Two years ago my family and I went down to LA for my aunt’s wedding. Before the rehearsal dinner we went to the Old Trappers Lodge, visited by great Tia on my mom’s side, and then wanted to get a cool drink. I had wanted to stop by a tea place and suggested this one I had seen online, Bon Bon Tea House in Northridge, CA.
Bon Bon Tea House’s website isn’t connecting but I was able to see on their Facebook page that they are a Boba Tea House that has been operating since 2014.
They have a ton of different boba tea options; along with smoothies, tea lattes, coffees, etc.
I of course ordered a matcha boba tea, no boba (as I have said before I don’t care for tapioca).
It was delicious and has a cute little outside area you can sit in while you enjoy your drink. I definitely recommend if you are in Northridge.
Two years ago some friends, my niece, and I made plans to go to the Tudor Rose Tea House in Santa Rosa, CA; but some things came up and we were unable to go there.
Instead we tried to find something that was a little closer and headed out to the Tea Nook in Lincoln, CA. Unfortunately, we didn’t call to see if they could fit us in and when we arrived it was closed for a private party.
We were all disappointed and decided to search online for a nearby tea house that would be open and while we didn’t find a high tea place, we did find this cute Boba place; B & B (Bakery and Boba).
I don’t know a lot about the place as they do not have a website and their Instagram was hacked so they had to recently create a new account. I did discover that they opened in 2018 and since then have served baked goods and boba tea.
They had a lot of different teas to choose from. My niece is a fan of taro and that’s what she went with and loved.
I liked that they had so many options, even though sometimes I can be terrible at making decisions. I, my sister, and friend all decided on Rose teas (mine with no boba as I don’t like boba), and I loved it as did others loved theirs.
I can’t recommend the baked goods as we didn’t order any, but otherwise we all really enjoyed being there, and the cafe is super cute. I definitely recommend this place if you love Boba and are in the Lincoln area.
Last year my sister needed some help with my nieces as it was spring break, her husband was out of town due to family illness, and she was working. I had promised my niece I would visit them in Georgia before they moved and found this to be the best time as my work had finally lifted their COVID19 ban on vacations.
While there that week we planned to go to a mall in Florida, but plans changed and we ended up visiting Columbus, GA. I had wanted to visit a tea place in Florida, but as we changed where we were going so did I. I quickly googled and discover a Cat Cafe. And you all know how I feel about cats.
Thats me
My sister didn’t want to go to the Cat Cafe as she felt it was too expensive, but after I told her I would pay for it we headed over there.
I’m not sure how long the business had been opened before we went and unfortunately I cannot find a lot of information as I just discovered (when I was going to link their website to my post), a few months after I visited, it permanently closed.
That’s not good.
As I already wrote the post before my Horrorfest ones, I decided to still post it. While I was there the Cat Café served a variety of coffee, some tea, and had 10 cats that would by cycled out by Pat’s Rescue Cats. It cost $10 an hour for an adult to visit with the cats and $7 an hour for kids under 12. One drink is included with the hourly rate.
When we arrived at the cafè I paid for our time and we chose our drinks. The only tea included with the hour was my choice of a tea bag; my sister ordered a Dolly’s Doughnut (cinnamon bun + vanilla coffee, my niece ordered a Whiskered Mocha (white chocolate), and my littlest niece had a hot chocolate. They told us they would let us know when our drinks were ready and we could go in to see the cats. Because of COVID-19 we had the whole room to ourselves as they could only let so many people in at a time.
The cats were cute and most of them very friendly, allowing you to cuddle and play.
They came into the room and gave us our drinks, giving me a to-go cup of hot water. I was just given the water and then had to leave the room to go to the front counter and make my tea. I thought that was an odd choice as they ask you at the counter what tea you want and you “order it”. It wouldn’t have bothered me if we all had to go and get our drinks, but I felt that if they are preparing the drinks and bringing them to you, then they should do it for all the drinks. And if they were just going to give me hot water, then why not do that before I went into the cat room, as I could have gotten my tea before going in.
After I got my tea and went back to the room, I asked everyone what they thought of their drinks. My tea wasn’t that good, very weak tea bag and no sugar or milk available. My sister and niece did not like their coffees as they both felt the coffee was bitter. My younger niece also didn’t care for her hot chocolate as she said it “tasted weird”. I decided to try it and found myself agreeing with her. It did have an odd aftertaste.
My biggest critique of this place would be to work on their drinks, although I suppose it doesn’t really matter as they are no longer open. The rest of the cafe was cute and fun. I loved the decor, cat items available for purchase, and of course the kitty cats themselves. I hope that they decide to reopen.
Last April my sister needed some help with my nieces as it was spring break, her husband was out of town due to family illness, and she was working. I had promised my niece I would visit them in Albany, Georgia before they moved and found this to be the perfect opportunity as my work had finally lifted their stops on all vacation. I still had to quarantine when I returned, but that was okay. I had a lot of things I planned to take care for my Jane Austen birthday as I quarantined (such as baking, piñata making, etc).
The plan was for me to fly into Atlanta and then we would spend some time in a couple of different shops with my sister and my older niece as the younger niece was going to be watched by a babysitter. I had looked at a couple of places and suggested going to a tea house as I of course try to visit a tea place every time I go somewhere. I was excited as CA was under so many COVID19 restriction and in April of 2021 there weren’t any teahouses open.
While on the plane and using Delta’s free Wi-Fi, I checked my messages and something had happened so we not going to be able visit the tea house after all, instead my sister planned to take us to Ponce City Market only, and afterwards we would be heading to Albany.
