I figured maybe one more restaurant review for this Monday.

The Background
I stumbled upon Sweet Tea via a friend’s posting on Facebook. I love random finds like this, and given it’s location (19th Street) and newness, I was eager to check it out.

The Scene
I’d be lying if I wasn’t just a little apprehensive about eating lunch in what I perceived to be a typical tea room–you know, stuffy and surrounded by high maintenance women. It wasn’t like that at all. The cafe had a very laid back feel, with beautiful modern art, open kitchen, flat-screen tvs, a tea bar, and those booming front windows associated with places on this strip of 19th Street. It’s a family affair at Sweet Tea (mom, son, and daughter run the place), and within ten minutes I had met everyone. Great people.

The Food
Angela (daughter) recommended I get the barbecue chicken salad. I’m glad I listened to her because it was good–unique, sweet, and moist, but not laden with mayo. It was so simple but what a different take on normal chicken salad, and what a hit. I wanted more, but respected the serving size, given the tea room setting. It came with a side of potato salad and that too was delicious. I was fortunate enough to try the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate/banana cheese cake. Oh dear, these were SOOO good, especially the cookies. They were tea cookies, but in an awesome way. They looked unbaked, but were actually crunchy and packed with chocolate chips. I am still trying to figure out what they put in those cookies that made them so tasty. Forget about it, even after talking to the chef, he wasn’t divulging any secrets.

The Verdict
I’ll definitely be back, in fact, I’m dining with some friends this Friday night at Sweet Tea. Come out and join us for the restaurant’s first Italian Night from 6-9pm. There will be live music and it’s BYOB. The cafe has only been open seven weeks, and I’m really rooting for them to do well. Hopefully, their take on Italian cuisine will match the quality of the chicken salad and desserts.

325 A West 19th Street
Houston, TX, 77008