Lunch was with several of my wife’s family today. We decided on Spring Creek Tea Room in Ozark as it is a popular place and my sister-in-law recommended it. She told me that even though it is a tea room, there are lots of guys that eat there (and there were!).
Since this is a Friday and we had 5 people, we made reservations (need at least 5 to do this) and it was a good thing – even though we arrived a 1pm, there was a line of people waiting in line for a table.
We were seated quickly – but we were seated overlooking the street close to a not-very-well sealed door and it was rather chilly at the table – coats were required.
I ordered the roast beef sandwich and soup combo which comes with chips and a drink – all for the very reasonable price of $6.50. My wife ordered the quiche combo that comes with soup, salad, roll and a drink for $8. There are other quiche combos as well for less that drop one or more of the add-ons.
My roast beef sandwich was pretty good. It came on a nice marbled rye bread and had some very tasty toppings including sprouts, red pepper and lettuce. The soup this day was potato and it was pretty good – nice chunks of potato along with some red pepper or pimento (couldn’t tell for sure). The base of the soup was not really creamy – which I think is better than the really thick creamy soup you sometimes get. It was also nice and hot – which seems to be a challenge for some restaurants. The chips were some kind of Lays-type potato chip and there was also a pickle spear to munch on.
My wife said she liked her quiche (ham and cheese) although it had some red pepper or pimento (again, couldn’t tell) in it. She had the same potato soup which she liked as well. She ordered the salad with the house strawberry vinaigrette – the salad also comes with a nice selection of toppings including almonds, sprouts and some red peppers.
So, the food was pretty good – and the prices were very reasonable.
Now comes the whining so hold on…..
The dining room is small and is really just a corner of the rest of the business which contains an Antique mall. There are entirely too many tables in this small area which means you need to navigate a maze to get to and from your table – excusing yourself several times as you try to squeeze past other diners at their tables. I’m starting to wonder if the definition of ‘Tea Room’ includes having too many tables in too small an area – this is the 2nd Team Room I’ve reviewed and so far 100% of them suffer from this problem.
We were warned by my sister-in-law to ask about desert selections before we ordered lunch as they can run out. They had indeed run out of several desert items and had one or two left of most of the others – none of which appealed to most of our group. My mother-in-law pre-ordered some Hershey Chocolate Cheesecake. When we finished lunch – our server asked us if we wanted desert – forgetting that my mother-in-law had already indicated what she wanted. The cheesecake was ok but even with 5 people sitting at the table sampling it – we ended up leaving about 1/3 of it on the plate.
The Spring Creek Tea Room is a loud place as well and would not be a place to go for a nice quite lunch. We had a difficult time trying to converse with each other at the table.
Service today was horrible. My sister-in-law said that she has gotten good service here in the past and was surprised at today’s experience. We all thought perhaps our server was new. We waited a long time to get our drinks, we waited a long time to get refills, we waited a long time to get our meals. After our food arrived, we had to ask for then wait to get some silverware.
We then waited for a check to show up – it never did. I ended up going to the takeout counter and having to ask for it – at which point our server added up our check with a calculator. The tickets are hand-written and hard to read, so I really couldn’t tell you if the bill was correct or not.
We then had to go to the back room towards the exit to pay. If you want to leave a tip on your credit card – you must tell the cashier how much to add to the bill – they are not setup for you to just write an amount in on the charge card receipt.
Overall – we did not have a good experience at Spring Creek Tea Room. I think everybody liked their food just fine – it was all of the dining room issues and the service that ruined it for us.
107 S 3rd St, Ozark – (417) 582-1331
When I went the service was better. I agree it is very crowed. They need more space for all their tables. I don’t remeber what I got when I went but it was good. So all in all it was ok.
Have you tried the “tea room” at Honey Heaven yet? It would resolve the seating, service issues, and hey make their own desserts.
Geee, I have been to S/C at least 20 times, my sisrer lives in Springfield and every time I go to visit we HAVE to go to S/C tearoom. I have had about all of the things they serve and I think it is all very good. I live in the St.Charles Mo. area and so to me this tearoom is quite the wait if you don’t call ahead. and the desserts are to die for. as for the honey heaven I diidn’t care for it the food just wasn’t to good.
My Daughter is gettin married in May of this year. We have always been patrons of the Tea Room and dispite the crowd and unorganization, love the food and atmosphere. So naturally, when it came to cake choices for our wedding venue, we chose Spring Creek. I talked with the owner, Brenda in October to see if it was a possibility that she could make 8 to 10 cakes for us in May. She said yes, and to get back with her a little closer to the date so we could work out the details. I ordered the engagement party cake from them and it was delicious.
So………
Around January I called her to see when the best time to come in and make some flavor choices and she said to make a list of what we wanted and then call her back.
Today I got a call from my Daughter and she said that after speaking with Brenda in February about the cakes she would need ( a 45 minute detailed conversation), Brenda stated that she didnt know what she was talking about and that she never talked to anyone about it!
Then she proceeded to laugh at my Daughter (who was fast approaching a nervous breakdown) and told her that she would still do it because she just happened to have that day open!
Thankfully, my smart Daughter told her that she would go somewhere else.
Spring Creek Tea Room is not a reliable buisness to deal with! And after I make a phone call to Brenda to let her know how unacceptable this has been, I will also tell EVERYONE I know what a unprofessional, hateful, and risky buisness Spring Creek Tea Room is!
By the way, if you are in need of beautiful & tasty cakes and somone who is reliable, go to Lola’s in Nixa instead
Spring Creek Tea Room is a very nice place to have lunch. Although they are very busy, they have a great staff who works very hard to please their customers. Their food is also outstanding and very under priced.
I know for a while they were understaffed and only had three waitresses, which made the wait a little longer than usual. I must say they have quite an operation going on there!
As for the Owner, Brenda, you must realize that she makes over 50 cakes a week and she bakes them all herself ices them and so forth. She works in the kitchen your preparing food. You need to give this gal some credit! Spring creek is not a catering service, they do not advertize ANYWHERE baking cakes for you and your special occassions. That is something that the owner can do when she has time. And just for your consideration, being at work by 4AM and working until 4PM is quite a task.
Im sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your time at Spring creek. I would sure hope that you would give them another chance in the future!
The girls there are so sweet and work their hearts out to please you.
i LOVE springcreek tearoom!!! the food is so good – yummy chicken salad and fruit soups are my favs – PLUS you get to browse the booths after you put your name in for eating. fun fun fun – lots of neat stuff to look thru: books, toys, tablecloths…. it is my FAVORITE TEAROOM!