ST. LOUIS, MO – September 21, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) One of St. Louis’ longstanding family-run tea businesses is expanding again, less than a year after a new generation brought The London Tea Room back to life near Forest Park.

The London Tea Room, located at 255 Union Blvd. in St. Louis’ DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, has launched an online bakery that lets customers order some of the British-inspired foods associated with the tea room without sitting down for its traditional full tea service.

The new operation includes sweet scones with cream and jam, rotating macaron flavors, blueberry lemon cake, full-size English sausage rolls, shepherd’s pie and freshly brewed ready-to-drink teas, according to information released Sunday.

The expansion represents more than the addition of online ordering. For owners Josh and Nathan Richardson, it brings an element of the family’s earlier café business back to a concept that has increasingly focused on the afternoon and high tea experience.

“We haven’t really done a la carte stuff in quite a while, so this was a way to bring some of that back to offer,” Nathan Richardson told St. Louis Magazine.

The bakery is the latest chapter in a St. Louis restaurant story that stretches back nearly two decades and across several generations of the same British-American family.

A British family builds a St. Louis tea business

The London Tea Room traces its beginnings to Pat and Alan Richardson, British expatriates who moved to the United States with their family.

The family’s St. Louis business history initially centered not on restaurants but on British and European furnishings.

Pat and Alan established a furniture business called Old English Pine Company in 1995. Their daughters Anna Myers and Jackie James later joined the operation. The business eventually became English Living and moved to Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis.

Tea became part of the operation for a straightforward reason.

The Richardsons said they struggled to find the kind of properly prepared tea they knew from Britain.

In 2007, the family opened what became The London Tea Room alongside its furniture business at 1520 Washington Ave. The tea concept ultimately proved more durable than the furniture operation, which closed in 2012.

The tea room survived.

And it grew.

In 2014, the family relocated The London Tea Room to Morgan Ford Road in Tower Grove South. Jackie James took on more responsibility for the operation, eventually becoming its owner after her parents retired.

The Morgan Ford location developed a loyal following but presented a different problem: space.

By 2022, the approximately 3,000-square-foot location could fit only about 35 to 40 customers and was frequently packed on weekends, according to the family at the time. That led to another expansion, this time into a significantly larger property at 1900 Locust St. in Downtown West.

Downtown chapter ends in 2024

The ambitious Downtown West location ultimately did not become The London Tea Room’s permanent home.

The business announced in 2024 that it would close the Locust Street operation after Sept. 8.

In its announcement, The London Tea Room said it had been involved in litigation with the property’s landlord for more than a year and that a court had granted its request to be released from the lease. The business also said it would pay disputed arrears to the landlord.

James also cited a deeply personal reason for stepping away from operating the restaurant: she wanted more time to care for her daughter, who has a progressive disease, and to work with a nonprofit supporting research related to her condition.

The closure did not end the family’s tea business.

James continued operating The London Tea Merchant, the retail and wholesale side of the operation that sells loose-leaf teas and related products. That business subsequently established its warehouse operation in Belleville, Illinois.

For a time, however, it appeared the physical London Tea Room itself might have reached the end of its run.

Then the next generation stepped in.

Josh and Nathan Richardson revive the tea room

In 2025, Josh and Nathan Richardson — grandsons of founders Pat and Alan Richardson and nephews of Jackie James — announced plans to resurrect the family restaurant.

The brothers leased space at 255 Union Blvd. in the historic property now known as The Era Collective, near Forest Park.

Josh brought an information technology background to the business, while Nathan brought restaurant-industry experience.

The family connection remained central.

When the project was announced, Josh Richardson said the brothers wanted to keep the business going for at least another 17 years. James publicly welcomed their decision, saying it was meaningful to see The London Tea Room remain in the family.

The reborn tea room opened in late 2025 and was operating from its new home by early 2026.

The new generation retained much of what had made the previous tea room distinctive.

Afternoon Tea and High Tea returned. So did the emphasis on loose-leaf tea, freshly prepared scones, British-inspired savory items and desserts.

