Earl Grey Manor Tea Salon Nonpareil

I’m sorry to see this place close, which was mentioned on its Web site. Fortunately, Linda and company will continue to extol all things tea via
.
The River City Saloon will open in Spring 2009 in the same location.

I really enjoy this because it’s not your super girly tea shop. It has the victorian charm as opposed to new age, but you can safely bring men in there without having to castrate them first.
Then menu has an ever changing variety of teas and food. For sweet fair, their scone plate is delicious, but if you want something a bit more savory, then the smoked salmon with chives and watercrackers is the way to go. My memory does not recall cucumber sandwiches, but I may be mistaken.
More than just the tea, the atmosphere is very inviting. It’s most certainly a little bourgeoisie tea shop, but the staff is friendly and gives great suggestions for newcomers. Additionally, they have a great selection of board games in stock (a very nice wood backgammon set and a quite pretty glass chessboard)
I also had my ass handed to me at Bridge when two old women in white hats decided to invite us into their game. That was embarrassing, but where else can you have a memory like that?

This is not your typical «pinky lifting» tea drinking place, full of funny, frilly hat-​wearing, white-​gloved ladies gossiping over cutesy teacups.
If you have a man, that is secure with his manhood. .. this is a pretty neutral spot.
The décor has a definite Art Deco ambiance, until you walk to the back. . where it turns into a Moroccan princess’ lair, including pillows on the floor, underneath a flowing canopy.
The tea selection is pretty typical of other tea purveyors in the area. You’ll find quite a bit of the frou frou-​flavored teas, and only a few regular black, (I will admit that I’m a non-​flavored, straight-​up black tea snob) oolong, and the sort. The «food» menu is also a «bit» more hardy and a «bit» more tasty than I’ve seen at the more traditional English tea-​style spots.
If you’re in Old Sac. . bored, and want to make a man out of your man — go here and have a spot of tea — he can at least get a sandwich here.
The only thing that turned me off when visiting once, was that the server was «digging for gold». And, I’m not talking about good ol’ 49’r, Old Sac reenactments…
I had to do a double-​take, turn to my friend, who also had a horrid look of «WTF?» on face. We both looked at each other and said in unison «did she just shove her finger up her nose?»

My bf and I wandered into this place out of curiosity. We like tea, but we’re not expert tea connoisseurs. This place was surprisingly large since it’s store front is rather small. It made me think of fancy tea old English ladies would have… which I guess is about right! Still, I totally loved it. There was fancy silverware and a wide variety of seating types, including a tea bar and a tent!
We didn’t have any of the food, but we did have tea! You can order by the pot or by the cup. Apparently you get refills with the cup — probably just resteeping the tea.
I made the mistake of picking the Yerba Matte… which I’ve had before elsewhere (actually, I have some at home) and I knew I didn’t like, but for some stupid reason thought I should try again. Yuck. As the boyfriend said, it tasted like grass clippings. Much better after the sugar and cream, but still… very planty and green.
The boy got the Amaretto Rooibos, which was DELISH. We fought over who would get to drink the last drop and we definitely got a refill.
We liked the Amaretto Rooibos so much that we ended up buying some loose leaf to take home.
I would definitely go back and try their different teas. There’s a huge wide selection. And I’d give their food a go too. They also very kindly validated our parking.

My friend and I went to Old Sac to celebrate her B-​day at Fat City and on our way there, spotted Earl Grey’s Tea Salon. Well, considering we are both tea room afficionados we had to check it out. The salon was so inviting that we purposely ate a bit lighter to save room for tea and scones after window shopping. The service was pleasant and the menu had lots of variety. The place seemed equally comfortable for both sexes, not just a girly-​girl place. The proprietors were hosting a bridal tea in the back and it looked as if they were all having a great time. So if you are considering a bridal or birthday tea, other than having it at home and doing all the work yourself, this would be the ideal place!

On Saturday, during Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento, after we were discouraged mightily by the old timey ladies at the Historic Old Sacramento Preservation who were frantically turning back the hordes of people who wanted to tour the tunnels, we rounded up our excursion with a bit of respite from the imported dusty roads.
You really cannot pass up a lady in a calico pinafore and bonnet who is calling you into a cool, dark, quiet space full of «euro inspired» accoutrements (read: Ikea) and then a guy with a fake Irish accent led us to a table.
PF got some kind of iced green tea smoothie thing. It was REAL powdered green tea, not some kind of processed crap. Very rich, though.
I got an iced tea and a «Scarborough Fair’ scone. You guessed it, savory: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Beanie chowed it down. I thought it was dry, but that’s why it came with a side of cream.
«Tea» is apparently a drink and a meal in other countries, so this little place tries to achieve something similar. The tea menu is extensive, and they have lots of different culturally significant teas, they serve them in appropriate cups. They also have package deals, like the Gold Miner’s Tea (I’m making that up, but they had something that came with sassafras iced tea and a scone and an egg or something hearty.)
Walking around the tea house, it’s a pretty eclectic bag as far as décor. They have the odd little day bed niche; the 1,001 Nights type tent with hassocks scattered on the floor; the little Japanese Tea Ritual table with floor pillows… and then the rest are basic square white tables with chairs.
It’s not totally kid friendly, although the staff obviously love kids. There’s just too much for a toddler to wriggle down off a lap and get into. Aka: choking hazards galore.
But it’s definitely a place I’d take my free-​spirit friend Kim for her 53^rd bday.
The other cool thing: they sell premium teas in bulk. I bought an ounce of dragon pearl green tea (this is the little woven biscuits of really fragrant green tea that unravel beautifully in your mug) for $ 9 and they had a multitude of black teas for sale by the ounce as well.
I recommend it if you need to take people to the Tourist Trap That Ate Old Sac, and also for goofy friends who would appreciate the idea of a tea place.
They also have parties and tea tastings and serve High Tea, so if you are really into tea, this may a new hangout. Different than coffeehouses.