Tea shops in Palo Alto

Palo Alto drinks a lot of tea, but most of it comes in a plastic cup with tapioca pearls. The city has more boba shops than it has hardware stores. Loose-leaf tea for brewing at home is harder to find. Our directory lists one dedicated tea shop and tea room downtown, Tea Time on Ramona Street. Around it are a Taiwanese tea chain at Stanford Shopping Center, a Japanese cafe that serves matcha and coffee chains that sell tea alongside their beans.

This page covers where to buy tea to brew, where to sit down for a pot and where the bigger Japanese tea selections are in nearby towns. We checked each shop on its own website or in our verified directory in late October and early November 2026. For milk tea and boba, see our boba and tea guide.

Tea shops at a glance

Tea Time on Ramona Street

Tea Time at 542 Ramona Street does two jobs. The shop and its online store sell loose-leaf tea, teapots, filters and gift packages. The tea room serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and a light supper with pots of tea at the table. The business sums up its outlook in one line: "Tea brings enjoyment and rest."

The tea list

The 2026 tea room menu lists more than 120 loose-leaf teas. They cover black, green, oolong, white, decaffeinated, flavored and herbal teas, plus wellness teas and house blends. Named teas include English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, Yunnan Gold, Sencha, genmaicha, Dragon Well, Ti Kwan Yin, Bai Mu Dan and Masala Chai. If you want to try before buying a bag, order a pot in the tea room first. Tea Time notes that shop prices can differ from online prices.

Afternoon tea and parties

The 2026 menu says afternoon tea is served from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It lists the Classic Afternoon Tea at $56.95. The full set includes a tea of your choice with savories, salad, sandwiches, a scone, mini desserts, cheese and fruit. A high tea adds a savory pie and seasonal cookies. Vegetarian and vegan options are available on all signature sets. The tea room asks guests to reserve by phone at 650-328-2877 or by email. Seatings begin at 11 a.m. with the last at 3 p.m. Payment details are needed to hold a table and a per-person fee applies to cancellations. It hosts birthdays and showers for up to 20 guests and also runs tea classes.

Hours

Tea Time is open Monday and Thursday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed every Tuesday and Wednesday. Over the holidays it lists closures from November 24 to 26, 2026 for Thanksgiving and on December 24 and 25. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are kept for private events, classes and catering. Check the tea room page before you go. Our downtown guide covers parking nearby.

Wanpo Tea Shop at Stanford

Wanpo Tea Shop is a Taiwanese chain with a shop at 660 Stanford Shopping Center, Suite 721. The brand boils its tea in the traditional way and simmers its boba in golden brown sugar. Its menu covers pure teas, milk teas such as brown sugar bubble milk and seasonal drinks like winter melon and smoked plum tea. It is a drink shop rather than a leaf shop, but it is the place to taste Taiwanese-style tea at the mall. The closest sister shops are in Cupertino and Millbrae.

Matcha and Japanese tea

Yutori at 3375 El Camino Real serves matcha drinks by day in its cafe and sells Japanese pantry goods and ceramics in its market. It is a good stop for a matcha latte and a look at tea bowls and cups.

For a wider choice of Japanese green tea to brew at home, including sencha, genmaicha, hojicha and matcha powder, the two big Japanese supermarkets south of Palo Alto stock Japanese teas among their groceries. Tokyo Central is at 19750 Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino and Mitsuwa Marketplace is at 675 Saratoga Avenue in San Jose. Mitsuwa's San Jose page announced an Ito En tea fair from November 6 to 19, 2026. Our Asian markets guide has hours and directions. For Japanese sweets to serve with tea, K. Minamoto at Stanford Shopping Center sells wagashi.

Tea at coffee shops

Peet's Coffee, founded in Berkeley in 1966, has three Palo Alto cafes in our directory: Homer Avenue downtown, 3904 Middlefield Road and Town & Country Village. The chain's coffeebar menu has separate hot tea and iced tea sections. Its store pages name Mighty Leaf teas. For buying leaves to brew, though, the choice in a cafe is small. Our coffee guide covers the city's cafes.

Ten Ren Tea, the Taiwanese tea company, sells loose oolong, pu-erh, green, white and jasmine teas plus tea equipment through its US online shop. In late 2026 the shop listed 2026 spring oolongs and first-flush Dragon Well among its new arrivals. That is a useful option if you know exactly which tea you want. For a day out with tea in the city, you can also browse San Francisco food tours.

Buying and brewing loose-leaf tea

These are starting points. Many oolongs and pu-erhs can be steeped several times in short rounds. Use about 1 teaspoon of leaves per cup and adjust to taste.

Tea as a gift

Tea travels well and suits almost any host, colleague or teacher. A few ideas that use the shops above:

• A starter set. Tea Time sells gift packages along with teapots and filters, so you can pair a tin of one tea with a strainer or a small pot.
• Tea and sweets. A box of wagashi from K. Minamoto with a pouch of sencha or genmaicha makes a classic Japanese pairing.
• An experience. A reserved afternoon tea at Tea Time works for a birthday or a visiting parent. Book well ahead for weekends in December.
• Something for the office. Bagged teas from a supermarket tea aisle are easier for a shared kitchen than loose leaves.

If the person already loves one kind of tea, ask the shop for a different grade or harvest of the same style. Tasting two versions side by side is a good way to learn what you like.

Frequently asked questions