Sweet Magnolias Tea Bistro - Auburndale, Florida

Dana R.

We recently had Sweet Magnolias cater my cousin’s bridal shower, and it was the best decision! We ordered the coaches chicken salad, pimento cheese sandwiches, scones & blueberry lemon cake. Our guests raved about how good the food was, and their blueberry lemon cake was heavenly. I can’t wait to use them again for future events!

Dayloni B.

We went here for the Afternoon TEA. We were served their iced tea that tasted quite nice but we didn't know that the hot tea would then NOT be included with the Afternoon TEA. A tea menu was on the table but did not come with a description for each tea. Sugar packets were on the table. We did order a pot to share (we paid extra for this). No cream was served until we asked for it. The cream was served in a normal tea cup and pouring it was messy. The Paris tea did taste quite nice but the tea was not hot, more like warm tea. No refills were offered.
The Afternoon tea and display was overall disappointing 😞. The 2 scones were different from each other. I was in a party of 2. We cut the scones to share. As the carrot cake scone had an ok taste, the plain scone tasted just like a sugar cookie with a similar consistency. Fresh fruit was served on this tier along with a little dish with what the server claimed to be Devonshire clotted cream. It was NOT. It had to be a cream cheese fruit dip. No jam was served until we asked and the server did not believe they could serve any jam. The second tier consisted of 3 deli meat/ chicken salad sandwiches on croissants for each of us. Our waitress was unclear on what the meats on our sandwiches were. My guess was that all ingredients were purchased from Costco or somehwere similar. No mayonnaise or dressing for the deli sandwiches. There was a potato salad and broccoli salad that tasted good. The top and final tier had one slice of yummy coconut cake to share with whipped cream on top (soaked the cake). Along with the cake were 2 macaroons and bite sized cheesecakes, again most likely purchased from Costco.

When we arrived I discreetly brushed crumbs from the table. The tablecloth was spoiled in areas. My napkin was moist but smelled laundered. The tea cups were chipped. We asked for one to be exchanged as it was visibly dirty.

Despite the surprisingly good reviews for this restaurant, we left quite disappointed. The cost was just under $90 for the 2 of us combined after purchasing the separate pot of tea.

Carolyn B.

Thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Sweet Magnolias Tea Room. Our server was very pleasant and attentive. My food, the quiche, scones, broccoli salad, and the apple hibiscus tea were all delicious. I am looking forward to a second visit to try something different on the menu👍🏾😊.

Calah B.

This place is downright adorable. We booked a Saturday reservation. It is basically a private dining experience since they are open by reservations on Saturday’s. The food(seasonal menu)- we had the smoked Gouda and pumpkin dip as an app and it was amazing! The tomato basil bisque soup was great as well!!! Scones 10/10 buttery soft, warm, and the Devonshire cream was so darn delicious! For entrees we had Cobb salad, chicken salad on croissant, ham & cheese pinwheels, and the hay stack. Overall the entrees were lacking that wow factor- the Cobb was great, but my mother had to request extra dressing as only about one oz is provided for the picture below. It was very much a let down after everything else being SO amazing! Our server was kind, but seemed less than friendly. Not as attentive as I would have preferred for a private, reserved experience. I just felt this experience and entrees could have been better.
*parking here is limited to street parking as available- not sure what they do if it isn’t available

Janet M.

The food was homemade and amazing. We had the 3 tiered afternoon tea. The portions were generous.There were 3 meat croissants with turkey and cheese, ham and cheese and chicken salad. There were 3 desserts, one being a big slice of coconut cake. 2 salads, a cucumber salad and a Broccoli salad with plenty of fresh fruit. I had the fried green tomato BLT, and we also had the salmon salad. The food was so delicious. No complaints about any of the entrees. The scones were some of the best we have ever had. And we go to a lot of tea rooms. I only wish they served the scones with cream and lemon curd or jam for a more traditional English tea. They did have a good selection of hot teas. Leslie was our server and she was very fast and helpful. We drove from Tampa and will definitely come back.

Carol L.

I researched tea rooms in the area and decided upon this one for an out of town guest.
It was an absolute disappointment but also I left being extremely insulted.

The service took a long time and we waited patiently for our tea and food. The quiche was so hard that you could knock the table with it. Our potato soup came out cold. We sent it back and it came back to us a little better but was a very thick consistency.

I had already put a 50% discount down of $40 for our reservation. complained to our server about our experience and told her that I felt we should not have to pay the additional money for such a poor experience and food that we did not eat. She stated that she needed to call the owner. We waited and finally I went to the front to find that they were on the phone with the owner. When they got off the phone I was told that the owner instructed my server to escort us out of the restaurant. They then slammed the door in our face. We were not loud, nor did we cause a scene. We simply complained about poor service Instead of an apology for such a poor experience, we were escorted out of the restaurant.

I do not recommend this tea room at all.

Brandy B.

This was my first high tea. The atmosphere was inviting, darling historic place with all of the sights, tastes and smells. The blueberry lavender tea was delicious both cold and hot. The tiers of scones, macaroons, quiche and fruit were delicious. My favorite was the tomato bisque. The group said the coconut cake was devine. The service unfortunately wasn't that great. Our waitress forgot to bring our hot tea before the tier. We had to ask for tea cups, cutlery and refills. One of the tea cups had dried coffee /tea still on it, as if it wasn't washed. There was a sandwich on the tray that was bland, it wasn't dressed therefore left dry and easy to grow stale and flavorless. I enjoyed the experience and would like to try it again.

Erin T.

Sweet Magnolias created the perfect tea party for my daughter's 8th birthday! I couldn't recommended them more!!!

They took care of everything, the food was delicious, and the girls had an amazing time. It was reasonably priced and simple to book. Angel and Kennedy took great care of us and had everything prepared for the party!