16 | LUXlife Magazine Most Authentic English Tea Rooms 2025 - USA Shelly’s Tea Rooms is Massachusetts's only authentic English tea rooms that is owned and run by the English – a venture that began almost two decades ago when husband and wife, Sean and Shelly decided it was time to raise the standard of tea rooms. Often finding themselves disappointed with poor service or food quality at tea rooms they visited, they made the leap and opened their own in England, before making the move to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2022. It was back in the summer of 2007 that Sean and Shelly decided they were going to launch Shelly’s Tea Rooms, which was originally located in a stunning 15th-century building near Canterbury, built 100 years before the first pilgrim arrived in the US. From there, they moved to the picturesque St Margaret’s Bay near Dover. The business ran successfully in England for more than 10 years, before the couple made the choice to bring their English tea rooms to America, having fallen in love with the country over 25 years prior while on vacation. Thus, they settled on the iconic town of Plymouth, the birthplace of the USA, for the tea rooms’ new location. Both Sean and Shelly bring experience in retail and running large businesses, which they leverage to deliver the highest standard of service at Shelly’s Tea Rooms. Previously, Sean enjoyed a successful career in the retail motor industry, while Shelly also worked in retail after obtaining her diploma in catering. For Sean and Shelly, it has always been about the customer and ensuring they have the best possible experience, with the ethos being simple: “to deliver the best service, food, and value”. Every food item available at Shelly’s Tea Rooms is made from scratch, from raw ingredients, right down to the clotted cream. Its menu comprises afternoon teas; desserts including freshly baked scones, Victoria sponge cake, lemon sponge cake, Bakewell tarts, and more; and lunches and light bites such as crumpets, cheese scones, and a selection of finger sandwiches. This is while the tea rooms also serves many gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options. To wash it all down, it offers in excess of 100 premium loose-leaf teas, including black, flavoured, green, herbal, decaffeinated, iced, and more, as well as coffee. Notably, Sean and Shelly recently launched their sister website, Scones 2 You, shipping their delicious, handmade scones anywhere in the USA. They also continue to offer franchise opportunities of their tea rooms across the country. “For us, it is all about authenticity and staying true to that, so every menu change or tea choice has to have this in mind,” Sean says. “We believe in consistently delivering our product with a service level unsurpassed in the industry and not chasing fads.” Ultimately, it is easy to see why locals are flocking to Shelly’s Tea Rooms for their traditional English tea fix. With glowing review after glowing review on Google, people can’t get enough. One person says, “Having just visited Great Britain this summer, I was so excited to be able to have high tea locally. This was truly a gem and my parents and I loved the experience.” Another person shares, “So pleased with our experience! We had the Gluten Free Windsor Tea, Apricot Tea, and the Cranberry Autumn Tea – Highly recommend both, they were delicious. All of the tea sandwiches we tried were very tasty; especially liked the cucumber, it was nice and light. We enjoyed the scones immensely; they were such a treat and were the best gluten-free scones I have ever had! They were fluffy and moist; not dry at all. I would definitely try the clotted cream and jam on your scone, it is divine. “I can honestly say that it was worth every penny! We didn’t make a reservation but I would definitely recommend if you are coming on a weekend or busier time of the year. The owners were so nice and took good care of us. You can tell they have worked so hard to make it a wonderful place to indulge! 10/10 recommend and we will be back!” Someone else comments, “Staff and service were amazing! This is the only second place I’ve ever been to for afternoon tea. But first place for ENGLISH afternoon tea. I think their afternoon tea is priced fairly. Their finger sandwiches were good. For me the cucumber finger sandwich was the best. I got peppermint leaf tea, which was good too! Their scones are excellent! The chocolate cake was really good! Overall, I would recommend Shelly’s Tea Rooms.” Contact: Sean Sinclair Company: Shelly’s Tea Room Website: www.shellystearooms.com
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