Tea Lula of Park Ridge (tea shop review)

I grew up in Park Ridge, a stately, older suburb of Chicago. It is a very pretty and peaceful place, boasting numerous interesting shops, an art deco movie theater, and now, it is very own tea merchant: Tea Lula.

Owner Sheila Duda stocks over 100 different private-label and custom blended teas and tisanes, along with teaware and tea books. The back of the shop is where you can find gorgeous tea sets, pots, and cups: The front is dominated by shelves of tea and tisane.

Each tea/tisane is assigned its own cubbyhole, the name and description of each tea clearly printed on its heat sealed bag. Next to the bags of tea are small lidded jars containing a sample of leaves for customers’ perusal.The teas are fresh, high-quality, and varied: My own favorites are the Silver Needles and Hojicha (the later being of particularly fine quality).

While Tea Lula is not a full-fledged tearoom, tea is indeed served to customers. Mid-shop boasts a lovely tea bar, where customers can sit and request a sample of a tea that interests them, or they can order a pot of freshly infused tea to drink at the bar, or at one of the two tables in the windows of the shop.(Both hot and iced tea is available to go, as well.)

What I particularly appreciate about Tea Lula is its attention to detail and the staff’s honest desire to educate its patrons (Ms. Duda is extremely knowledgeable about tea, and is an amusing conversationalist and story-teller as well.). If you want to learn about tea, this is the place.

Pots of tea are infused in the IngenuiTEA tea maker, and then decanted into pots (the decanting means that it doesn’t turn into a bitter and disagreeable tea-leaf-soup). Each pot is placed over a tea-light to keep it warm, accompanied by milk in a little pitcher and sugar cubes with tongs. Teacups are served with beautifully etched teaspoons, and the atmosphere is convivial as customers chat with Ms. Duda and between themselves.

As my mother once commented, visiting Tea Lula for tea is like taking a mini-vacation.

Tea Lula is located in downtown Park Ridge, and is about a block away from the Park Ridge Metra Station. Parking should not be a problem. Its website is not up yet, though it is listed on Yelp. To confirm opening times, give them a call at the number listed below.

Tagged as: ingenuiTEA, Park Ridge, Sheila Duda, tea, Tea Lula, Tea Room, tea shop