The Kate Pearl Tea Room - Westminster

Lovely place! Great service and the place to go if you want to try many teas

The service when you’re at the tea room is fine. But getting ahold of anyone to ask questions or change a reservation is IMPOSSIBLE! A little ridiculous if you ask me. You’re telling me you don’t have ANYONE to answer the phone??

Gypsy’s holds so many fond memories for me. It’s so nostalgic being there: hearing the soft music, walking across the creaking floor boards, seeing the seasonal decor, visiting the gift shop. Between that, buying loose leaf tea, the availability of Cream Tea service, and the historic setting of the William Winchester house, there are still reasons I go back occasionally. (Read to the end). We used to go for any special occasion, a casual meeting with friends, and at least for Christmas tea each year. Now, the food is far less refined and doesn’t meet the quality that the pricing reflects. Plus, you have to have a reservation even if you only have two people last I checked. That is likely hurting their business when they’re generally empty and could be using the opportunity of welcoming guests of smaller parties as drop-ins to bring in revenue. But maybe this is no longer the case? My other qualm is the service which is incredibly SLOW and inattentive, but tips are already included in the bill. We always have to go get someone when we need something. Considering they’re seldom busy, that’s a problem. If you need to thin out staffing, those few staff have to be on it. They’ve also cut back their hours pretty extremely. Gypsy’s was able to be open 4 days of the week including Sunday. I will still go back for the setting and the somewhat familiar experience that reminds me of what Gyspy’s always meant to me, but I think the ownership here sadly lacks some experience. It used to be that an experience here felt like being whisked away to some civil-war period dream where you’d be happy to be snowed in for a while, and now there’s something that’s just a little too “Westminster standards” about the experience. I’m glad they’ve found a way to stay in business so that we can still visit and remember our old times together here. Although I have some disappointment in the tea service for the pricing (we go all the way to Annapolis now to have high tea), I have had them cater events before, and the sandwiches are delicious. The management was very good at communicating about my needs and options and even delivered everything to me personally. Very good service in this area, I’d recommend them for this!

This is such a lovely place to spend an afternoon! Their tea service has so many option, GF accommodations, and levels. Be prepared to spend a while … it is intentionally slow paced so you can enjoy the experience. You must call to make reservations and they do a great job of calling right back to book. Try to book well in advance!

Had a great time. Very unique experience. In addition to the tea, the scones were amazing.