Beehive Tea Room & Wedd Lbrry

02/05/09

do they hire based on snarkiness?

by delreybook at Citysearch

I have been to the tea room dozens of times over the past few years, and it is always a bittersweet experience. I keep on going because I love the tea, it's the only place I know of with violet tea, and the atmosphere is very nice. However, every single time I go, I usually go in at times when the place is nearly empty, and I have to wait about 10 minutes to even get someone to look at me! Yeah, I understand things take time, there are even signs that say "we are not a fast food restaurant estimated wait time is 5-45 minutes" or something very similar to that, but I think these are just disclaimers for bad service. They make tea, simple sandwiches, serve soup, scones, etc. I understand things take time when you're busy, but none of those things take 20 minutes (my usual wait time) when you are only waiting on one table. Also, they are exorbitantly priced, I think they're petit fours run about $3-$4 each or something, I bought a stale cookie for $3; I could get a fresh one at Coffee Garden for less than $2. The spinach artichoke sandwich spread is from Costco, it's not like they're even making it themselves so I don't see why it's so costly.

I believe good service comes from the top, i.e. the owner/manager sets the standard. Well, from what I've seen the owner is not one to set a good example, she's neurotic as far as I've seen, and doesn't seem to care about the lack of service even when you bring it up to her directly. How can she take pride in her business?

I only go back because I love the tea, and it's a nice place to catch up with friends. I suppose I can thank the terrible service for giving us something to converse about...

• Pros: atmosphere, great tea selection
• Cons: stale baked goods, loud jazz music, TERRIBLE SERVICE, rude owner, expensive mediocre food

01/07/09

Incredible Food, So-So Service.

by SpencerSmells at Citysearch

Beehive Tea Room is one of my favorite sandwich places in Salt Lake City. It's also one of the only places you can get a genuinely good vegetarian sandwich. However, that being said, expect to wait. Those with little patience probably shouldn't go here. But if you have an afternoon to waste, and want some incredibly good food and tea, go to Beehive.

• Pros: Food, Tea, Spinach-Artichoke Sandwich
• Cons: So-so Service

10/13/08

Terrible Service Not Worth the Ambience

by Cynthia7299 at Citysearch

I laughed when I read these reviews because I have had primarily negative experiences here for the last two years. I am NOT crabby so I should give this place a fair review.

First let me say that I have seen SO MANY people be totally ignored for 10+ minutes while waiting for someone to wait on them. One day I saw a young man come in to buy a cupcake for his girlfriend who was waiting in the car and he waited 25 minutes total to get the cupcake. He was made to wait for over 10 minutes just to ask for the cupcake. Then after he asked for one the girl he asked WENT OUTSIDE and the other girl behind the counter didn't come out for about 10 more minutes. He finally just shouted to the back that he just wanted a cupcake and the owner came out and took SERIOUSLY 5 minutes to get a cupcake and ring him up. He was very nice but it was hilarious to see. Normally I come in and sit for a few hours, so waiting for 25 minutes for a cupcake isn't a huge deal. However I have had a few experiences in the last few months where I have had to wait a very long time to order and then been treated rudely when I did finally get to order. One hot summer day, a girl came up and told me I had to buy something to use the internet. First, I did not have a computer. Second, the other girl working there walked up with a tray full of food I ordered a minute after she came up to me. She told me I had been sitting there for over an hour and I had to PULL OUT MY RECEIPT to show her I had bought something. Totally rude.

The workers there are very rude and take forever to serve you. It is just the truth. They even have signs up explaining it. I work downtown and when I have an hour for lunch I can NEVER go to the Tea Room. Sometimes if I come in at noon I don't get my food until thirty or forty five minutes later. FOR A SANDWICH OR SOUP. It is unreal. I used to love this place, but now I think I am not going to go back. All I hear from my friends are negative stories. Go somewhere else!

• Pros: Food edible.
• Cons: Service, Service, SERVICE! Long wait times for easy items.