McKenna's Tea Cottage

The girls and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at McKenna's tea cottage today. Parking was easy in the side lot. When we entered Karen greeted us with a joyful smile and escorted us to our table. She went over the holiday drinks and the soup of the day before giving us some time to review the menu. My daughters both enjoyed the princess tea with hot cocoa and the birthday cake tea. Both were delicious! My mother in law enjoyed the queens tea which came with various tea sandwiches and sweets along with a pot of tea. She started with the broccoli cheddar soup which was served hot and was yummy. I opted for a side salad and the vegetable quiche. The salad was premium greens which I appreciate, and the quiche was served piping hot with a delicious crust. Everything was tasty. We enjoyed ourselves and will absolutely be back.

Whenever my mom is in town from Florida, we always try to go to a tea service. These might range anywhere from a Pelican Hill once-in-a-decade experience to a Huntington Gardens afternoon to a slightly kitschy princess-y tea. I was expecting something in the neighborhood of a Tea House on Los Rios or Brittania Tea Room here, but I have to say I was disappointed. The server was nice and the broccoli cheddar soup and earl grey tea (with lavender at the server's good suggestion) were hot and flavorful. My mom also liked the Jack Frost cocktail she ordered, but that's it for the good stuff. The first miss was that despite it being 62 outside and the porch being shaded, they were only seating outside. They have an indoor seating area, they just weren't seating folks there. Nothing in the reservation indicated that we would be sitting outside, and since my mom is older, exceptionally thin, and gets cold easily, I probably would have selected somewhere else if I had known. When I learned that we had to sit outside, I mentioned that it was chilly and asked if there were heaters, to which the lady who seated us responded no, but they serve soup and tea, so we'd be fine. Nothing like feeling dismissed in your first exchange. The next miss were the tea sandwiches. You never expect these to be loaded down, but the cucumber sandwich was literally two overlapping paper thin slices of cucumber on dry bread that had maybe looked at a butter knife with cream cheese on it (?) and the "egg salad" was bread with what you could have told me was nothing but an ultra-thin layer of mustard and I would have believed you.I'm not going all the way down to 2 stars because I expect this was an off day (this was the Monday before Christmas and there was only one other party there - I assume they seated us outside to show passers-by that they were open and hopefully encourage some foot traffic) but we won't be trying it again.

Came here w/ my college friend for some teatime. Easy parking and lovely friendly staff. The place is cozy, girly, with layback chill mood. We sat at the window so we have the view of the street. Perfect for chatty and gossiping. We ordered the queen set each with soup and pasta salad. It came quickly and nice presentation. It's definitely not the best quality but it was good to nibbling over 1-2hrs of catching up or gossiping. We had a delightful time here. Everything was wonderful and very fitting for the occasion. Will come back for more gossip over cup of tea and biscuits plus sandwiches.

June 2024 - looking to have a tea party for a large group? McKenna Tea Cottage is the place for you. Located the beautiful city of Seal Beach plus a walk away from the beach. This place is great for adults or a 10 year old birthday brunch. Highly recommend outdoor tea party. Our family had a blast. Love the different teas they had and bite size treats.

If you're looking for a place to have a tea party, this is it! We came here for a coworker's birthday and everyone was delighted by the tea and food we had here. I had a caramel tea all to myself and it was amazing. The soups and the sandwiches are all great. The service by staff is also very friendly. A reservation is strongly encouraged. When you step inside the atmosphere is enjoyable and fun. You can sit inside or outside, we sat inside and I loved the living room aesthetic of where we sat(felt like we were in another time period). Great place to visit in Seal Beach if you or a group of people you know enjoy tea.

