Where: Dalton, Georgia
Style: Historic teahouse
Tea Selection: 38 loose leaf teas from Ashbys Teas of London;
2 selected for Special Tea Events
Teatimes: Monday to Friday, 2 to 4, and Special Tea Events
Reservations: 24-hour notice
Contact: 706-277-2872
Cost: $21.40 Traditional Tea
Destination Tea Tips: The teahouse also offers a weekday scratchmade lunch service, which you can use as an excuse to visit and shop their collection of teaware for sale.
Prices and teatimes are subject to change. Please see our Georgia afternoon tea directory for the latest details.
Destination Tea Notes: About one hour northwest of Atlanta (up I-75), a delightful afternoon tea experience awaits you at Chelsea’s on Thornton, in an 1850s Dalton home. For ten years, Dottie and Ralph Ray have run Chelsea’s, where Dottie develops the homemade menu, and Ralph puts to good use his former career in merchandising, stocking their gift selection with wonderful teaware choices. We are only sorry it took us until now to discover this gem, where the food is scratchmade, the tea rooms are beautifully appointed and the selection of teapots for sale is very fun and reasonably priced. Because there are not so many pictures of this teahouse online, when we arrive for their Mother’s Day Tea, we are happily amazed as we enter. It is always a special treat to experience afternoon tea in a 19th century home — that dates to the early days of afternoon tea — especially one that remained intact through the Civil War (because it served as a field hospital). Though we are given a choice of two prepared teas paired to the day’s menu, local customers will want to explore the full tea selection offered on weekdays. Naturally this will require return visits, which should be a welcome obligation given the affordability of this afternoon tea in such an elegant setting.
Tea Service
Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets
