Where: Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia
Style: Chic hotel
Tea Selection: 2 tea cocktails
Teatimes: Saturday 3 to 5
Reservations: Reservations required
Contact: 404-237-2700
Cost: $45+ High Tea
Destination Tea Tips: When reserving, you will be asked to pre-order your drinks and food for the table rather than per person, each item serving about two people. Remember cash if you want to valet.
Prices and teatimes are subject to change. Please see our Georgia afternoon tea directory for the latest details.
Destination Tea Notes: The Whitley hotel occupies the former Ritz-Carlton Buckhead building, where for many years a traditional afternoon tea was served in the lobby lounge. Saddened by the loss of an iconic afternoon tea in Atlanta, we were delighted to learn that “high tea” is now offered in The Whitley’s Trade Root restaurant. However, we advise leaving your typical afternoon tea expectations at home. We learned that The Whitley’s high tea is more like a cross between an afternoon tea and a happy hour. Perhaps Pinterest is responsible for this concept; Pinterest Predicts did say that in 2022, “afternoon tea is the new happy hour.” We thought it meant folks are taking tea instead of visiting bars for their late afternoon social hour, but in The Whitley’s interpretation, high tea is a boozy one, where you select the accompanying foods à la carte. The suggestion of afternoon tea remains, with tiered cages for serving, creative tea cocktails presented in glass teapots, cucumber and smoked salmon tea sandwiches among the savory options, and “scones” (more cakey, like a blondie bar) that are nonetheless delightful. The Crunch & Munch savory menu items really take this teatime off-roading, with fried bites and a charcuterie plate. We say, if you enjoy a happy hour just as much as an afternoon tea, this is the tea adventure for you, at which you will find all the food well prepared and the service extremely gracious.
Tea Service
Appreciating the fresh ingredients infused in the Cucumber Mint Mystic Tea made with Hendrick’s Gin, Aloe, Cucumber Juice, Lemon, Mint Syrup and Blue Flower Tea. Glass teapots sit on the bottom tier of golden cages. Our server pours the tea over a giant ice cube she has placed in each of our coupe glasses.
Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets
