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| - I am not a tea drinker. I don't like tea in any shape, form or fashion. I am also not some trendy hip "urbanite". I'm pretty much a beer drinking, meat eating, fun loving kinda guy.
But I *like* Urban Tea Loft!
I was there for the "East Valley Friday Nights" meetup a couple of previous reviewers mentioned. I do think we overwhelmed them a little bit as the service was a little slow (though the servers, bartenders and owners were all delightful people).
I had the catfish off the weekend "soul food" menu, and unlike Ben's experience, mine was close to perfect. The fish was firm, NOT fishy at all, and very tasty. I had mac-and-cheese and fried okra for sides and both were very well done. M&C was creamy, cheesy and the pasta was cooked "al dente" -- as it should be. The fried okra was great, and completely lacking in that snot-like look and feel that poorly prepared okra can have (sorry for the graphical reference...)
The place is cool. Kinda hip, but not "over-the-top I wanna be in Scottsdale" hip. There was a great jazz guitar player at perfect volume (not too loud, not too soft) -- I doubt this happens every day, it was a Friday night after all. Two very cool private rooms are in the back, one set up with leather padded walls (a horrific description, you'll just have to see it) and the other is a sort of "media room" complete with flat screen, wifi, and a mini-bar type fridge. Either would be *perfect* for small meetings.
The owners were really, really neat people and you can tell they are working hard to make Urban Tea Loft a great place.
I'll be back, if for no other reason than to see if the bartender really makes a "kick ass margarita" like she claims (she definitely made a kick-ass Washington Apple).
And seriously, get there this month and see the photography they have on display from local artist Chanelle Richardson. *Very* nice work! http://www.crphotography.org/
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