Chado Tea House

Chado Tea Room, nestled in the strip of restaurants on 3rd St. near the Beverly Center, offers an extensive tea menu and an impressive sandwich selection. Many items on the tea menu can be served hot or iced, and when iced, they'll throw in some fresh fixin's such as strawberries and grapes for the fruitier teas. Some may find the 20-ish page tea menu overwhelming, but big parties can enjoy ordering several different teas and sampling a few. Though there are only a few varieties of sandwiches, they are all quite flavorful. My favorite is the turkey and cranberry, served on a normal slice of white bread with the crusts cut off. With all of the artisan breads served at modern sandwich shops it's easy to forget how good a piece of just regular old white bread can be. The sandwich combo is a good option that allows you to pick 2 different sandwiches (or two of the same kind if there's one you are really excited about). Also delicious is a side order of scones, served warm with fresh cream and strawberries. Yum! This is the perfect spot to have lunch on a warm summer day. It's light and fresh and won't put you in a food coma for the rest of your day. Chado is also very popular for events like ladies' birthday parties and baby showers. Prices aren't bad either and you can usually eat and drink to your heart's desire for under $15. The only downside is that there is no parking lot and street parking in the area is limited due to the number of great restaurants packed in to this small space. Chado does offer valet parking during certain hours of the day, but I've always been lucky enough to grab a street spot so I'm not sure on the details of the valet. If you've got someone who can wait in the car, Chado will prepare meals to go and you can buy many of their loose teas in bulk to enjoy at home.

http://www.chadotea.com/tearooms.asp