With its traditional tea sandwiches and ornate teapots, stepping into Lisa’s Tea Treasures feels like entering the Victorian era.
Nestled in the heart of downtown Los Altos, Lisa’s Tea Treasures is an afternoon tea salon and gift parlor. The shop, which was first established in Menlo Park before relocating in 2009, has remained a local favorite for its English elegance and Victorian-style tea parties.
Owner Thao Ngyuen said that Lisa’s Tea Treasures prides itself on utilizing antique utensils and decorations, such as intricately decorated china cups and embellished silverware, to create an immersive experience.
“What makes Lisa’s Tea Treasures is that it has the English style,” Nguyen said. “[The shop’s style is] formal tea with a tablecloth, with beautiful bone china English tea wear and the ambiance. People come in and say, ‘Oh my God, it looks like it’s from the 1800s,’ or, ‘These tea cups, my grandma has them,’ so it’s not modern or contemporary.”
Growing up in a very tight-knit family, Nguyen was inspired by her mother, who underlined the importance of relaxation and spending time with family while eating dinner. When opening Lisa’s Tea Treasures, she said she aimed to emulate this and create a space for people to enjoy both nice food and a relaxing environment.
“Having a meal together is not about the physical needs of having food, it’s more the social aspect of having a meal,” Nguyen said. “People come in here not because they can’t make a sandwich at home or they can’t make their own pot of tea at home. They probably have tons of tea at home, but they come in here just because of the experience that we are able to offer them.”
Nguyen said she especially treasures the memories she has seen her customers make with their loved ones.
“I have customers who have been coming since I’ve worked here,” Nguyen said. “I’ve seen girls who came in when they were five years old and keep coming until they are 25. They came in with their grandmother and later on they will come in with their own daughter. Those are nice to see.”
For cafe frequenter John Bejarano, who has been coming to Lisa’s for almost 15 years, the shop serves as a temporary getaway from the fast-paced tempo of everyday life.
“It’s [Lisa’s Tea Treasures] just a lovely little oasis of elegance in the hurly-burly of everything with how everything is all fast-paced and stressful,” Bejarano said. “This is just a way to completely get away from that and just enjoy a little bit of elegance.”
Above all, Lisa’s Tea Treasures strives to help their customers feel ready for the challenges of the outside world.
“I want [the customers] to feel renewed,” Nguyen said. “They come in, they have tea, they leave and they come out and they feel good. Like, ‘Now I’m at peace again and I look at things from a different perspective because I’m reloaded, I’m refreshed, I’m renewed. I have new energy to face a lot of other things.’”