I was disappointed, but in a lifestyle center that big I knew there had to be at least one place that served tea. After some searching I came upon eleven tlc. Ponce City Market described it as “Delicious organic, functional teas & lattes that make you feel good from the inside out.”
I sent my sister the link, and we prepared to go there.
I’m not sure how long eleven tlc has been a company or a part of PCM, as there was very little about them on their site, but they strive to have items that promote wellness for your body and for the earth.
I was tempted to get a matcha latte as I usually do, but was intrigued by their lavender latte. It sounded absolutely delicious and as I hate almond milk I had mine made with oat milk instead. The lavender latte I had there was the best lavender latte I have ever had. And as I was in need of tea I felt much better after drinking it.
My sister got a latte with bee pollen in it that is supposed to help with allergies. She really enjoyed hers as well.
I definitely recommend this place if you are ever in Atlanta or Ponce City Market. It was an all around win!
Last month was my birthday and unfortunately both my sister and best friend were unable to celebrate with me. We then decided to meet up a few weeks ago and have a girl’s weekend.
We went to Sacramento and were looking for a tea place to go to for lunch, really searching for a High Tea but willing to go to whatever tea place we could find. A quick google search and I found the There and Back Again Cafe a Lord of the Rings themedgamer cafe. Now we all love Lord of the Rings so it seemed the perfect place to go and celebrate.
The There & Back Again Cafe opened at the beginning of this year. It serves teas, coffees, hand pies, avocado toast, and “shire-cuterie” boards. They have 15 tables for gaming and a collection of board games, card games, and cooperative/group games. If you come and purchase food or drinks, having a gaming table is free (otherwise there is a $5 cover charge.)
All games are first come first serve, and patrons can also bring their own games if they wish.
They are open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 7:30 am – 3 pm; Fridays 10 am – 5 pm, and Saturdays they are open 8-3 for any customers, closing and then reopening 5-10:30 by registration only. They also hold special events that have a cover charge and are by reservation only.
Or dinner
Due to family commitments, traffic, lack of parking, meter issues, and the current construction in Sacramento we didn’t get to the cafe until after one and had only a couple hours before the shop closed.
The first thing we enjoyed was the ambience and the decorations in the cafe. Everything was exactly what a geek would love. They had such a variety of games, that we did not need to play any of the ones we had brought. We really enjoyed being in the cafe and playing a couple rounds of a new game, in fact I think we might have startled some of our more quiet neighbors with our joviality.
Then we went about ordering our drinks. The menu has a variety of regular coffees and teas for you to choose from; but is also home to geekier ones.
GROGU REFRESHER: A delicious twist on our favorite little green guy’s preferred snack. (lemon lime soda with a blueberry twist)
HALFLING GREEN APPLE TEA: Halflings agree, it’s a wonderful hot delight. (Sweetened with caramel, topped with steamed almond milk and cinnamon)
LIGHTBRINGER LAVENDER LEMONADE: In this dread hour, a warrior shall draw from the fire a delicious lemonade! Sweetened with Lavender syrup, truly refreshing.
POLYJUICE POTION: Magic juice. But not the kind that’ll leave you trippin’… we think… Peach Lemonade with a color-changing potion. Choose a potion from the magic spells box.
SYLVAN STRAWBERRY MATCHA: You can’t outrun destiny just because you’re terrified of it. (Iced matcha latte with strawberry puree & white chocolate drizzle)
MEILOORUN JUICE: Citrusy and tart yet sweet melon drink favoured by General Hera Syndulla and her comrades on the Ghost. (pineapple soda with fruit syrup)
X-WING Red Leader sure knows how to get into the air with this one! (energy drink with two shots of syrup of your choice) pwew pwew
I being a lover of Matcha, and it being a sweating Saturday, I of course had to try their Sylvan Strawberry Matcha. I thought the drink was very good extremely delicious, and I would definitely order it again.
So while I enjoyed the ambience and the drinks, the biggest issue I had with this cafe came to the food. Since I have been there the menu had changed, but when I went there on May 28th, they had only a few food options: Ham & Brie hand pies (which were unfortunately all sold out when we arrived), shirecuteries, avocado toast, and a vegan Avocado, Tomato & Basil Sandwich. As the three of us were all very hungry, and wanted something more substantial than a charcuterie board; we all decided to instead each order the Avocado, Tomato & Basil Sandwich with a caprese salad for $8.25 (although one of us had the for gluten-free one which was $11.25). However, instead of a sandwich we received a piece of toast with vegan mayonnaise, tomatoes, cucumber, basil, and sprouts. At least the other ladies did, as my order was just avocado and tomatoes on toast; I was not given any of the greens. We all were disappointed as we were expecting an actual “sandwich”, not toast, and an actual salad-not just sprouts on top. If it had been described as toast or an open faced sandwich we would have been expecting to see only one slice of bread, but as it was labeled sandwich we all expected a full sandwich.
My sister’s “sandwich”
My thoughts regarding the menu is that I strongly suggest the There and Back Again Cafe to add pictures to their ever fluctuating menu so that customers can have an idea of what to expect when ordering. As they have a fluid menu they wouldn’t have to include photos of every item, but I believe a few shots would be helpful.
As far as staff goes, the two that were working that day were helpful and very pleasant. Both were attentive and answered any questions we had regarding the drink menu. They did forgot to make my sandwich, but when they realized that, they apologized and brought me one as soon as they could. In a time where every business is struggling to find and keep good employees, this cafe has some great ones.
I definitely recommend going to the There and Back Again Cafe and enjoying their drinks with a game or two (I know I plan to go back for a game night/day with some friends). When it comes to their food, definitely give glance over the menu before heading to the cafe, to decide if the items described there are enough for you, or if you need to eat before.
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