quinoa salad and tiny cup of mushroom soup - both were great! Then they brought out the main attraction - the 3-tiered tower of sandwiches, pastries, and biscuits. Everything tasted delectable - some favs were the mango cake, mini lobster roll, and biscuits with orange jam and clotted cream. They refill the tea whenever you run out. Note that they do gently ask you to leave after 90-minutes so the next group can get seated. I think the experience is overall a bit overpriced ($65pp) for the quantity of food, but you're paying for the experience and memories, so I think it's worth doing once if you're into this kind of thing!
Mary L.
The ambiance was great and the service was very attentive but the food was lacking. The starter seasonal soup and salad were exceptional so I really had high expectations but sadly went downhill after that. Out of the six savory bites only one was to our liking - the peppered ricotta tart. Everything else was bland and the cucumber on my English cucumber sandwich was stale and turning orange. The tea selection was just okay. We had the Jasmine Pearls green tea and the Iron Goddess oolong tea. The tea aroma was nice but flat in taste. Most of the desserts were too sweet for me and it didn't help that the tea didn't cut it. Besides the ricotta tart, the other bites that I enjoyed were bacon pumpkin spice cupcake and chai spice scone.
Will W.
Was meaning to check out the afternoon tea at this spot for years, and it was totally worth it for the experience! Located by the Map Room of the Boston Public Library, it's definitely a cute lil spot for small celebrations and dates. Plus, the staff were very friendly with accommodating to special occasions (at least during this visit of mine). Food-wise, I'd say that many of their treats worked well with their teas - plus their cocktails were also very yummy, so I would totally recommend giving their alcoholic drinks a shot! (Especially the Perfect Pair and the Stolen Moments on their drink menu). My personal favorites of their treat selection would include their alfajores and peppered ricotta tart since they were flavorful, yet not too strong when it came to their respective tastes. I'd also like to note that their passion fruit petite four, although being very tart, was very refreshing and definitely paired really well with the hot tea! Overall, despite being a lil pricey, I would definitely come back to experience this once again someday.
It's a treat to have tea here. The space is lovely and the service was exemplary! The food was delicious, very fresh and tasty combinations. We were served salmon mousse and lobster salad small sandwiches that would have been superb had they been on a lighter bread. All the other tea sandwiches were fabulous (egg salad, cucumber, and a mini roast beef in Yorkshire pudding) Scone with Devonshire cream and lemon curd was great and desserts were scrumptious. Individual pots of tea from a varied selection of teas rounded out our meal. I particularly appreciated the tea service - generous, hot, warmed milk if you take milk, "one lump or two" ?. Altogether a very nice time. A tad pricy compared to many but well worth it for a special time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I have been to several tea rooms in the Boston area and the Boston public Library tea room is still my favorite. It has the largest tea room and largest selection of food. I highly recommend this place if you can get reservations.
My friend and I were looking forward to this place and the afternoon tea. The room was so beautiful just as we had seen in a picture. The food was fine, especially the tea and scones were awesome! It was more than worth the price.The only thing we didn’t like was the staff’s time management. Please don’t get me wrong; all the waiters were very polite and friendly. However, it was a little disappointing that we had to rush at the end. Initially we were supposed to be given 90 minutes for the tea. After we were seated, we had to wait for quite a long time until the tea and the starter arrived. 15 minutes after the main dish arrived, a waiter came to us and told that they needed to start getting ready for the next group. Although we still had 15 or 20 minutes left, they started to clean the tables around us, which made the atmosphere less comfortable and made us feel like being pressured to finish and leave soon. We should be allowed to enjoy the tea full 90 minutes, or they should have served the dishes earlier if they really didn’t have time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Very disappointed, specifically when it comes to the cost. That is nowhere on their website.
