Susie K’s Cafe & Tea Room

Ahh, I really wanted to give this place a great review. I will still say that it’s a GOOD place– just not exactly what I had hoped it would be when I first walked in.
When I walked in, I was overwhelmed by the small-​town charm of this place. I thought if the food is good and the service is good– I could see no reason why this wouldn’t be a 5-​star joint. Yes, the décor is a little bit kitschy, but it’s a tea house in a small town in Northeast Ohio, I’m not expecting the Ritz.
I went down to 3 stars for them for a few reasons, which I will list below.
+It was an EXTREMELY hot day in August, we had about 20 people there for a bridal shower, and the air conditioner COULD NOT HANDLE IT. We were sweltering– I wore a polyester dress because I thought hey, we’ll be inside with AC. Oh, what a mistake, I was sweating profusely and I know everyone in the place was overheated. It was probably nearly 80 degrees in there by the time the shower was over. Several people complained about the heat, but there didn’t seem to be anything that could be done.
+I am a picky eater– I do not eat mayonnaise (it makes me kind of sick) and I don’t particularly love cheese either (I know, I’m a freak.) so I asked if I could have a sandwich made without dairy products. The lady delivering my food seemed VERY stressed out about this request and sighed at me «We have NO problem with that, if we know ahead of time.» My response was the honest truth: «I didn’t know what you were serving and I didn’t realize I needed to tell you ahead of time.» It was a bridal shower– were we supposed to inform all of the guests that they needed to report their food allergies/​preferences? I’ve hardly ever had anyone treat me like I was being unreasonable for making a request. She took my ENTIRE plate, regardless of the fact that there were things that I *could* eat on the plate. And if you’re Vegan, good god, I can’t imagine the issues you’d have here. You might want to call a week in advance so they can prepare for you.
+I refused a glass of iced tea while I was setting up for the shower with the rest of the bridesmaids, and I said «I’ll have one when I am sitting down after we’ve got everything up and running.» I never got that tea. I had to flag someone down and directly ask for it. One of the other bridesmaids had lamented that she felt like she had to beg to get a refill. Whoever heard of having to BEG for tea at a tea house?!
Other than those 3 major issues, I found the place to be very nice. The food that I had when I finally did get it, was very good– little tea sandwiches and the iced tea was delicious. I just had a tough time getting it. I will say, however, that I think that the staff might have been overwhelmed with the amount of people there. There were only two of them, which seemed like they might be the owners of the place, working that day. We had 20 people, I know it is tough when you’re trying to serve 10 people at once. They were very accommodating about letting us run the shower and even about bringing in cupcakes from an outside vendor, as well as punch.
I would definitely try this place again if I find myself in Ravenna for any reason– I would just go with less people and on a cooler day. And I’d state my preferences as non-​dairy up front. ;)