After nearly two decades of serving afternoon tea in St. Louis, The London Tea Room is making it a little easier to take the experience home.
The British tea room has launched an online bakery, allowing customers to order a selection of its house-made scones, cakes, macarons, sausage rolls and tea for pickup at its current location at 255 Union Blvd. in DeBaliviere Place. The bakery officially opened Sept. 24, with orders available Wednesday through Sunday.
The menu is intentionally small to start, with about a half dozen seasonal scone flavors, rotating assortments of six macarons, the tea room’s Blueberry Lemon Cake, English sausage rolls served with HP sauce and mustard, and tea brewed to order in a take-home carry case. Quantities are limited each day, and the menu may evolve based on customer demand.
“We are starting small on purpose,” owner Josh Richardson said. “Limited quantities, a focused selection, and a real willingness to change it based on what people ask us for.”
Everything is made in The London Tea Room’s kitchen by the same pastry team responsible for the sweets served in the dining room. The tea room has been baking its own scones and other treats since it first opened in St. Louis in 2007, when the Richardson family established the business as a home for British tea and food.
The London Tea Room has since had several homes around the city. The Richardson family moved the tea room from Tower Grove South to Downtown West in 2022, eventually closing that location in 2024. It returned later that year at its current DeBaliviere Place address, where the younger generation of the Richardson family, Joshua and Nathan, runs the business.
Nathan Richardson serves as general manager and heads the kitchen, where the menu continues to center on British tea-room staples, including freshly made scones and clotted cream. His aunt, Jackie James, remains involved through The London Tea Merchant, the family’s tea company that supplies the tea room and blends its teas. The tea room’s Naughty Vicar, a black currant-forward black tea, has become one of its most popular blends.
The current space at 255 Union Blvd. was designed to feel both polished and comfortable, with historic floors and wood paneling restored during the build-out. Large windows fill the room with natural light, giving the tea room a different setting from its previous locations while maintaining the old-world feel that has become part of its identity.
The new bakery is an extension of that longtime kitchen operation rather than a separate baking business, Richardson said.
“For nearly twenty years, when you came to The London Tea Room, we set the table for you,” he said. “Scones baked that morning, tea poured just so, and the small touches that turn an afternoon into an occasion. Now you can bring that home and set the table for your own guests.”
Orders can be placed up to 14 days in advance, with same-day pickup available with advance notice. Whole cakes require one day’s notice. There is currently no delivery.
Orders are available at bakery.thelondontearoom.com, with pickup Wednesday through Sunday at 255 Union Blvd.