This is my favorite tea shop because the food is consistently delicious! I bring my kids here a few times a year and they love it! McKenna's even has a special Princess Tea for ages 10 and under that comes with 1) scone with jam and whipped cream with sprinkles, 2) a sandwich: one of my daughters chose Nutella & Strawberry sandwhich and the other chose a turkey & cheese sandwhich and then they shared 3) fruit/berry skewers, 4) a cupcake 5) teaMcKenna's Tea Cottage has the largest selection of decaffeinated teas and decaffeinated tea blends in Southern California! I love the exotic tea flavors like Watermelon, blueberry, mango, kiwi, hibiscus, etc! Every tea that I've ever gotten has been amazing!I also bring my mom and other special ladies in my life here so I come here a few times a year every year so I thought I should update my review and share that I love it here just as much as I always have for years!My biggest tip if you come here is to order the soup! Every soup I've ever had here has been phenomenal! Most recently at this visit I had the tomato soup and last time I had the broccoli cheddar and both soups are easily on my Top 5 Soups I've Ever Eaten In My Entire Life List!Their scones are also the tastiest I've ever had!Parking is easy in their lot or street parking - and it's all free. Service is always outstanding and I love how it's family run and operated! You can sit inside or on nice days they have outdoor seating. I've done both and both are great. I can't wait to come back here again in a couple months! Love it here!

Second time here. Outside patio area is the best atmosphere. No ac inside, just ceiling fans, so it got really hot. Food was good. The tea selections were awesome. Service was also very good.

Once upon a time, this Faerie Queen needed a little TLT (Tender Loving Tea). And scones. And petite tea sandwiches. And a second pot of tea. What a splendid place. Lovely inside, quite quaint. The food was much enjoyed and the tea! We loved the teapots and teacups. Do come dressed up. It makes for a wonderful experience. The end.

My husband and I were recommended this place by a friend of ours! We went on a beautiful, sunny day. When we arrived we were promptly greeted and we were given a choice of outdoor or indoor seating. The weather was too nice to ignore so we sat outside. My husband ordered the McKenna's Special Tea and I ordered the Chai Spice. Both were DELICIOUS, but I would say the McKenna Special tasted delightful! Not to mention the color of it (pink) was gorgeous as well. We also ordered earl grey and blackberry scones, tomato bisque, the strawberry salad, and a half egg salad sandwich. All were delicious. The bread on the egg salad was not my fave, since I thought it would be on a more spongier bread, but the taste of it was good. The star of the show I would say would be the tomato bisque and the scones! Highly suggest them! I would definitely recommend this place as a first date/date night or a birthday celebration place to visit!

We had a reservation and were walked to our table on the way to walking another group to their table. Never experienced that before. The decor is shabby chic but has a dusty feel to it. Like maybe it's been months since they vaccumed, idk, just trying to describe the way it felt. Its a very casual place. The staff were not dressed up at all. Everyone except the lady that sat us at our table were not friendy. I mean the guy that came to drop off our tea, soup, and salad--and the woman who looked beat down who brought our double order of the queens tea. No one came back to see how we were doing. I was unable to order lemon curd. My tea was not in a sifter and so the tea leaves spilled into my cup -- that's a big no-no in my book for a tea service. The sandwiches were sparsely filled and the bread they were on seemed like the supermarkets cheapest that they just cut they poorly cut the border off of. My guest had not experienced a tea service before, it was her 40th birthday. I felt embarrassed to have taken her there. The desserts were too sugary/sweet. It was some kind of lemon dessert (eww -- and i love lemon bars and pies), bread pudding (nasty), and a slice of something that had way too much cinnamon and nutmeg so it left an aftertaste in my mouth. I really wanted to love this little place but we never received the bill at our table. The man was behind the counter who ignored us and the woman that seated us came back to ring us up. She was great but the experience was so disappointing. They were very busy so maybe that is why they skimped on the filling for the sandwiches and used old bread and croissants. For the money, you are better off looking elsewhere. I would rather pay more and enjoy the tea service at a great hotel than to pay nearly $100 for basically just cheap bread and what tasted like store bought desserts just cut into small pieces-- none of the desserts seemed to have been prepared fresh or freshly baked. Also there was nothing cute about the presentation and as others have said, the clotted cream did not seem authentic. You can believe the 4-5 stars reviews, or you can believe the 2-3 star reviews and experience the disappointment for yourself if you still go.