I'm sure most of you will have heard of Betty's Tea Rooms, whether you have visited one of their traditional victorian style operations across the various towns and cities in Yorkshire that they are located. It's easy to spot them, even if you don't see the signs as they are the one shop on the high street that has a queue snaking out its doors from mid morning to late afternoon 7 days a week. But why are they so popular? What are they doing to maintain such large queues and why do people put up with a 10-15 minute wait on the pavement.
Well as a family we often try and make a detour to a Betty's whenever we are travelling on the A59 to Yorkshire, even if I am travelling alone I always try to pop in, just to buy some tea or one of their gorgeous Yorkshire curd tarts. This time though we were in a quandary as to whether we stopped. The weather was close to 30 degrees outside and on sweeping past the Harrogate restaurant we could see up to 30 people braving the heat for the sake of afternoon tea. We decided we couldn't resist stopping and so found a parking space and joined the other patient customers. Now what is typical of a Betty's customer? nothing demographically as they attract everyone off the scale from young to old, affluent to less so, and they have a steady mix of regular and one off visitors. Geographically you can see so many nationalities represented from Japan and America as well as Europeans, all trying to take a bit of that Britishness about them that intrigues more than you or I sometimes realise.
So back to our visit, something which astonished us was how impeccably the staff were dressed, even in this heat, and when you consider the managers are in full suits and the waitresses in full victorian style dress, and yet not a bit out of place it is excellent that they managed to continue the theme through, although we did feel sorry for them. For drinks, tea for me is a no brainer, however I was also tempted due to the heat by the ice cream strawberry milkshake which was extremely refreshing, however over too soon and so it was back to the tea and adulthood.
One thing that always pleases us is the child friendly approach, and although Jamie's Italian won the best child friendly restaurants last week, Betty's more than fulfils its obligation, with children's drawing kits, and friendly staff, it helps to allay the fears of boredom that we as parents often have when we sit waiting on many an occasion in a restaurant. The menu's as well are well put together, with good fresh dishes and not a nugget in sight as you often still see in most places. our children plumped for the omelette and the macaroni, which they ended up sharing with each other as both were jealous of the others food.
As for us, we chose the quiche and the caesar salad, the quiche really hit the spot in that it was had good texture and flavouring, the salad was different to the norm, and refreshing in that it consisted of some lovely local produce. with dishes serving all tastes from afternoon tea to Austrian dishes harking back to its heritage. Although you will never hear music piping through the restaurant, there is never a feel of a library too, as it is is always full, hence the continuous queue outside, and because of this there is the constant chatter of all the table, whether it being a group of ladies in the middle of a shopping expedition or a family reunion, catching up with each other, or even a couple having a romantic lunch, no conversation imposes on another and everyone is captivated by the contents of their table.
Overall the food should be the main star of the show, however the experience as a whole is the main star, with excellent service from start to finish and good choice for all ages to enjoy, and that is even before you see the sweet trolley and all it has to offer. I personally will stick to the Yorkshire curd Tart, but I dare you to leave without trying one of the sweet delicacies on offer.
So to sum up, a good experience was had at Betty's, it is testimony to Managing Director, Linda Brunton Douglas and her catering teams that the name of Betty's is being sensitively managed and can only go from strength to strength. If you ever happen to pass by one of their restaurants and see the queue of eager customers, don't be put off, join the line and treat yourself. Its worth the wait trust me...