Nathan Richardson serves as general manager and oversees the kitchen, while James remains connected through The London Tea Merchant, which supplies teas to the restaurant. James is a certified tea sommelier.

Today, the tea room describes itself as an authentically British tea experience in St. Louis.

Its current Afternoon Tea includes a pot of loose-leaf tea, savory items, a sweet scone, and desserts. High Tea is more savory-focused. The business also offers a children’s Wee Tea, private events, themed teas, classes, and a retail shop.

The Union Boulevard location is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the business’s current website.

Online bakery brings back a la carte offerings

The newly launched bakery gives the Richardson brothers another way to expand without abandoning the full-service tea model they revived.

Under the current restaurant format, guests generally come for a complete tea experience rather than stopping in simply for an individual scone or pastry.

The business’s own frequently asked questions make the distinction clear: customers cannot ordinarily dine in for only tea and a scone because those items are incorporated into the complete tea service.

The bakery changes that equation for take-home customers.

The initial menu includes some of the foods already closely associated with the restaurant, but in formats designed to be ordered and enjoyed elsewhere.

Scones are available with cream and jam. The bakery also offers macarons, blueberry lemon cake, and savory selections.

The English sausage rolls are full-size versions rather than the smaller portions served during tea service.

Customers can also order 9-inch shepherd’s pies designed to be baked at home, while freshly brewed tea is available in portable containers.

“We’re hoping that people can take home some of the London Tea Room with them, whether that be for an event, something they’re celebrating, or just a snack,” Nathan Richardson told St. Louis Magazine.

Bakery could become another growth channel

For now, The London Tea Room is taking a measured approach to the bakery.

Orders are available for pickup Wednesday through Sunday, and customers can generally place orders up to 14 days ahead. Same-day pickup may be available with advance notice, while whole cakes require at least one day’s notice.

Delivery is not currently offered.

But the Richardson brothers are already considering where the concept could go next.

Nathan told St. Louis Magazine that the business hopes to expand the selection with additional pastries and desserts, potentially introduce more individual-serving items, and possibly move into catering.

“We’re interested to see where this takes us,” he said. “We definitely hope to expand.”

That makes the bakery particularly interesting from a restaurant-business perspective.

A traditional tea room depends heavily on seats, reservations, operating hours, and how long customers spend at a table. The bakery gives The London Tea Room a way to sell some of its signature products independently of those constraints.

It can also serve customers who appreciate the food but do not necessarily want the full 90-minute tea experience each time.

The restaurant itself acknowledges that many visits are tied to celebrations and special occasions. Its private-event operation includes birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers and other gatherings.

Take-home cakes, scones, savory foods and tea could extend that special-occasion business beyond the dining room.

Nearly two decades of adaptation

Perhaps the most notable part of The London Tea Room story is how frequently the business has changed while retaining its central identity.

It began alongside a British furniture store.

It survived the closure of that original business.

It moved from Washington Avenue to Morgan Ford Road, grew beyond the Morgan Ford café’s capacity, shifted increasingly toward full afternoon tea service, expanded into Downtown West, and then closed that operation amid a landlord dispute and a change in family priorities.

The retail tea operation continued.

Then a younger generation brought the restaurant back.

Now the family is reintroducing an element of the old café model through an online bakery.

Throughout those changes, tea has remained at the center.

The London Tea Room’s history says the business began with Pat and Alan Richardson’s desire for a “proper cuppa” after coming to St. Louis. Nearly two decades later, their grandsons continue that concept while finding new ways to sell the food and tea around it.

For St. Louis diners who remember the more casual Morgan Ford café, the bakery may feel familiar.

For customers who discovered the business through its more formal afternoon tea experience, it provides a new way to take part of that experience home.

And for a family business that has already survived multiple moves, a pandemic-era change in restaurant habits, a legal dispute over a former location, a temporary closure and a generational ownership transition, the online bakery represents something else as well:

Another adaptation.

This time, instead of moving The London Tea Room again, the Richardson family is finding another way to bring the tea room to its customers.

STL.News published a follow-up article.

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