10/10 experience, such a boujee environment and food presentation! All of the food was yummy! I didn't think I would leave full, but I most definitely did! Loved the food tower! ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My friend came into Boston to visit and I wanted to treat her and took her to The Courtyard Tea Room. It was an amazing experience! It was her first time having formal tea like this and loved the environment.The food was amazing! It started with a quinoa salad and a cauliflower apple soup which was SOOOOOO GOOD! We both got the Cozy Cooley tea which was awesome on a slightly chilly day. We felt full at the end and were excited to hear that the menu changes every season. If you are looking for an awesome experience consider going here!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Salad, Lemon Curd E Devonshire Cream, Finger Sandwiches, Scones with Cream, Soup
This place was lovely and so worth it. Such variety in the sandwiches and sweet treats (mini lobster rolls -- incredible!) and the service was wonderful. You had about 1.5 hrs to dine until the next set of timed reservations, which was plenty of time. A very fun experience in a lovely location.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We celebrated my mom's birthday with afternoon tea at this charming establishment, and it was absolutely wonderful! The staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and special. From the fantastic selection of teas to the delectable assortment of treats, everything was simply fantastic. What truly made the experience memorable was the thoughtful gesture of a birthday card and complimentary champagne for my mom. It was evident that they truly care about their guests' experience. The ambiance was delightful, and the whole event was well orchestrated. My entire family thoroughly enjoyed it, and we'll definitely be returning for more special occasions. Highly recommend!
Lovely setting, delicious food. Excellent service. Will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Holiday Afternoon Tea, Macarons, Salad, Lemon Curd E Devonshire Cream, Finger Sandwiches, Soup
Amazing and fun high tea experience. If you like tea and if you like libraries then this is the place for you. Great tea service.I love the high tea. There is an emotional comfort and recharge that comes from a quality tea service. The Courtyard Tea Room delivers and exceeds any expectations.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Holiday Afternoon Tea, Lemon Curd E Devonshire Cream, Finger Sandwiches
Restaurantji Recommends
My family was planning on a nice afternoon here, but unfortunately I have food allergies which I am not able to eat the items served due to cross contamination. I would have loved to just sit with my family and have a glass of wine as they ate ..but this facility was going to charge me $64 to just sit at a table with my family (I would have bought wine). That's just absolutely ridiculous
Service: 1
Came here yesterday for the first time and it was beautiful. The tea room itself was very cozy and spacious. Service was amazing as well. The price was $64 per person and it came with a tea option, appetizer, and the 3 tier. I was pretty stuffed towards the middle tier, so I brought my desserts home. The earl grey teas were delicious. I would definitely come again for a fun. 9/10 great experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Having high tea at the Boston Public Library has been on my bucket list since I moved to Boston over 5 years ago. It's notoriously difficult to get a weekend reservation but luckily I was able to snag one for a Sunday at 11am. There is a mandatory coat check, and then you are transported into this beautiful room overlooking the courtyard. The menus are placed inside books, which is a cute touch. Really the only choice on the menu is type of tea, as the rest is preset. I got the Copley Cozy (earl grey latte), which was nice and cozy as the name would suggest. For food, they started with a mini quinoa salad and tiny cup of mushroom soup - both were great! Then they brought out the main attraction - the 3-tiered tower of sandwiches, pastries, and biscuits. Everything tasted delectable - some favs were the mango cake, mini lobster roll, and biscuits with orange jam and clotted cream. They refill the tea whenever you run out. Note that they do gently ask you to leave after 90-minutes so the next group can get seated. I think the experience is overall a bit overpriced ($65pp) for the quantity of food, but you're paying for the experience and memories, so I think it's worth doing once if you're into this kind of thing!
The ambiance was great and the service was very attentive but the food was lacking. The starter seasonal soup and salad were exceptional so I really had high expectations but sadly went downhill after that. Out of the six savory bites only one was to our liking - the peppered ricotta tart. Everything else was bland and the cucumber on my English cucumber sandwich was stale and turning orange. The tea selection was just okay. We had the Jasmine Pearls green tea and the Iron Goddess oolong tea. The tea aroma was nice but flat in taste. Most of the desserts were too sweet for me and it didn't help that the tea didn't cut it. Besides the ricotta tart, the other bites that I enjoyed were bacon pumpkin spice cupcake and chai spice scone.
Was meaning to check out the afternoon tea at this spot for years, and it was totally worth it for the experience! Located by the Map Room of the Boston Public Library, it's definitely a cute lil spot for small celebrations and dates. Plus, the staff were very friendly with accommodating to special occasions (at least during this visit of mine). Food-wise, I'd say that many of their treats worked well with their teas - plus their cocktails were also very yummy, so I would totally recommend giving their alcoholic drinks a shot! (Especially the Perfect Pair and the Stolen Moments on their drink menu). My personal favorites of their treat selection would include their alfajores and peppered ricotta tart since they were flavorful, yet not too strong when it came to their respective tastes. I'd also like to note that their passion fruit petite four, although being very tart, was very refreshing and definitely paired really well with the hot tea! Overall, despite being a lil pricey, I would definitely come back to experience this once again someday.