WE'RE NOT IN DALLAS ANYMORE

When I first drove up to Full English in Austin, I admit to having some misgivings.

One thing I knew for sure -- it wasn't gonna be my mama's tea party!

But, then I remembered. Oh yeah! We're not in Dallas anymore. This is Austin!

Picture S. Congress funk, with Amy Winehouse waiting tables.

And yeah, maybe they didn't have a fancy in-house bakery with the best scones I'd ever eaten. But, all-in-all, the food was pret-ty darned good.

We had our choice of any beverage on the menu, including several specialty coffee drinks, three different chai lattes, iced teas and hot teas. We each chose to have our own pot of tea, with options from local purveyor Zhi Tea, as well as the more traditional Twinings. We couldn't even make it through most of that top tier of sweets, but they kindly offered us a container so Lex could take them home to enjoy with her hubby.

It was the kind of place where you could come every week just to hang out with friends over a good pot of tea, rather than a once-a-year kind of place where you can play the Grand Dame. It suited this birthday girl to a "tea", 'cause one thing is for certain...

she's an Austin kind of gal!

P.S. I should probably warn you though, don't go here if you can't abide the smell of bacon! In addition to the High Tea by appointment, they serve full English breakfasts all day long, including your choice of bangers or "the best bacon in the country", broiled tomatoes and even Heinz baked beans. Apparently that bacon is quite popular, as people all around us were eating it, plus they keep a freezer full out in the dining room, for customers to buy and take home.