Ritz Carlton, Chicago Festive Tea: A Luxe Tea At A Reasonable Price
I’ve done a few reviews of high tea around Chicago and around the world on the blog, as it’s a great way to spend an afternoon while traveling and enjoying local culture. Additionally, my cousins, my mom, and I go to tea in Chicago during the holidays as a tradition that has been going for over 20 years. This year, we decided to try out the Festive Tea at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago in mid-December for a lovely holiday break.
The Ritz is located in the Water Tower building right off Michigan Avenue, which is an extremely central location in the heart of downtown Chicago. This area is bursting with shoppers and tourists in December, and, as a local, I kind of wish that the Ritz offered the Festive Tea during the week as well as the weekends, in order to avoid the throngs of people visiting the city during this time. If you’re a tourist coming to the city though, the location of the Ritz can’t be beat. The Festive Tea at the Ritz is seasonal, and only offered during the holiday. It’s a bit of an under-the radar place to enjoy Tea in Chicago, since it’s not quite as well known as some of the other more flashy spots.
As expected, the Ritz is, well, ritzy, and the tea itself is nothing short of uber-luxe with lots of attention to detail. Tea is served on the 12th floor, just off the lobby in an atrium-like space, which is open and bright. Decor is modern with clean lines, and you can view the lovely Christmas decorations in the lobby from here. The price of this tea is actually relatively low compared to some of the other luxury offerings around the city. The Peninsula and the Langham are now charging upwards for $170.00 for their afternoon tea, however the Ritz, including service, is around $110.00.
The Ritz offers a variety of teas, and they give you little tubes of each one to smell and test before you choose, which is a really nice offer, so you’re not guessing about what tea you might like. They have a range of teas from herbal and non-caffeinated, to half-caff, all the way up to fully caffeinated teas. There’s definitely something here for everyone! While you’re choosing your tea, they offer a glass of rose prosecco to enjoy.
Tiny tea sandwiches are served first, and they include the traditional egg salad and cucumber. There is also a lobster salad sandwich which was really nice as well as a beet cured salmon sandwich, which was the unanimous favorite.
Next on the menu were scones and a bite sized ‘Alsatian Quiche’ which includes brie, onions and tomatoes. I thought the quiche was actually pretty average and unnecessary, since the scones were particularly out of this world – especially the gingerbread!
Finally were the desserts, and of course, by now we were all completely full from all the carbs, but I did taste all of the desserts, and not only were they cute, but they were also super yummy. My favorites were the gingerbread cheesecake parfait and the apple and almond frangipane pie. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the pistachio cream puff, even though I’m a huge pistachio fan. It kind of tasted like instant Jell-0 pistachio pudding.
We loved our Festive Tea here at the Ritz, and I would definitely recommend coming here for a luxury experience that won’t completely break the bank. The Ritz does offer different themed teas throughout the year, and the next one they offer is a special for Valentine’s Day. Definitely check their website for any upcoming special events, and don’t hesitate to book for the holidays!